Dean Elgar says that the Proteas will aim to strike early with the new ball and claim a victory on Monday with a day to spare.
The Proteas have a commanding lead in the Test match and have a chance to topple England on day four, claim a victory and level the series 1-1.
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Elgar, however, emphasised that it won’t be an easy task, as England have two days to hunt down the 473-run target.
‘It’s going to be hard work to get the 10 wickets,’ he admitted on Sunday after the day’s play.
‘It is perfect for us, that is what our bowlers are looking forward to. We don’t want an easy Test victory, it has to be hard work to win a Test match. We are excited for tomorrow [Monday].
‘I’d like to say everyone [has a role to play] but the new ball is massive for us,’ he explained.
‘We saw in the short four overs that we had this evening that there is still a lot in the wicket. We have bowlers who can exploit the conditions off the wicket.
‘Throughout our first innings of bowling, a lot of the bowlers contributed. It is exciting to see, it shows you that the guys are hungry and they want to perform, ball in hand or bat in hand, they want to do the job.’
Hashim Amla (87) and Elgar (80) showed the mentality required for the conditions with a gutsy 135-run second-wicket partnership, which set up the platform for the 343-9 declared.
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Elgar admits that conditions have eased up from a batting point of view, but hopes the variable bounce and deteriorating conditions will play in the team’s favour.
‘I hope it gets a lot tougher tomorrow [Monday],’ he said of the conditions.
‘It was quite challenging, especially this morning with overhead conditions, the ball moving around a bit and facing world-class seamers who are good at exploiting swing bowling.
‘It was hard graft for myself and Hash [Amla], we didn’t score quickly throughout the day, but that is the nature of the game. It is slowing up and hopefully, the wicket deteriorates in our favour tomorrow [Monday].’
The Proteas will look to wrap things up on Monday with a day to spare.
Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
