Dean Elgar's 3 best knocks against India
Dean Elgar celebrated his 36th birthday on June 11, 2023. The left-handed batter from South Africa has achieved a lot of success in Test cricket. He made his Test debut for the Proteas in 2012 and has played 84 Test matches so far for his nation.
Shedding some light on his numbers in Test cricket, Elgar has scored 5,146 runs at an average of 37.29. He has registered 23 half-centuries and 13 centuries in his career so far.
Notably, Dean Elgar has had an excellent record against India in Test cricket. He has been a part of 13 matches against India, where he has aggregated 926 runs in 25 innings at an average of 34.30. He has recorded one century and four half-centuries while donning the Proteas kit against the Indian side.
In this listicle, we will look at Dean Elgar's top three knocks against India in Test cricket.
#1 Dean Elgar's best knock against India - 160 (287), 2019
South Africa visited India for an ICC World Test Championship series in 2019. The first match of the series happened in Visakhapatnam, where Mayank Agarwal's double hundred and Rohit Sharma's 176 helped India post a mammoth 502-run total.
In reply, South African opener Dean Elgar aggregated 160 runs off 287 balls. He hit 18 fours and four sixes. South Africa were down to 63/4 at one stage, but Elgar stitched up big partnerships with Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock to help the visitors reach 431 runs in the first innings.
Although South Africa ended up losing the Test match by 203 runs, Elgar received a lot of praise from the Indian fans for his excellent batting performance.
#2 Dean Elgar's match-winning 96* against India, 2022
India reached South Africa for a three-match World Test Championship contest in 2021/22. The visitors started the series with a win, and it looked like they would gain an unassailable lead of 2-0 when the teams reached Johannesburg for the second Test match.
India set a 240-run target for South Africa in the fourth innings. Since the Proteas got all out for 229 runs in the first innings, India were the favorites to win. However, Dean Elgar played one of the best fourth-innings knocks in cricket history to help his team win the match.
Elgar opened the batting and remained not out on 96 off 188 balls, scoring 10 fours. His partnerships with Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen and Rassie van der Dussen helped South Africa win by seven wickets.
#3 Elgar fights like a one-man army - 86*(240), 2018
In another match against India in Johannesburg, Elgar produced a top knock in the fourth innings and remained not out on 86 off 240 balls. Chasing 241 for a win, South Africa lost wickets at regular intervals.
On what was a grossly under-prepared pitch, there were too many instances of the ball hitting the batsmen from a length. Play had to be stopped on Day 4 for this reason.
Elgar, who opened the batting for the team, held one end up and was still out there in the middle as India dismissed the other 10 batters. The Proteas got all out for 177 runs, with Elgar scoring 86 of them. His knock consisted of 9 fours and a six. The grit in the face of adversity impressed everyone the most.