Johannesburg - For the second time in this final Test match of the summer, Kagiso Rabada led South Africa off the field, the hero of his team. Once again he shyly acknowledged the ovation of the crowd, most of it coming from the sizeable Barmy Army contingent, but as he prepared to bound up the stairs to the changeroom again, just as he had done a few days ago when he took seven wickets in England’s first innings, he was stopped in his tracks.
His father, sitting just to the right of the stairs, called his name. His son gave him the stump he had claimed as a souvenir after South Africa had beaten England and claimed some consolation in a series in which they had been outplayed by the visitors.
“It was very special,” said Rabada, with a smile that lit up the press conference room. “I didn’t know he was sitting that side. He told me I must give it to him.” And, like the obedient young man he is, he gave it to him.
Rabada gave AB de Villiers everything he asked of him in the last two Tests of the series, and in this one in particular. South Africa were down to two seamers for some of England’s first innings and much of the second at SuperSport Park after Kyle Abbott pulled up lame.
It was Rabada who picked up much of the slack, bowling almost 40 overs in total. He took 13 wickets for 144 runs in the match.
In the space of 21 minutes on Tuesday morning, De Villiers rang the bowling changes. He began with Kyle Abbott and Dane Piedt, then brought Morne Morkel on for Abbott, gave Piedt two overs and got his wicket from the spinner, before bringing Rabada on. He never had to take Rabada off.
“To take seven wickets this morning in the time that we did was definitely not part of my thinking last night when I was in bed,” said De Villiers. “We were prepared to go to 5.30pm.”
Rabada has been reticent to accept too much praise for his bowling at SuperSport Park. He speaks of the team as a collective and the bowling unit as a joint effort. He was asked if he felt he had to “carry” the rest of the attack, and looked a little peeved.
“The key is to do it for 15 years, not one year. I’m still a youngster in the game, I didn’t feel like I was carrying anyone, they were carrying me,” said Rabada with reference to Morkel and Abbott.
If De Villiers was prepared to go until 5.30pm on Tuesday, England certainly played like they weren’t. It is never easy to bat on the final day here, but England had an end-of-term feeling about them today, which Alastair Cook admitted had been “disappointing”. While he had nothing to lose, De Villiers had everything to gain, but the South African had only praise for England.
“We were outplayed in the two Test matches (we lost), there is no doubt about that,” said De Villiers. “They have good match-winners. I think (Cook) is a really stable captain, I think they will be the team to beat over the next two years.”
South Africa, who remained as the number two Test team in the world thanks to this win, may one day look back at Centurion in January 2016 and see it as an important point in their transition. The selection of Stephen Cook was an inevitable move, and De Villiers believed the Highveld Lions’ captain has a role to play over the next few years.
“I think a couple of changes were necessary. I think the guys that came in brought a nice vibe and a fresh air of confidence. (Stephen) Cookie came in and brought in a lot of experience, even though it was his first Test match. I wouldn’t say the balance was a lot different, it was just a different feel and something that we needed. I’m pretty happy with what happened here.
“Tough times are part of the game, and part of teams going through phases. I didn’t think it was panic stations, even though we hadn’t won in nine or 10 matches. Things came together. We applied pressure for a little bit longer, did the basics a little bit better.
“Those are the kind of things I have been asking for over the last 14 days. I don’t think it is that complicated. You just have to do the small things right more often than not, and you will see that you will finish on top more often than not.”
Cape Argus