Exclusive: Stephen Cook Expects Temba Bavuma and David Bedingham to Set the Tone for Proteas on Day Two

Former Proteas Test opener Stephen Cook told SportsBoom.co.za that the Proteas would want to take the positive intent on Day Two at Lord's, having been reduced to 43/2 with a deficit of 169 runs at stumps on the opening day of the ongoing World Test Championship final.

Aussie quicks overshadow Rabada

Despite coming from the drug-ban scandal, South African speedster Kagiso Rabada did an incredible job earlier in the day, taking 5/51 to help South Africa bundle out Australia for 212 early in the third session of the day.

Rabada picked up his second five-wicket haul at Lord's and in the process surpassed the great Allan Donald in the South African all-time leading Test wicket takers list.

Jansen's 3/49, Aiden Markram's 1/5 and Keshav Maharaj's 1/19 played a pivotal role in South Africa bowling Australia out inside three sessions after bowling first.

Despite the commendable effort, there were instances of poor bowling from the quicks as Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder went wicketless.

Post Day One at Lord's, SportsBoom.co.za spoke with former Proteas Test opener Stephen Cook. Cook highlighted that Rabada was excellent.

In reply, the Proteas were reduced to 43/2 with a deficit of 169 runs, with Temba Bavuma (3*) and David Bedingham (8*) unbeaten.

"I think there was nothing wrong with bowling first. I mean, there was a little bit of life in the wicket. It may have been a little bit slow, the movement, but probably not a bad decision given our team and how we've played over the last while. I thought Kagiso Rabada was excellent," Cook told SportsBoom.co.za.  

"I thought him taking a five-for at Lord's just shows the true champion that he is. Maybe slightly battled to back it up with a couple of the seamers, although they were tight at the end, Mulder was tight, Lungi leaked a few runs."

"And having said that, I mean, if you'd said at the start of the day, Aussies are going to be, what's it, a 211 all out, you probably would have taken that. So I think fair play. That 20 overs at the end of the day to bat, the Aussies were fired up, and those three are, they're three world-class bowlers. There was just unrelenting pressure."

"I mean, you saw the fact that, you know, Wiaan Mulder just couldn't get off-strike, Temba was bobbed down, the pressure just builds and builds and builds and eventually it pops and that's what ends up happening is you lose a couple of wickets and all of a sudden if you're scoring the occasional run in between there, tonight, all of a sudden you're 80-90 for three or four versus being 30-40 for four."

"So you just don't get anywhere and go anywhere. So that's really the problem. It's more the sort of pressure that builds on the run rate as much as the wickets. But I mean, you've got to give Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins credit. Those are three serious operators. We knew that was going to be the challenge, their bowlers against our batters."

"But having said that, Bedingham's got a lot of experience in England, I think number six in the world rankings at the moment and nothing to say you can't start tomorrow well and get somewhere near parity and go from there. So, certainly not all hope is lost. There was certainly a lot of South African support on the ground today, which is amazing. So, it was a fantastic atmosphere there, you know."

How to Approach Day Two

Cook reckons that Bavuma and Bedingham should bat with positive intent at Lord's on Day Two, a feat that the Proteas batter lacked on the opening day.

"I think what you should do is you've got to keep a positive intent, even if it's in defence. I think if you get into that negative mindset, then you can very easily find yourself in trouble. You've got to look to rotate that strike somehow and assert some sort of pressure back on the bowlers because if not, you just don't go anywhere. It's incredibly tough," Cook told SportsBoom.co.za.

"I think that will present a slightly different challenge, and I think that's why they complement each other so well. It's more the complementary nature, you've got that impeccable line and length, and you've got the left arm and the swing of Starc. So that makes it really tricky. I certainly sympathise with a couple of the batters out there today. I couldn't help but think back on the years of Starc tormenting me."

"So, it's certainly not an easy task. It's certainly not easy to throw criticism around when you know how tough that's been. I certainly don't take a negative mindset about today. I think the day didn't end the way we would have liked, but having said that, I think we're still in there with a fight, and if this team has shown us nothing, they've been finding a way. I'm sure that's what Coach Conrad will be saying to them tonight is let's find a way."

"We've got Temba, we've got Beddingham, we've still got Verreynne and Jansen, and between them they can certainly get things going. And we almost saw today, I think, with the Aussies, when Head, Smith and Webster played more positively, I think that's almost when that balance seemed to swing their way, just for a little bit."

"That's the way I would sort of look at it tomorrow and say, right, let's see if we can maybe, I mean, not go stupid, but just maybe turn a little bit more attacking, try to jump on those opportunities and see what happens. Make them bowl Lyon. We want Nathan Lyon to bowl. If Nathan Lyon's bowling, well, at least it's not one of those seamers bowling."

How to bat positively

Cook highlighted that batting with positive intent can look different for Bavuma, Bedingham and the other Proteas batters.

"It's probably not a one-size-fits-all answer. Everyone will probably react slightly differently. I mean, David Bedingham has played really positively in England. In his years of county cricket, his strike rate has been incredibly high. So, he's probably got his way of counterattacking," said Cook.

"Someone like Temba, it's probably more in that rotation of strike, which I think we showed early signs of it. I think when Rickleton was at the crease, the guys were looking for that a little bit more. And then we went through that phase where we just got stuck."

"And I mean, yes, there's probably the occasion, and there's a slope at Lord's, and there's all of these things. It's not called Test Cricket for nothing, I suppose, you're going to be tested physically, mentally, and every other way. Emotionally, probably too."

Day Two Conditions

Cook is expecting the wicket to be quicker at Lord's on Day Two than it was on the opening day. Also, the former Proteas Test opener reckons that it could be easier for batting than it was on the opening day.

"I can't say I'm an expert in Lord's conditions, you would think with the sunnier weather this afternoon that it'd be slightly quicker than it was yesterday. But arguably at its best for batting, I think that's probably why we bowled first," said Cook.

"We probably wanted a bat on day two, and it's arguably at its best. So I want to hope there's a little bit less lateral movement and maybe a little bit more pace coming on, you can hit through the line a bit. I would hope for that."

Day Two is set to get underway at 11.30 am SAST.