Proteas epic Eden Gardens victory up there with Lord's, says coach Shukri Conrad

Whilst comparisons with legendary Proteas teams of yesteryear may be inevitable, this current lot under Shukri Conrad and Temba Bavuma are writing their own manuscript. 

They are the current ICC World Test champions; have broken an 18-year record in Pakistan; and now they have done the same in India with a fairytale victory at Eden Gardens to end a 15-year barren run.

These are some stupendous feats. Not only in terms of the result, but also for the character they have shown to come back from almost hopeless positions – like on Sunday morning when, after starting the day with the slender lead of just 63, they battled their way to a target of 124 before bowling out India for just 93 to get across the line by 30 runs. 

Not even Hans Christian Andersen could have scripted it better. 

“I said it a few days ago, we won a World Test Championship final earlier in the year against Australia at Lord's but this was right up there for us,” Proteas coach Shukri Conrad said.

“Coming to India, playing at Eden Gardens, doing something we haven't done for 15 years, I'm not saying we, I'm talking about the Proteas. Yeah, this is right up there. You can only but dream of coming here (and achieving this).

“Like the dark experiences teams have had coming here and the psyche now is such that whilst we might not have the ability that a lot of teams have, what we lack in that we certainly make up in the ability to play as a unit and the resilience that we show we never give up. 

“I'm so proud of that group down there in terms of the belief that they've got and how they pull together as a unit. It will do wonders for our psyche and it will do wonders for us going forward.”

Off-spinner Simon Harmer may have claimed the official plaudits for match haul of 8/51, which included four crucial second innings wickets, but the cornerstone of the victory was once again captain Temba Bavuma.

The skipper’s influence on the result through his unbeaten 55 – the highest score on both teams in the Test – and his decision-making in the crunch moments of the Test was something to behold. 

Bavuma managed to keep his composure in the cauldron of Eden Gardens when everyone else was losing theirs. 

“Having our best player back is very reassuring for us, it brings a calmness,” Conrad said.

“I also might have mentioned that in the last 18 months to 24 months he's been one of the best players in the world and he showed that again (Sunday) morning and (Saturday) afternoon. In his innings, he was clear on how he wanted to do it, went against the grain of everybody else in the match.

"That was the difference between the two sides, Temba's innings, his partnership with (Corbin Bosch) Boshie this morning, I thought that was immense and that gave us something we felt we could defend.”

The significant difference between this Proteas team and their predecessors is the class of spinners Bavuma has at his disposal. In Harmer and Keshav Maharaj, who claimed the final two wickets to fall off successive deliveries, the Proteas have two world-class spin exponents with Senuran Muthusamy also waiting in the wings for his opportunity.  

“I think we've always had decent spinners, we just never had a crop of them. Also, I think it was a mindset change as well, that you've got to start showing your belief in spin bowlers as well,” Conrad said.

“We are thrilled that we can come here to the subcontinent with a quality pack of spinners. I think it will do wonders for our game back home as well because youngsters can now see there's a line of sight that we're keen on spinners as well, it's not only a fast bowling country.”

First Test Scoreboard

South Africa: 159 & 153

Bavuma 55*, Bosch 25, Jadeja 4/50, Sirag 2/2

India: 189 & 93 all out

Patel 26, Washington 31, Harmer 4/21, Jansen 2/15

SA win by 30 runs, lead series 1-0, Player of the Match: Simon Harmer