JOHANNESBURG - Aiden Markram and Pieter Malan stared each other down and produced matching first innings centuries at SuperSport Park to virtually ensure they’d both be part of the extended Proteas Test squad for the two match series with Sri Lanka.
Because of the ‘bio bubble,’ the national selection panel has to pick a bigger than normal squad, meaning any difficult decisions about choosing one of Malan or Markram can wait until the night before the first Test starts on Boxing Day.
Malan is the current Test opening incumbent, a position he took from Markram last summer when the latter broke a finger in the first Test against England. There was talk that Markram was on the cusp of getting dropped anyway and the fractured digit offered the selectors back then a convenient way out.
Markram has lit up the Four-Day series in the last week, compiling three consecutive centuries for the Titans. He has looked back to his best and the fact that the series against Sri Lanka will be played on the Highveld, where he’s most comfortable, will be favourably looked upon by the selectors.
The fact that his scoring tempo is better than Malan’s might also work in his favour, given that the Cape Cobras opener, and Dean Elgar, both tend to score at a similar rate.
There is another option the national selectors may consider and that is batting Markram at no.3 with Malan and Elgar remaining at the top of the order.
For now, Victor Mpitsang, the new selection convenor, will just be happy that he has such good options available to him
Neither Markram nor Malan could help their side to victory however, an outcome that hurts Malan’s Cobras side more. The Cape franchise is on the only team yet to win a game this season, and Thursday’s draw actually stretches their winless streak in the four-day competition to 13 matches. The Cobras last won a match in the country’s premier first class competition in January 2019.
In Port Elizabeth the Warriors put up a brave fight against the Lions but eventually succumbed by 76 runs. Set 513 to win the Warriors were bowled out for 436, with Rudi Second’s 171, the stand out performance for the home side. For the Lions, Wiaan Mulder’s first innings 91 combined with a second innings century - and then a wicket in the Warriors’ second innings - will provide a massive boost to his confidence after a lengthy period in which he was sidelined by injury.
The Dolphins had already completed a five wicket win against the Knights in Durban on Wednesday.
Outstanding Batsman: Markram notched up a third hundred in a row. He’s shown his confidence is back domestically, now to transfer that to the international stage.
Outstanding Bowler: Daryn Dupavillon picked up career best match figures of 11/104 against the Knights. He took 7/38 in the first innings, a performance that Cricket SA’s high performance manager Vincent Barnes, who was watching live, described as “probably one of the best spells of fast bowling I’ve seen in a while. Good pace, swing and execution of skill.”
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