Domingo: Proteas can do it

Proteas batsman JP Duminy goes on the attack against India on day two of the third Test in Nagpur on Thursday. Photo: Amit Dave, Reuters

Proteas batsman JP Duminy goes on the attack against India on day two of the third Test in Nagpur on Thursday. Photo: Amit Dave, Reuters

Published Nov 26, 2015

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Proteas coach Russell Domingo says his team can pull off “one of the greatest chases in the game” in the third Test against India.

South Africa ended day two on Thursday on 32/2 in pursuit of a 310-run victory target in Nagpur.

On a fascinating day of Test cricket, where 20 wickets fell for 273 runs – 17 going to spin bowlers on a rapidly deteriorating pitch – the Proteas managed to restrict India to 173 all out in their second innings, with leg-spinner Imran Tahir taking 5/38 to bring his team back into the game.

Earlier, the South Africans crashed to 79 all out, their lowest score since readmission. Most of the damage was done by tweakers Ravichandran Ashwin (5/32) and Ravindra Jadeja (4/33), and they loom as the dangermen once more on day three on Friday.

South Africa have lost Stiaan van Zyl and nightwatchman Tahir in the second innings, and need captain Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis to show leadership and spearhead the charge for the remaining 278 runs for victory that will level the series at 1-1 going into the decider in Delhi.

And despite the first-innings capitulation on a pitch that looked more like a “day six” track than day two, Domingo is adamant that his big guns will fire on Friday.

“We have to believe that we can do it,” Domingo said in a statement on Thursday. “We know that we have the players capable of pulling off what would definitely go down as one of the greatest chases in the game, so we have to have that belief.

“Some strange things have happened in this game before. We are obviously a long way behind this game at the moment, but we are not discounting ourselves just yet.”

The Proteas coach attributed some of the ill-advised shot-making that saw the likes of Dean Elgar, Amla, Du Plessis and De Villiers give their wickets away on Thursday to a “positive” approach that the team had adopted.

But Domingo believes that the same gameplan is required against Ashwin and Jadeja if the South Africans are going to get to 310.

The only Proteas batsman who had a measure of success on Thursday was left-hander JP Duminy, who played some wonderful shots in compiling a vital 35 off 65 balls (1x4, 2x6).

“It was part of it (the positive plan, resulting in wickets being lost), but I think it has been shown that if you just sit there and look to absorb without trying to score, you will get a ball that will get you out,” Domingo said.

“So the plan was not to play loosely, but look to score. We want to be positive in our defence and positive when we are attacking. It didn't work this morning, unfortunately, but the guys who have got runs have looked to score. We are going to look to score tomorrow, because there is no way that we will block out for three days.”

* Play on Friday starts at 6am South African time and will be broadcast live on SuperSport channel 202, with ball-by-ball coverage also on Radio 2000.

For live updates throughout the match, follow @IndyCapeSport on Twitter.

For reports and pictures, visit www.iol.co.za and read the Cape Times, Cape Argus and Weekend Argus.

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