South Africa’s fast bowlers have enjoyed Test debuts straight out of fantasy land over the past few years.
Kyle Abbott claimed 7/29 back in 2013 and Lungi Ngidi snared 6/39 last year.
This is in stark contrast to Anrich Nortje’s Test debut last week. The Uitenhage Express delivered 25 wicketless overs and conceded 100 runs.
While the marked difference, of course, was that Abbott and Ngidi debuted at Centurion compared to Nortje in Pune, the 25-year-old would still have been disappointed to not snare at least one wicket.
He is not showing it yet, though, and is in fact happy to take in all the harsh lessons the Indian batsmen are dealing out at the moment.
“Obviously not the result we wanted, but until even 140 overs in the field I still enjoyed it,” Nortje said yesterday.
“It was such a great experience, I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, we can turn it around in the last Test. I am trying to learn as much as possible, and take as much forward as I can at this stage of my career.
“The main thing (I learnt) was the groupings as bowlers. The continuous accuracy at stages is probably the main thing I took out of it, you just have to be a lot more consistent.”
It is expected that the hosts will reign supreme once again in Ranchi when the third and final Test gets underway on Saturday, but Nortje has stressed that the Proteas will be hell-bent on avoiding a series whitewash.
“It’s not about a series loss it’s about getting the points for the Test championship. So I think the guys are very keen and motivated for the last one,” he said.
@ZaahierAdams
Cape Times
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