Welcoming team environment allowed newbies to thrive, says Maharaj

THE character of the Proteas Test team shone brightly once again, this time in Zimbabwe, and without many of the regular players, including the injured captain Temba Bavuma, the rested Kagiso Rabada and Aiden Markram, the trio that played a key role in the side winning the WTC Final last month.

The fresh-faced Proteas team beat Zimbabwe by 328 runs inside four days to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Like the full-strength team, this new team, led by Keshav Maharaj, saw different individuals stand up in different moments of the match.

Firstly, it was 19-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius (153) who stood tall in the face of adversity, scoring a century on debut despite coming in to bat under pressure with the score on 23/3.

The youngster became the youngest Test centurion for South Africa, and most importantly, took South Africa past 400 runs in the first innings. Corbin Bosch's (100 not out) maiden century in only his second Test was also key.

With the ball, Wiaan Mulder's four-for helped the Proteas bowl out the hosts for 251 runs in the first innings, securing a first-innings lead of 147 runs.

In the second innings, it was Mulder (147) who took responsibility, scoring his first century batting at three and his second of his Test career, to set Zimbabwe over 500 to win.

Bosch would then go on to take his first Test five-for to seal the victory for the Proteas.

"A lot of the regulars aren't here, but when the youngsters come in, it's about making them feel very welcome and comfortable to be themselves. That's something we always encourage in the environment," Maharaj told the media on Tuesday.  

"Naturally, the mentality of where we want to go with our cricket and the style of cricket and brand of cricket we want to play, just filters through them. So I think that's the main thing, is to make them feel comfortable, to allow them to just be the best version of themselves."

"Corbin, he's just come into our environment, and he's settled in very well. But the skill he possesses it's not many can bowl 140 and bat the way he does. So, I'm so happy, he works really hard on his game.

"He trusts his skill; he backs himself. And it's so nice to see everything come together for him. We had a long chat after the first innings, and to see him bounce back and do something very special like that is encouraging for us."

Despite having won convincingly, Maharaj has called on the bowling group to be more tidy and ruthless.

Led by 19-year-old left-arm quick Kwena Maphaka, who finished the game wicketless, the attack did a good job, but showed their inexperience with a lack of consistency.

"As much as we've won this game and there's so much to take out, there are areas where we can be a lot better. Obviously, starting up front (with the bat), in trying conditions, it was, we can be a little bit more cautious in certain aspects," said Maharaj.

"But I think also with the ball, we can be a little bit more tidy in terms of not bowling too many bad balls. And I think in the second innings of our batting, I think we could have been a little bit more ruthless and not given too many soft dismissals away. 

"Because it would have been a lovely opportunity for someone to really kick on past the 150 mark and go on for bigger honours.

"But having said that, we can always sit here and isolate many moments. But as a collective, I think we're really happy with the performance we put in."

The second and final Test match of the series is scheduled to get underway on Sunday at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.