South Africa's search for the "nice pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" in this World Test Championship (WTC) cycle is on after they kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the title bout with a series win over West Indies.
Red-ball coach Shukri Conrad described the incentive of reaching the 2025 WTC final at Lord's as being at the back of the team's mind even as they continue to transition.
"We've got a big couple of months ahead of us to grow as a Test team. At the end of that, if we do very well and we win enough games, we can end up in the World Test Championship final," Conrad said from Guyana, after South Africa's 40-run win in the second Test. "But that's not the only goal of the team. It's also to grow as a team."
Only three of South Africa's squad - Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj - have played more than 50 Tests and the squad is laced with inexperience. In the West Indies, this reflected most obviously in their batting. South Africa lost 4 for 29 in the first innings of the first Test to fall short of a total of 400, and 5 for 22 in the second innings of the second Test to set West Indies a potentially gettable target of 263. Conrad acknowledged the "batting department remains a little bit of an Achilles heel for us," but believes time in the middle could help solve that.
"With young and inexperienced batters, you almost factor in that every now and again you're going to have a few aberrations with the bat. But the vital signs are there that we can go and become a really good test unit," he said. "The skillsets are there. It's really just experience we need. With experience, you'll find fewer soft dismissals and less of the falling over when bowlers bowl well and we'll be able to put up more of a fight with the bat."
There were glimpses of that potential from Tony de Zorzi, who scored 78 and 45 in the first Test, Tristan Stubbs, who made his first Test fifty in Trinidad, and the 85-run sixth wicket stand between Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder in Guyana, which revived South Africa from 139 for 5 in the third innings. Mulder's contribution of 34 played a part in his being named Player of the Match in Guyana, where he also took six wickets, and, with Marco Jansen rested from the tour, made a case to be considered for the premier allrounder role in red-ball cricket.
Mulder has only played three Tests in the last two years and has not been able to hold down a regular spot but Conrad indicated he could now be in line for a more consistent run. "Wiaan has obviously been in and around the Test side without getting a regular spot, and his performances sometimes haven't warranted him getting a really good run. But at some stage, you give someone a run and you back them and you see where you come out," Conrad said. "We always knew that Wiaan's got the ability, and it's great to see that he's added a few yards [of pace] with the ball. He'd also be the first one to tell you that he's slightly disappointed that he didn't go on and convert the start he got in the second innings and make that a big one but that's part of the process."
Ultimately, South Africa's conundrum throughout the series was team combination and they did not seem to get it quite right in either match. In Trinidad, they included a seventh specialist batter and appeared a spinner short; in Guyana, they left that batter out for a second spinner on a seamer-friendly pitch. Conrad said both teams were "caught off guard" by conditions in Guyana and South Africa fared slightly better because of the quality of their attack.
Despite Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales taking five-fors, South Africa had the edge through Rabada and Player of the Series Maharaj, who claimed 13 wickets in the two matches. In the process, Maharaj became South Africa's most successful spinner in terms of wickets and his presence has added much-needed gravitas to their squad. "Kesh is an absolute workhorse, an absolute professional, and he just keeps going, And I'm thrilled that he nailed that record. It's richly deserved," Conrad said. "He's great in the change room. He's a great sounding board for players and coaches, a really good team guy and someone that you can easily dub Mr. Reliable. When you're transitioning, you need someone like that in your team."
Maharaj is expected to continue playing an important role through the rest of this WTC cycle. South Africa have just six matches left - two in Bangladesh (scheduled for October) and two each at home against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the 2024-25 summer. Every game carries an enormous weight of expectation but Conrad is happy for the challenge. "We know that if we win every Test match that there is that possibility (of getting to the final). And we're really thrilled that there might be something for us at the end of this," he said. "There's World Cups in every other format and no reason why Test cricket shouldn't have something like this."
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