A Star is Born – Jean Paul Duminy

Its been half an hour since stumps on day 3 of the second test match of the 3 mobile test series. I was awake at 5am IST to watch the match & boy am i glad i woke up to watch it. The match was in the Aussies’ hands firmly with the Proteas reeling at 180 or something for 8. I thought the match was as good as over for the tourists. I saw Duminy bat in the first test & his 50 to guide his team home in the second innings with childhood friend Ab de Villiers was a special knock.
It showed his class & temperament. But that innings was nothing compared to what was to follow.
Prince was again not available & Duminy naturally came in. Then the collapse of the top order put him in a spot of bother. He had to bat with the tail & hopefully try to get his team out of the predicament they were in. I mean 180 for 8 facing 394 on the board is not a winning position. I thought that if they played really well, they could play for a draw. But as i watched Duminy & Steyn put on a performance of pure grit. It was hard out there against the likes of Johnson & Siddle. True, Lee wasn’t there & he could have done some damage but these two are no novices either. Steyn took some blows on the ribs but stood it out there with Duminy.

At the other side unfolded an innings of pure class filled with delightful strokes & exquisite drives. I was dumbstruck by what i saw coz the southpaw showed absolutely no signs of nerves or pressure. Or maybe he never cared. He had to do a job. So he went out there & did it. Displaying a maturity beyond his 24 year old frame, he stroked 166 of the very best, possibly the gutsiest innings under pressure i’ve ever seen. When he got out to Hauritz it with the score past 450 & a lead of over 60, it was more out of tiredness than anything else. He had taken his team from a position of absolute strife to a position from which they could dictate terms. It was great to watch & mysteriously fulfilling in a way to see the Kangaroos under fire.

Steyn’s contribution cannot be less praised. The bowler got many short ones but he braved the spells. His 76 was a classic test innings. Bowlers tend to bat much better in tests than in one dayers, a case in point being Harbhajan whose half centuries have bailed out India many a time. Maybe its coz of less pressure of scoring runs quickly.

Getting back to our hero at the MCG, Duminy has impressed one & all. You may ask why the fuss? Any good player can score 150+. True, but onlya champion can score when he is under pressure &  faced with the toughest odds. His temperament & character were tested today & he came out on top. If he can play half as well as this for the rest of his career,sir, I believe we’ve a champion here.