Birthday creative: Dean Elgar – Top 3 knocks in international cricket
Dean Elgar has turned out to be one of South Africa’s promising batters in the longest format. Over the years not only has he evolved as a batter but also as a captain for the Proteas in Test cricket. The last six months have been brilliant for South Africa as far as their red-ball game is concerned with home series wins over India and Bangladesh and levelling an away series against New Zealand.
As Elgar turns 35 on June 11, here’s a look at three of his best knocks in his international career.
3. 160 vs India, Vizag, October 2019
South Africa might have gone down in a humiliating manner with a 203-run defeat, but they did challenge the hosts in the first innings courtesy of a valiant knock from Elgar. India had posted a mammoth 502/7 on the board batting first courtesy of Mayank Agarwal’s 215.
In reply, South Africa were reduced to 63/4, but Elgar held on from one end and was involved in two century partnerships with Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock as the Proteas posted 431.
2. 141* vs Australia, Cape Town, March 2018
This Test match was in the news for all wrong reasons due to the infamous ball-tampering scandal that involved the then Australian captain and vice-captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Nonetheless, Elgar’s century was more important than anything else as it helped South Africa register an emphatic win.
Not only did Elgar’s century turn out to be a match-winning one, but he also created two more records as the southpaw completed 3,000 Test runs and also equaled the Windies batting great Desmond Haynes’ world record of batting through a Test innings on three occasions.
- 96* vs India, Johannesburg 2018
This has to be arguably the best batting performance showcased by Elgar in his international career. He might have not scored a century on that occasion, but it was an outstanding knock nonetheless.
South Africa had suffered a humiliating loss in Centurion and Quinton de Kock had also announced his Test retirement soon after. The pressure was on the hosts who were trailing in the series. In the second innings, Elgar took it upon himself to get the job done for his side chasing a tricky 240.
While Elgar stood like a firm wall at one end, he braved a bouncer barrage from India’s lethal pace attack and successfully helped the hosts get past the finish line despite suffering bruises on his body.
