Proteas Test captain Hashim Amla and national teammates JP Duminy and Stiaan van Zyl were unable to immediately regain their form for the Cape Cobras in the opening round of the Sunfoil Series on Thursday.
All three Proteas batsmen had a difficult time at the crease in the 3-0 Test defeat to India on the sub-continent, and it was decided to give them an opportunity to find their touch for the Cobras against the Knights at Newlands ahead of the upcoming four-Test series against England, which starts on Boxing Day in Durban.
But the Cobras imploded to 146 all out in 69 overs in the first innings on Thursday after captain Andrew Puttick won the toss and elected to bat, with former Capetonian Shadley van Schalkwyk registering career-best figures of 5/45 in 17 overs of medium-pace bowling.
Left-handed opener Van Zyl is set to reclaim his Proteas starting berth for the Kingsmead Test after being included in the squad last week, so he would’ve been looking for a big score to regain his confidence following a torrid time against Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
But it was not to be for the 28-year-old, who left a Dillon du Preez delivery, only to see it swing back in to hit the stumps to be dismissed for 15.
That saw Amla arrive at the crease, and the 32-year-old took his time to get settled on his first-class debut for the Cobras. His patience was almost reminiscent of his monumental effort in Delhi in the final Test, where he made a valiant attempt to block the Proteas to a draw.
But this time around the right-hander didn’t last as long. After 50 minutes out in the middle and having faced 45 balls, Amla got an outside edge to a good swinging ball from Van Schalkwyk to be caught behind by Knights wicket-keeper Rudi Second for just 10 (1x4).
The left-handed Duminy at least managed a decent knock on a warm summer’s day at Newlands. He worked the ball all around the ground, and hit four boundaries. The danger for him, though, was that wickets were falling quickly at the other end.
Firstly youngster Keegan Petersen went for 13, and then captain Puttick – who played some classy strokes – was bowled by Knights captain and off-spinner Werner Coetsee for 32 (86 balls, 4x4).
Left-hander Lesiba Ngoepe followed soon after for a quick-fire 18 (26 balls, 4x4) as Coetzee made a double breakthrough after lunch.
That resulted in Duminy batting with what was an already long tail, with Proteas off-spinner Dane Piedt walking to the wicket.
But following a strong start after lunch, Duminy was trapped LBW by Van Schalkwyk with a straight delivery that kept a touch low. He batted for 98 minutes and faced 84 balls for his 35, which included four boundaries.
Van Schalkwyk quickly wrapped up the tail, and the Knights lost just the one wicket of Second for two – who was dismissed LBW by Dane Paterson – to end the day on 59/1 off 25 overs.
@IndyCapeSport