Watch day four of the first Test between South Africa and England at Centurion, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 7.30am on Sunday
Sunday 29 December 2019 08:48, UK
Michael Atherton praised Rory Burns' battling 77 not out on the fourth evening at Centurion, with England mounting the beginnings of a fightback in the first Test, chasing an unlikely 376 to win.
Burns brought up his sixth Test fifty - to go with two hundreds - in his 15th Test match, sharing in a 92-run stand for the first wicket with Dom Sibley (29) - England's highest opening partnership of 2019.
Speaking to Sky Sports as England closed the day on 121-1, Atherton said that Burns continues to display the credentials needed for an opener at international level.
"I like his temperament," said Atherton. "I think you need a couple of qualities as a Test match opener; you need to be stubborn in your method - as you're going to get a few low scores along the way.
"You need to be phlegmatic. The ball will pass the bat, you might get dropped, and you need to park that to the back of your mind.
"The other thing I like about him, is you need to score. I think his strike-rate was about 70-odd, yet he wasn't taking undue risks - though I wish occasionally he'd put that cover drive from over the wicket away.
"But I like the fact that he's looking to score; he's got a good tempo to his game, which is important given that Sibley is only in his third Test and is a more restricted player. You don't want to get completely stuck.
"So I like the tempo to his innings. Most of all though, I like his phlegmatic attitude."
Nasser Hussain echoed Atherton's comments, praising both openers for their efforts in setting up an unlikely England run-chase that had been made all the tougher after a poor first-innings batting display on day two and an erratic bowling display early on day three.
England famously chased down a similar score in the fourth innings earlier this summer in the Ashes, with Ben Stokes smashing a remarkable unbeaten 135 to beat Australia at Headingley - they needed 359 on that occasion.
"[Is it Headingley?] Not quite yet, but it's going in that direction," answered Hussain. "It was very, very good from England.
"There was a complete switch around from the bowling performance earlier in the day, and from the first-innings batting.
"That was proper Test match batting. Yes, the pitch has done slightly less, but the way those two openers played, that's exactly how you play Test cricket against the new ball.
"Yes, there was a little bit of luck with Burns dropped, but you deserve that bit of luck if you bat like that."
Watch day four of the first Test between South Africa and England live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 7.30am on Sunday.
