INSOMNIA TO INSPIRATION
DOM SIBLEY admitted he suffered a sleepless night fretting about his boyhood dream of scoring a Test match hundred.
But thankfully the insomnia did not stop him from completing a maiden ton yesterday, and providing the ballast for Joe Root to declare and set South Africa 438 to win on the final day. “It feels amazing right now and I’m glad that I got over the
line,” said Sibley after making 133 not out In England’s 391-8 declared. “I slept terribly. I was up at 2am, watching TV and just thinking about the 15 runs.
“That moment when I saw the ball go for four was what I have been working towards since I was 13 years old and you dream of that moment.
“I love Cape Town. This ground is amazing. Stokesy said to me, ‘Take it in, just enjoy it for a second’. It is always nice to be able to contribute to a win and I haven’t had a Test win yet so hopefully we can take the eight wickets we need.”
The Proteas are handily placed on 126-2 to try and secure a draw in the second Test, but their opener Dean Elgar was left fuming at the decision to give him out, even though technology appeared to support it.
If England manage to complete the win, Elgar will feel particularly hard done by after surviving for nearly two hours before being adjudged caught behind off
Joe Denly’s part-time leg-spin.
Despite the batsman’s review, the tiniest spike on the Ultra Edge technology sent him packing.
But Elgar insisted: “I wouldn’t waste a referral knowing that I hit it. I don’t play cricket like that. I see myself as someone who takes their outs when they are definitely out.
“When I’d simmered down and was watching the footage I could still say that I hadn’t hit it. I don’t know [if I trust the technology]. I’m very confident I didn’t nick it.”