Was a bit injudicious but Philander kept me in right mindset, says Keshav Maharaj
South Africa didn't seem to learn from the Vizag Test as they trail by 326 runs in the ongoing Test match in Pune. Although Keshav Maharaj couldn’t make a mark with the ball he did with the bat scoring his maiden half-century and said that the game plan was to play spin by going forward.
The South African batting lineup fell like a pack of cards, again, as Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammad Shami ran havoc through the ranks. Skipper Faf du Plessis (64) was the only batsman who could put up a fight until Vernon Philander (44) and Keshav Maharaj (72) played out the day with a good performance lower down the order.
Maharaj, who picked up his 100th Test wicket on the second day of the match, failed to perform with the ball but made up for it with a highest score with the bat. The left-arm spinner who had a sore shoulder but he fought through the pain to bring up his maiden half-century.
“It's very sore (shoulder), I dived on it yesterday, lots of bruising, but hopefully, I will be fine going further into the Test series,” Maharaj said after the match.
Maharaj hailed Vernon Philander for his innings as he helped him keep his mind in the game. Maharaj scored 72 runs off 132 balls to become the top scorer of the South African innings. The 109 run partnership between Maharaj and Philander made the Indian bowlers toil to prize out the final two wickets of the South African innings.
“Myself and Vernon (Philander) decided that trying to go to tea unscathed was the first target, I was a bit injudicious at times (being a lower-order batsman), he kept me in my mind and space and I managed to get some runs. I sat with Prasanna (South Africa analyst) last night, the game plan for me going forward was to how to play spin, I wanted to try and go outside off-stump, for Jadeja, tried to get my left leg out of the way. The wicket is deteriorating, it's becoming difficult to score runs and Shami got it to reverse as well. It was tough, but think we managed it well,” the 29-year-old bowler said.
Maharaj stressed on building up partnerships to take the pressure back on the Indians. What makes Maharaj’s innings even more special is the fact that he was in pain through his gritty knock.
“Not at all (when asked if he would advise his batsmen), to be honest, I was in a lot of pain myself. We wanted to spend as much time as possible, don't know what India will do, but we need to keep being positive, don't go into a shell and try and build some partnerships and transfer some pressure back on the bowlers.”
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