NEWS
Follow UsSouth African batting consultant Justin Sammons felt that captain Dean Elgar's determination to compete against odds will be crucial for the hosts if they are to win the second Test at Centurion against India.
Elgar remained unbeaten 46 at end of third day's play and survived several body blows as the Proteas reached 118 for 2, 122 runs away from the target.
"He's a competitor. The thing he loves about the game is the competitiveness. The competitive nature of the Test cricket brings the best out of him," Sammons said on Wednesday.
"His role will be massively important. Having somebody there to bat for the rest of the innings would be the key.
"Just having someone with his character for the guys coming in to be, I think it's massively important. His leadership goes a long way in getting us over the line tomorrow."
Chasing 240, South Africa lost the wickets of Aiden Markram and Keegan Pietersen before Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen (11 not out) battled hostile bowling from the Indian to keep the hosts' chances alive.
Semmons felt that the first hour on day four is going to be crucial as the bowlers can find variable bounce off the pitch.
"The message for the guys coming in would be to see how the morning plays out and we just have to be adaptive. We need to get through the first hour and play according to the situation. It's been an interesting wicket, not the easiest deck to bat on."
"It goes without saying, the task is not going to be easy. The Indian attack has been relentless. But we believe, we can chase it down. The way we batted this afternoon, it's case of point there," he said.
Semmons felt that the Proteas batters need to be aware of their off-stump and leave the ball in order to clinch a series-levelling victory.
"The basics of Test cricket is about leaving the ball well and ultimately it boils down to know where your off stump is. Having not played a lot of red ball cricket played a part. So we had to make sure that the guys are in touch with the game.
"It's about the need for being decisive. It's something that we discussed at length. We had to come out of any sort of tentativeness.
"It's always easier said than done. The guys have come out and showed positive intent and it's there to see how they have gone about it," he said.