Craig Ervine's composure prevents Sri Lanka from tearing apart Zimbabwe's batting line-up
The first thing noticeable about Craig Ervine’s batting is the larger than life elbow guard he wears on his right arm. It looks huge, is coloured in an unimpressive dark brown, and is held together by two straps. And yes, it is old fashioned.
That elbow guard is not the only old fashioned thing Ervine carries with him to the crease. In this era of modern cricket where Tests matches are yielding more results than draws and where batsmen arrive at crease not to spend time but to accumulate runs, Ervine brings with him an unattractive calmness which was the hallmark of Test cricket for a long time but now has become a rarity in this era.
Glimpses of this calmness were seen in the fourth ODI when the visitors were chasing a stiff total in a rain affected game. The frequent interruptions and constantly revising targets made batting difficult but the left-hand batsmen played with utter calmness and prevented panic from entering the Zimbabwe camp.
His innings of 69 not out from 55 balls in that match was aggressive at points but it was controlled aggression from a batsman who had a firm hold over the proceedings and knew what exactly was required.
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On the first day of the only Test, he showed the same calmness in a situation that was completely different from the fourth ODI.
Rangana Herath, Sri Lanka’s most lethal bowling weapon wrecked the visitors’ top order early in the morning on a pitch that supported his bowling style. Ervine arrived at the crease after the fall of the first two wickets and then saw the third wicket go down from the non-striker’s end.
Herath was weaving his trademark spin magic with a mix of arm balls and lovely drift. The new ball still had its shine intact and was doing tricks in the air while the pitch looked far from being trustworthy.
Amidst all these troubles, Ervine settled himself in and didn’t allow Herath to inflict further damage. He brought out the reverse sweep to surprise the bowler but at the same time kept his defence tight to ensure complete control.
Dominating Sri Lanka in their home is extremely difficult and unfortunately, the other Zimbabwe batsmen found this out in a hard way. While Ervine gained control of the innings through his composed approach, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza tried achieving the same using aggression.
Both batsmen looked promising and at times overshadowed Ervine with their courageous yet glamorous strokes. However, their downfall not only highlighted their premature approach towards batting but also underlined the importance of Ervine’s resolute batting effort.
While Williams and Raza got carried away with their aggressive attitude, Ervine smartly used his aggressive strokes to a limited effect. By playing the reverse sweep, he kept Herath guessing about his approach and by stepping out against Perera and launching him over mid-off, he forced Perera to shorten his length.
And once Perera shortened his length, the Zimbabwe batsman first slashed him for a four in point region and then pulled him for a six over mid-wicket.
It wasn’t an example of dead batting nor was it mindless aggression. It was a beautiful and smart combination of both. A combination that was required to withstand Sri Lanka’s testing bowling.
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In his first 100 balls, Ervine had only six boundary shots (five fours and one six) but his strike rate was 60.00 which is impressive in Test cricket. Importantly, he continued with the same focus for the entire day which is again highly difficult feat to achieve.
The left-hand batsman batted for 78 overs, saw six wickets falling down in front of him, negotiated two new balls, survived the ordeal of Hearth’s crafty spin bowling and still stood not out at the end of the day.
The innings included some elegant strokes especially in the point and cover region and also had some classy shots down the ground but what was most soothing to watch was the manner in which Ervine crafted this innings.
Never during his stay of 238 balls he looked in a hurry, never was he seen in trouble because of the bowlers and never was he out of control. All 151 runs came through pure high-class batting and were a result of steel like mental toughness that allowed Ervine to outthink the bowlers.
The calmness was everywhere when he was batting. His defensive strokes were solid and reflected confidence while the attacking ones were played with perfection. At the same time, the Zimbabwe batsman knew exactly how to balance his approach.
This unparalleled calmness was the reason why Ervine didn’t get carried after scoring his hundred or after the tail enders were exposed to the new ball. This approach enabled the left-hander to build a cocoon around him and prevented him from getting distracted by the events unfolding at the other end.
Apart from Ervine’s hundred, there was not much to cheer for Zimbabwe on the first day but the hundred was certainly praise-worthy.