Proteas batters Tristan Stubbs and captain Temba Bavuma put on a big partnership in the first Test against Sri Lanka with key centuries.
Image: Phill Magakoe / AFP
The Proteas Test team have been celebrating their "handing over of the stump" ceremony - for a player who scores a century - a lot more than they have in the past.
Over the last three Test matches the Proteas' batters have been racking up the stumps in the changeroom, with six Test hundreds scored in the two-Test series away against Bangladesh and the first Test against Sri Lanka in Durban.
There have been maiden tons for Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder, while wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne and captain Temba Bavuma have added to their tallies.
During the ceremony, the last player to make a Test century would hand over a stump with a little speech to the latest player to score one. The Proteas also have a ceremonial "handing over of the ball" for the bowlers who have notched up a five-wicket haul or more, but it's been the batters who have hogged the spotlight in the changeroom.
In the latest century celebrations - posted on Cricket South Africa's Instagram page - Mulder is seen handing over a stump to Stubbs, who in turn makes a speech before handing a stump to Bavuma.
Stubbs and Bavuma shared a 249-run partnership in the 233-run win over Sri Lanka at Kingsmead on Friday, with both making superb centuries after the Proteas' bowlers had blasted out the visitors for just 42 runs.
Those were innings' of the highest quality, which knocked the stuffing out of the Sri Lankan effort even more and set up an impressive Test win after the South Africans were 80/4 on day one.
Bavuma's first-innings effort of 70 could also be seen as a century, as that basically set up the match for the Proteas, helping them post something respectable total before Marco Jansen (7/13) destroyed the Sri Lankan batting line-up on a pitch that was still doing quite a bit.
Centuries had been few and far between for the Proteas over the last five years since the last player of their golden batting generation Hashim Amla retired in 2019. But there is a new-found belief in the Proteas' batting unit, which has been evident in the fight they have showed out in the middle in difficult conditions.
After the Test series against Bangladesh, Proteas coach Shukri Conrad heaped praise on Test batting coach Ashwell Prince for his contributions to the team over the last while.
Prince was a real fighter in the middle, with the adversity bringing the best out in him. He seems to have transferred that same mentality into a team of largely inexperienced Test batters.
“His impact has been pretty plain to see. He brings a doggedness, he brings a mentality that he played with and understands batting, understands techniques of which we don't go too much into," Conrad said of Prince.
“Obviously if there are little technical things, but certainly the mentality is what we want to drive. He sits at the forefront of that as well in the batting group, so he just fits in beautifully with what we want to do here.”
The Proteas now sit pretty for a Test Championship final berth. Two more wins from their three remaining Test matches - one against Sri Lanka and two against Pakistan - will see them qualify for the showpiece match, which will be played at Lord's in June 2025.
And, with the way they are currently going about their business, only a fool would be against them failing to do so.
@JohnGoliath82
