Was Dean Elgar's knock at the Oval one of the best ever in a losing cause in Tests?

[Harsh Thakor]

South Africa may have been humiliated after facing such a huge defeat at the Oval in the 3rd test but Dean Elgar's rearguard effort contributed greatly to salvage their lost pride.To me it was one of the finest batting exhibitions to attempt to retrieve a sinking ship or stitch a wound.He literally fought a battle of attrition like a soldier and surgeon rolled into one and carried the mantle of his team's cause solely on his shoulders.Scored around 55% of his team's total in the 2nd innings.Played some impeccable drives and also defended with resolute determination.

I may rank it amongst the best I have ever seen in a 4th innings losing cause compared to great innings of stalwarts like Gavaskar,Boycott,Randal,Kanhai,Sangakaara etc.

 

[Cuts_and_cuts_hard]

Very good but nothing particularly special. Have seen many better innings in similar situations.

Best innings I have ever seen in a losing cause was Michael Clarke 151 in Capetown.

 

[Hasan123]

Good knock but not one of the best.

 

[AFM]

Surely most of Sachin's selfish centuries would be in that list

 

[Adil_94]

was a good knock but idk if it was the best.

 

[hadi123]

Good knock but definitely not the best. Much better innings have been played in losing causes.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

I remember when almost chased down a World Record, no less than 8 months back, in the fourth Innings similar threads were made.

Elgar's innings was a pretty good knock to label it as the best ever is OTT.

 

[Major]

Darren bravo's innings against pakistan comes in my mind
Then there was that asad shafiq innings in australia

 

[Slog]

Darren bravo's innings against pakistan comes in my mind
Then there was that asad shafiq innings in australia

yes those two in recent times

Didnt Graeme Smith once play an innings against Australia with a broken hand?

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Good knock on a difficult pitch but he was never going to save this test, so no.

 

[jnaveen1980]

That honor always belongs to Nathan Astle.

 

[Big Mac]

I remember staying up in the middle of the night to watch Nathan Astle batter the English bowlers all over the ground and Ian Botham getting increasingly irritated as he went past 100, then 150, then 200, is one of my fondest cricketing memories.

So nah, Astle is still the GOAT.

 

[shady]

No there have been much better innings than Elgars over test match history. Even recently, Shafiq' innings at the Gabba was better.

 

[Sachin136]

Astle's innings is a little overrated. They had no chance of winning so he was free to play however he wanted.

 

[Protea Fan]

That inngs was good but nothing special in it to call best ever

The one inngs i can memorize when i first saw the thread title is Sanga's 192 on a crumbling Hobart pitch against the likes of Lee,Johnson,and Stuart Clark.....That was jaw dropping

 

[Stallion__]

Trescothick's century against us in 2001 was better

 

[Muhammad10]

Asad Shafiq has played some real gems in this regard.

 

[Major]

Zulqarnain haiders 88

 

[CanadianG00se]

Nop not the best

Sachin's knock against Pakistan in Chennai was better. While Sachin was batting both team had chance of winning the game, where as in Elgar's case South Africa was never looking to chase the total.
The other best inning i could think off is by Kohli against Australia in Adelaide.

Elgar's innings was average at best.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Astle's innings is a little overrated. They had no chance of winning so he was free to play however he wanted.

They had chance towards the end. There is no criteria about winning possibility. Gavaskar's 96, Sachin's 136 are the best ever for India. Laxman's blitzkreig in Sydney was also good. But that was a hopeless cause. Kapil has done well in few matches.

 

[Smbhayi]

lol no. the loss was inevitable so he didn't have the pressure saving/winning match. he just need to stay long as long as possible and score as much as possible.