Cape Town – South Africa’s brains trust might be said to have got it both right and wrong this week when it comes to Aiden Markram and the issue of his dual involvement across the Test and one-day international formats.

On Friday the young, strongly-built right-hander was the clear leading light at the crease on a dramatic, violently fortune-swaying first day of the third Test against Pakistan at the Wanderers.

At least partially, you were inclined to suspect, smarting through his omission from the ODI squad revealed only a day earlier by Linda Zondi’s national selection panel for the earliest part of the five-match 50-overs combat against the same tourists, Markram sizzled his way to one of the finest near-centuries you will see in the more extended format.

In lashing 90 off only 124 balls at a strike rate of 72.58 – with 16 fours, accounting for a Bullring crowd-pleasing 71 percent in boundaries – the 24-year-old dished out a defiant message that he isn’t too enamoured with the possibility of missing out on the 2019 World Cup in the United Kingdom.

So in that respect, there is a case for lauding Zondi and company for triggering the sort of urgency-laden, immediate response witnessed from the player, even if it was engineered in his Test whites.

You might also add, in their further defence, that the Markram-less squad named on Thursday was only for the first two ODIs, and with an on-record comment from the convenor that he, Farhaan Behardien and Chris Morris were “by no means out of the picture” for involvement at the slightly longer business end of the series.

The trio had all been part of the SA squad who earned a pleasing 2-1 away triumph over Australia a few weeks ago.

During that scrap with the old enemy, Markram had a little frustratingly continued a personal trend for getting out when promisingly set, something reflected in his series scores of 36 (Perth), 19 (Adelaide) and 32 (Hobart).

Certainly he is yet to catch fire in the fullest sense in ODIs, with a personal best of 66 from 16 innings and an average of 25 that does little to scream “match-winner”.

But there’s also that thing they call the rub of the green … and it hasn’t always been kind to Markram at either of the major international levels, even with his Test stats looking rosy (average nearly 47) for someone sporting only 15 appearances at this point and with reams of potential for enhanced street wisdom.

That includes Friday, when he looked so dead set on posting a fifth Test century before one of those fatal leg-side feathers that can come right out of the blue and not be put down to any special technical shortcomings.

Ahead of his cruel dismissal, he had looked pretty close to indestructible, and the central figure in the “first two-thirds” part of the day consummately dominated by the Proteas ahead of an inexplicable collapse to 262 all out in the eventful post-tea session.

Some of his cover driving had a Barry Richards and Jacques Kallis-like authority and majesty, while his pulling, and caressing behind square on the off-side, wasn’t notably less eye-catching.

A level-headed fellow, something likely to have been aided by his experience of captaincy at various levels, Markram isn’t likely to be bothered by some murmurs from the SuperSport commentary booth during day-one play that he may be developing into some kind of “new Michael Slater” for a penchant for Test dismissals in the mentally-challenging nineties.

He has as many as three now … but also the not inconsequential matter of four tons, including three being of the 140-plus variety which must be regarded as positive signs of stamina and durability.

Markram has had his difficulties along the route thus far, as innumerable emerging top-flight players do, yet Friday’s innings also made crystal clear to those not yet in the know that he has qualities – especially those related to natural, instinctive aggression – that put him in an elite league as a general cricketing package and prospect.

It was also, in all truth, a display bringing into sharp scrutiny the decision to ditch him, even if it does prove extremely short-lived, from the more abbreviated version of South Africa’s international plans.

The Centurion-born customer has been overwhelmingly pigeon-holed so far as a top-three player in the ODI order, and there is a good case for saying it is largely where he should remain despite his under-delivery in numbers terms.

But Markram so muscled the Pakistani attack on Friday, sometimes with almost cavalier glee, that it should even have triggered the possibility that he could be engaged productively in a middle-order and/or finishing capacity for the country in the 50-overs arena if need be; those areas can’t be said to be irreversibly settled.

The long and the short of it?

Aiden Markram seems wasted in, currently, just the Proteas’ Test set-up.

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing

Cape Town – Orlando Pirates stretched their unbeaten run in the Absa Premiership to 13 games after coming out on top against Chippa United in a six-goal thriller at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday evening.

In a match filled with plenty of drama and goals, Pirates claimed the lead after just three minutes, Happy Jele heading home from Thembinkosi Lorch’s inswinging free-kick.

Pule had a great chance to double Bucs’ lead in the 13th minute, but his driven shot from outside the box was saved well by Daniel Akpeyi in the Chippa United goal.

Chippa went on to level the scores on 22 minutes as Tlolane pounced on a failed clearance by Jele before firing through the keepers legs at the near post.

Pirates were quick to reclaim the lead, though, with Maphanga unlucky to head into his own after Akpeyi had slipped at a crucial moment.

The own goal halted the momentum of the visitors as Pirates saw out the remainder of the half with relative ease.

And, there were more goals to come after the half-time break as the slippery conditions made it hard for the players to control the ball.

Pirates stretched further ahead in the 56th minute, Pule converting from the penalty spot after Gaona Modisane has brought him down in the danger area.

However, Chippa refused to let their heads drop and their hard graft eventually led to a huge slice of luck as a ball in from a corner was flicked on before taking a deflection off Maela and crossing the line.

They continued to press and very nearly made it 3-3 soon afterwards as Rhulani Manzini struck the post with an effort from way outside.

And, the Chilli Boys were made to rue that missed chance, Pirates substitute Mahachi popped up in the 86th minute to fire home from Asavela Mbekile’s cross, making 4-2 to the hosts.

The result sees Milutin Sredojevic’s side move to within two points of table-topping Bidvest Wits, while Chippa remain just one point clear of bottom-of-the-table Maritzburg United.

Cape Town – Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis insists that he and coach Ottis Gibson do not ask ground staff for anything “ridiculous” when preparing pitches for home Test matches. 

South Africa beat Pakistan by 9 wickets in the second Test at Newlands on Sunday morning, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead to win their seventh home Test series in a row. 

Under the Du Plessis/Gibson era, which began when the West Indian took the reins in August 2017, there has been a spotlight on South African Test wickets. 

That conversation reached boiling point in last year’s home series against India when the third Test at the disastrous Wanderers strip very nearly saw the match called off because of its uneven and unpredictable bounce. 

After day two at Newlands on Friday, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur took the issue even further by slamming the pitches in Cape Town and Centurion (the venue for the first Test) by saying that they were not up to Test match standards. 

The bounce in Cape Town was uneven at times, but that didn’t stop Du Plessis from carding a century on day two while there were no less than seven other scores of over 50 in the match. 

“We never ask for ridiculous pitches. We just ask for pace and bounce,” Du Plessis told media on Sunday morning after the win.

“You have to adapt your game and Temba (Bavuma) was a great example. In two Test matches in a row now on tough pitches he has scored runs and it shows you that it is possible if you apply yourself mentally and you have a technique.”

Bavuma scored a fighting 53 at Centurion while, in Cape Town, his 75 in a 156-run partnership with Du Plessis effectively batted Pakistan out of the series. 

Du Plessis does not think that he and Gibson place more emphasis on pitch preparation than any of their predecessors. 

“I think maybe we just speak about it more openly than you possibly would have heard about in the past,” he said.

“Our question to any groundsman is always if the pitch has pace and bounce … that’s always what we ask for.

“We don’t ask for anything more than that. 

“Everyone expected this wicket to get worse because of the cracks, but it actually got better.”

Du Plessis also opened up on the current state of Test cricket, saying that the fact that matches were moving faster than they were contributing to an increased focus on wickets.

“Cricket is not the same as it used to be a few years ago when there were 400s and 500s being scored all at the time,” he said.

“In South Africa the ball does move and there are seam-friendly pitches.

“The pace of the game has become a lot quicker and batsmen are not just going at 2 or 2.5 an over.

“Test matches are moving so quickly and as a player you have to move with it.”

The series now moves to the Wanderers for the third Test, which gets underway on January 11, and there will no doubt be further discussion about the surface. 

“I haven’t seen the pitch (at the Wanderers). The nice thing is that we have a few extra days for the bowlers to have their feet up. 

“Once we get to Joburg, we have to see what the pitch looks like. I haven’t seen it since the T20 league where it was dry and had a lot of cracks. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s changed at all.”

Cape Town – There have been a few question marks hovering over Aiden Markram lately, on both the ODI and Test stages. 

After a cracking start to his Test career that saw him reach 1 000 runs in just 10 matches, Markram hit somewhat of a wobble in 2018 when he averaged 33.6 in the format. 

When one considers that the Proteas played the bulk of their 2018 Tests at home on difficult batting wickets and that they also toured Sri Lanka, that may not seem a terrible return. 

Instead, the worry has centred around his inability to capitalise on starts, particularly in the shorter format where he still averages just 25.43.

Markram is considered the front-runner to bat at No 3 at this year’s World Cup in England, so the Proteas brains trust desperately need him to find the kind of form that matches the hype that has accompanied the player since the very beginning of his international career.

At Newlands on Thursday, the 24-year-old gave a timely reminder of exactly why he is rated so highly. 

His knock of 78 included 14 sweetly struck boundaries and a six, and it came off just 96 balls. 

In a little more than two hours at the crease, Markram went a long way towards taking the game away from Pakistan.

He pounced on anything short, drove beautifully when the ball was overpitched and scored all around the wicket. 

As the cricket gods would have it, Markram was out bowled on the final ball of the day thanks to a delivery from part-time seamer Shan Masood that stayed unkindly low.

“I’m sure he’ll be gutted,” Markram’s team-mate Dale Steyn said after the first day’s play.

“You want to get through the day and come out tomorrow and get another 100. He’s done his job today. It was a pretty good knock and he can be very pleased with his performance.

“When somebody is batting like that it lifts the changeroom and you start thinking that there are a lot of runs to be had.

“Pakistan have got a good bowling line-up and some guys who can really test our techniques and when someone like Aiden bats like that it gives us the faith that we can get through it and score big.”

The Proteas, thanks largely to Markram, are now just 54 runs behind Pakistan with eight first innings wickets remaining. 

Hashim Amla, meanwhile, is looking steady at the other end on 24* and he is likely to be joined by Theunis de Bruyn when play gets underway again on Friday morning.

Cape Town – South Africa and Pakistan must resolve selection headaches ahead of the second Test starting at Newlands on Thursday.

South Africa’s six-wicket win in the first Test at Centurion was set up by the bowling of Duanne Olivier, who had match figures of 11 for 96.

Olivier got his chance because of an injury to Vernon Philander, who is fit again and will “definitely come back” to play at his home ground, according to captain Faf du Plessis. Philander has taken 49 wickets in nine Tests at Newlands at an average of 16.55.

Despite his performance at Centurion, Olivier is unlikely to be picked ahead of Kagiso Rabada, who finished 2018 as the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, or Dale Steyn, South Africa’s all-time leading wicket-taker.

Nor are South Africa likely to risk going into a Test at Newlands without spinner Keshav Maharaj. Which means Olivier will only play at the expense of a specialist batsman, with Theunis de Bruyn the most likely to make way.

The case for South Africa picking five bowlers is strengthened by Philander’s status as a reasonably reliable lower order batsman, who has scored 730 runs at an average of 27.03 in his last 21 Tests, going back to November 2016. His batting average at Newlands is 33.14.

Pakistan will also be welcoming back a first-choice fast bowler in Mohammad Abbas, with captain Sarfraz Ahmed saying after Centurion that Abbas had fully recovered from a shoulder injury.

Pakistan’s bowlers were impressive in the first Test but the touring team’s batting frailty is such that they will almost certainly have to drop a bowler, probably the talented but inexperienced Shaheen Shah Afridi, to accommodate Abbas.

Also fit after missing the first Test is batsman Haris Sohail, who seems certain to return. Shan Masood, who came into the side when fellow left-hander Sohail injured a knee during the pre-match warm-up, made an impressive 65 in the second innings in Centurion.

Masood batted at number three, but is normally an opening batsman. That means flamboyant Fakhar Zaman, who looked vulnerable against South Africa’s fast bowlers, could be in danger.

Bowlers dominated at Centurion, with the match finishing before tea on the third day. There is again likely to be assistance for the fast bowlers at Newlands but without the uneven bounce which was a feature in the first Test.

Pakistan will be looking for experienced batsmen like Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq to bat with more responsibility than they showed in Centurion.

South Africa will be hoping for a return to form for Du Plessis and opening batsman Aiden Markram.

Teams:

South Africa (likely from)

Faf du Plessis (captain), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Duanne Olivier

Pakistan (likely from)

Sarfraz Ahmed (captain/wkt), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Shah Afridi

Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS), Joel Wilson (WIN)

TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi (IND)