AB, Boucher to dig Proteas out of a deep hole

Those South Africans who wished for a three-day rout in the first Test against the West Indies had better be careful: they may get exactly that.

Trouble is, the "wrong" side could be doing the winning.

At stumps on the second day at St George's Park on Thursday, South Africa were 122/5 in reply to the visitors' first-innings total of 408.

That left the Proteas still 286 runs behind and 87 runs away from avoiding what would be the ignominy of a follow-on.

"Yes, I am being serious," a man said into a cellphone as a beautiful afternoon began to melt into evening. "Yes, South Africa really are 96/5, and, yes, Jacques Kallis really was out for a duck."

The incredulity of the person on the other end of the line was understandable - and doubtlessly mirrored across the country.

What had happened to the team that had clinched an epic series victory in Pakistan and returned home to barely raise a sweat as New Zealand came, saw and were thumped?

And what had happened to the previously immovable Kallis, who looked as if he was trying to flip a pancake when he steered the sixth ball he faced to third slip?

"The bowlers fought back nicely this morning to take the (Windies') last six wickets for 127 runs," Ashwell Prince said.

"But, obviously, the batting didn't go according to plan. There were a few soft dismissals, including myself.

"A few guys got starts into the 20s, and I'm sure the others will feel as disappointed as I do at the moment.

"There's no question that the guys are up for it. It's a Test match, you're playing for your country.

"But we know what the Windies are like, especially if they get their tails up when they're bowling."

Indeed, the brilliantly yellow trainers Prince wore to the news conference contrasted sharply with his palpable disappointment.

"(Shivnarine) Chanderpaul was very patient, and if he didn't come at us, we didn't feel we had a chance of dismissing him early. Maybe our guys were a bit impatient, wanting to play a few too many shots."

Ah, yes, Chanderpaul, who took longer to score his 104 than it takes to drive from Johannesburg to Durban.

He faced 253 balls, hit 12 fours - and drove many of those who sat through all that to the point of committing some minor criminal offence in utter frustration.

Chanderpaul, of course, didn't see things that way.

"It's been a long time since the West Indies had such a good day," he said, remembering to smile despite all that patience and discipline.

Along the way to his 17th Test century, the left-hander joined Everton Weekes and Andy Flower as the only men to have scored half-centuries in seven consecutive Test innings.

"It's great to be up there with those names," he said. "But when you get an opportunity to get in, you want to make a big score. That's something I've been working on for the past couple of years."

Did Chanderpaul think the South Africans, who put their opponents in to bat, had swaggered into the match expecting the underdog Windies to capitulate meekly?

"I wouldn't think they went into the game underestimating us," he responded. "I just think we did some good things out there. We played some shots, yeah, but the main thing was we put the runs on the board."

The light touch of Chris Gayle's captaincy was also making a difference. "Chris is nice and relaxed he's been good to everybody. He's just been chirping people up, he doesn't get down on the guys."

Both Prince and Chanderpaul reckoned the pitch would hold the key to how the match unfolded further.

"You can survive for a long time on this pitch, but the ball is coming on to the bat a bit too slowly if you're looking to score quickly," according to the South African.

"I don't know if it will get harder for stroke playing, but it will become more difficult to get out on it."

Chanderpaul concurred: "It's not that easy to drive through the line, so you have to play a patient game.

"You can stick around on this pitch, but it takes a lot of work."

South Africa's fate on Friday will be largely in the hands of AB de Villiers, who showed some of the required patience for his unbeaten 22, and Mark Boucher, who was 18 not out at the close.

"The first thing will be to get a partnership going between Boucher and AB, and the next objective will be to avoid the follow-on," Prince said.

"We're going to struggle to win from here."

Reality can be cold and hard, but it's always better than wishful thinking.