Yesterday afternoon, on the west bank of this prettiest of cricket grounds, in eyesight of the South African change-room, a solitary New Zealand fan, a tired Hurricanes jersey on his shoulders, waved his nation’s flag and good-naturedly baited Faf du Plessis as he tippy-toed towards a century.
“Boring!” he chanted as Du Plessis rode an attack from Trent Boult and Neil Wagner, the latter the Pretoria-born Kiwi whom he had grown up with.
The man in the Hurricanes jersey smiled a groggy smile at the South Africans behind and they laughed.
And they nodded. It was a little boring. It wasn’t for long, though.
Not after South Africa declared. Not after they came into bowl. Not after New Zealand ended the day on 38/3 and 443 runs behind.
As the sun set and the shadows stretched across the field, the afternoon lit up.
Vernon Philander confounded Martin Guptill and Stiaan van Zyl redeemed himself at the second time of asking with a good catch, having missed a chance a few overs before.
It took a review for Dale Steyn to be given the wicket of Tom Latham, apparently the finest of fine edges seen by the third umpire, a decision accepted in good spirit by the Black Caps.
Temba Bavuma picked up with his left hand and ran Ross Taylor out with a throw with his right.
But it was Du Plessis’ 112 not out that set the afternoon up, an innings that came as welcome relief to the stand-in captain after a barren period.
It came after tea, when the noon heat, such as it was, had died down and when the man in the Hurricanes jersey was getting good and cocky.
“Since day one we have said there is a lot happening in the wicket, so we just needed one guy to anchor the innings and keep them out there as long as possible,” said Du Plessis. “The plan was to get to 400; we thought 400 on this pitch would be a really good score.
“The plan was also to have a little dip at them, because the last 20 overs in the day is really hard to bat on.
“As you saw on day one, myself and JP (Duminy) found it really, really hard to bat.”
Duminy will still be kicking himself for his soft dismissal to get out on 88.
A ton was his for the taking. He, like his captain, has had his critics and gave them an answer yesterday. It was not easy going.
As he neared his century, Du Plessis still played and missed. He has been criticised for his lack of runs, dropped, but has felt he has been on the cusp of returning to form.
A short delivery by Boult on leg stump was pulled for two runs to bring up his fifth century.
He jumped for the skies in celebration, the emotions overflowing.
“I have been feeling like I have been hitting the ball quite nicely in the build-up to this Test match.
“For me it was about just knuckling down to my game plan, and to be very patient, and wait for the bowlers to bowl in my areas.
“That’s when I play my best cricket. When I do score big innings in Test cricket is when I play those gritty innings.”
Grit will be needed with three days left to run to bring an end to this winter Test.
Predicting what will happen over those three days is uncertain because of the time of year, although history says it gets harder to play on.
Those cracks in the pitch will widen.
The ball will move, it will go up and down in the most awkward way.
“It’s almost like that grass stands up a little bit more.
“You can see the indentations at the end of the day. As a batter, you see these indentations and the grass, and that plays on your mind,” said Du Plessis. - The Star