Anrich Nortje chats to the media after taking a career-best 6-56 in the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers.

“We’re trying to keep things as simple as possible, especially on a wicket like this, where there’s a little bit of extra bounce at times,” said Proteas fast bowler, Anrich Nortje, at the end of Day 1 of the second Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. 

Registering career-best figures of 6/56 in 14.3 overs, Nortje credited bowling partnerships with Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder for engineering a collapse that saw Sri Lanka go from 71/1 to 157 all out within a span of 20 overs. Nortje explained, “To us, it’s very important to bring the run rate down.” 

Comparing this bowling performance with the first innings of the first Test at Centurion, Nortje said, “At Centurion, maybe we were too wide at times. Coming into this game, we wanted to be tight. Keep things as simple as possible.” However, Nortje conceded that Kusal Perera, who scored an attacking 60 off 67, batted well and managed to hit every ball that he could hit for a boundary. The Proteas will attempt to bowl better to him. “We’ll be tight to him next innings,” said Nortje. 

From a batting perspective, Nortje emphasized there was still a lot of time in the Test match. “We’re not in a rush,” he said. Praising Dean Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen, Nortje said, “They assessed the conditions and situation really well.” Revealing the batting game plan, Nortje stated, “We want to bat time, Bat once, I suppose.” 

With numerous injuries in the Sri Lankan camp, Nortje said he was fortunate to have had access to weights during the lockdown. After a long IPL season, where he was able to bowl many overs, Nortje wasn’t particularly worried going into the Test series. “Going from white ball to red ball isn’t as big a change red ball to white ball. It was about getting into that channel again and not focusing on too much,” Nortje explained.