Australia’s bowlers are ‘machines’, but Proteas batters are hungry to hit back, says Bedingham

The Proteas need to dig deep, top-order batter David Bedingham admits, when they square off against Australia in the second Test in Gqeberha starting on Sunday.

After struggling to build big partnerships in the first match of the series which ended in Durban earlier this week, where the tourists earned a 214-run victory, Bedingham said the SA batters were eager to produce a better performance in an attempt to level the series.

“There have been lots of chats around it, but I think the one thing we can do is try and bounce back,” Bedingham said on Friday.

“That’s the only way we can really show it, so hopefully come the next Test in two days, we are ready and up for it.”

Batters must push through

In order to put up a stronger fight, Bedingham felt it was key for the top order to stick around for longer periods than they did in the series opener.

In the first innings in Durban, when the Proteas were eight wickets down, Bedingham said it had become easier to score runs. And if they had specialist batters or all-rounders at the crease he believed they could have pushed on by tiring out the opposition.

Instead, they were left to rely on lower-order players Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj and Anrich Nortje to try and take advantage of the conditions.

“When Kesh and Simon were batting, maybe around the 68th over in the first innings, I’m not saying they (Australia) were tiring but the ball was a lot softer and it looked a lot easier,” Bedingham said.

“If we could have maybe been four or five down there, then maybe the game would have looked different, so it’s just about trying to take them to 80, 100 or 120 overs.

“I know they (Australia’s bowlers) are machines, but everyone gets tired eventually… well, hopefully.”

Intimidating attack

Regardless, however, Bedingham said the Proteas had to find a way to perform better against a powerful and intimidating Australian attack.

To keep themselves in the hunt for the series win, they needed to be at their best against the world’s top-ranked side.

“I was actually speaking to my friends about it, and in first-class (domestic) cricket you face a decent bowler, and then there’s maybe another decent one, and then maybe you can cash in later with the third or fourth one.

“But you get through six balls of (Pat) Cummins and then you look and it’s like ‘aah, it’s (Mitchell) Starc’. And then you get through their spell and it’s like ‘aah flip, it’s (Josh) Hazlewood and (Nathan) Lyon’.

“So it’s tough but we’ve faced them before, so hopefully we can just do it for longer periods of time.”