South Africa head coach Mark Boucher has hailed his side for winning the Test series against West Indies and he also said that it is a result of all the hard work that has been done behind the scenes.
West Indies lost the second Test against South Africa by 158 runs on Monday and as a result, the hosts suffered a series sweep. In the entire series, the hosts failed to register a score of more than 200 even once.
“It’s not a relief. There’s been a lot of hard work that’s been done behind the scenes. We were working on quite a few technical things and upskilling our players. We understood the necessity of us performing for the Proteas badge and the guys pulled through and played as a strong team,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Boucher as saying.
“The new captain (Dean Elgar) asked a couple of questions about where we are and where we are going and where we want to be. Quite a few honest chats came out there as they do around a South African fire at night. The guys all really bought into a process that he wanted to align his reign with,” he added.
Further talking about South Africa’s approach in the longest format, Boucher said: “That’s where we all stood back and said we are either on the bus or not on the bus. Thankfully everyone decided they were on the bus. And it doesn’t only work when you are on the field. A lot of effort has to be put in behind closed doors in the way we train, the way we talk, the language, the confidence. That is probably where it started. At that fire.”
Quinton de Kock returned to form in the series against Windies as he scored 237 runs in two Tests, including a century in the first Test.
“Quinny been through a tough time of late. He came into this series without as many runs as he would have liked to but the way he has been hitting the balls in the nets and the way he has been off the field has been fantastic,” said Boucher.
“His chat around the change room is funny and lighthearted and Quinny in that space – it is always going to reflect on the way he plays on the field. The 141 he got the other day, this outfield is very slow, that could have been a 200. The 96 he got was worth 120-130. He was the x-factor in the whole series. I am very happy that Quinny is in a good space at the moment,” he added.
A second-ever, Test hat-trick by a South African taken by Keshav Maharaj, helped the Proteas seal a 2-0 series sweep when they beat the West Indies by 158 runs with a day and session to spare at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground on Monday.
On a magical day for the left-arm spinner, he closed with his seventh Test five-wicket haul as the visitors claimed their first Test series win away from home since 2017 against New Zealand.
