Dean Elgar (born 11 June 1987) is a South African cricketer who played Tests and ODIs, and also a former Test captain. He is a left-handed opening batter and a slow-left arm bowler.

Dean Elgar
Elgar batting for Somerset CCC in 2017
Personal information
Full name
Dean Elgar
Born (1987-06-11) 11 June 1987 (age 37)
Welkom, Free State, South Africa
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
RoleOpening batter
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 315)30 November 2012 v Australia
Last Test3 January 2024 v India
ODI debut (cap 104)24 August 2012 v England
Last ODI3 October 2018 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.64
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2005/06–2011/12Free State
2007/08–2013/14Knights
2013, 2017Somerset
2014/15–presentTitans
2015, 2018–2019Surrey
2018Tshwane Spartans
2024Essex
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 86 8 259 178
Runs scored 5,347 104 17,820 6,264
Batting average 37.65 17.33 42.52 43.59
100s/50s 14/23 0/0 52/73 10/45
Top score 199 42 268 137
Balls bowled 1,036 96 4,175 3,109
Wickets 15 2 56 57
Bowling average 44.86 33.50 50.21 49.87
5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 4/22 1/11 4/22 4/37
Catches/stumpings 92/– 4/– 219/– 54/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 29 September 2024

Elgar captained the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2006. He now plays for the Northerns cricket team and Titans cricket team in the major South African cricket competitions. He was included in the Northerns team for the 2015 Africa T20 Cup.[1] On 23 March 2018, he became the second batsman after Desmond Haynes to carry his bat through an innings on three occasions in Test cricket history.[2][3]

In March 2021, Cricket South Africa announced that Elgar had been appointed as South Africa's Test captain,[4] taking over the role from Quinton de Kock.[5]

International career

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Debut years

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Elgar was selected for the Sri Lankan ODI series in early 2012 but had to withdraw citing injury. He eventually made his ODI debut against England in a rain-abandoned match, but found success in his second match, scoring 15 in his maiden innings before being bowled by Graeme Swann. Bowling his left-arm spin, Elgar had Craig Kieswetter caught out off only his third delivery in ODI Cricket. In the field, Elgar took an incredible catch of Jonathan Trott then caught Eoin Morgan out in a South African victory.

Elgar made his test debut against Australia on 30 November 2012 and scored a duck in his maiden test innings. He followed this with another duck in the second innings to complete a pair of ducks on debut. On 12 January 2013, Elgar scored his maiden test century against New Zealand. The retirement of Graeme Smith created a regular opportunity for Elgar in his specialist position at the top of the order in Test cricket.

Elgar made 103, against Sri Lanka on 16 July 2014, and followed up with 121 against West Indies at St George's Oval, a ground where he scored almost half of his career international test runs, and recorded the most fifties.

Record opener

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On 28 December 2015, Elgar became the first South African opener to carry his bat in a Test innings since Gary Kirsten in 1997, when he finished 118 not out against England.[6]

On 5 November 2016, Elgar scored 127 during the first Test against Australia at Perth.[7] The partnership of 250 by himself and JP Duminy in the match was recorded as South Africa's highest partnership in Perth, the third highest overall in Perth, and their second highest against Australia.[8][9]

On 11 March 2017, against New Zealand he became the first South African opener to face 200 or more balls in both innings of a Test.[10]

On 27 January 2018, against India Elgar became the first South African to carry his bat twice in Tests since 1992.[11]

On 23 March 2018, Elgar carried the bat for the third time in his test career scoring an unbeaten 141 against Australia when South Africa was bowled out for 311 in the first innings of the 3rd test, equalling the record with Desmond Haynes of West Indies. With this achievement, he also became the only batsman to carry his bat in an innings of a test match twice in a single calendar year.[12][13]

Captaincy

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Elgar captain of South Africa, December 2022

Elgar stood in for regular Test captain Faf du Plessis when he missed the first Test against England in 2017, following the birth of his first child.[14] In January 2019, during Pakistan series, South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis was penalised for a slow over-rate in the second Test and was suspended for the third and final Test of the series.[15] Elgar was named as the stand-in captain for the third Test.[16] He took over as full-time test captain, following the resignation of Quinton de Kock from the position.[17] His first test as captain came against the West Indies in June 2021. South Africa won this match by an innings and 63 runs and then won the following test by 158 runs, giving Elgar a 2–0 victory in his debut series as captain.[18] In January 2022, during the 2021–22 Indian tour of South Africa Elgar scored an unbeaten 96 in the second test to guide South Africa to a seven wicket victory and draw the series level.[19] On 3rd January 2024, Elgar played his last test for South Africa against India, which concluded on 4th January, at Newlands in Cape Town, before retiring from international cricket.

Domestic and franchise cricket

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In September 2019, Elgar was named in the squad for the Tshwane Spartans team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.[20] In April 2021, he was named in Northerns' squad, ahead of the 2021–22 cricket season in South Africa.[21] In February 2022, Elgar was named as the captain of the Titans for the 2021–22 CSA T20 Challenge.[22]

List of international centuries

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Elgar has scored 14 centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in Test. Elgar made his Test debut against Australis at the Waca, Perth in November 2012.[23] His highest Test score of 199 came against Bangladesh at the Senwes Park, Potchefstroom in September 2018. He has not scored any century in One Day International (ODI) matches or Twenty20 International (T20I) matches.

Key
Symbol Meaning
* Remained not out
Man of the match
Match Matches played
Pos. Position in the batting order
Inn. The innings of the match
Test The number of the Test match played in that series
S/R Strike rate during the innings
H/A/N Venue was at home (South Africa), away or neutral
Date Date the match was held, or the starting date of match for Test matches
Lost The match was lost by South Africa
Won The match was won by South Africa
Drawn The match was drawn
List of Test centuries scored by Dean Elgar[24]
No. Score Against Pos. Inn. Test Venue H/A/N Date Result Ref
1 103*   New Zealand 7 1 2/2   St George's Park, Port Elizabeth Home 11 January 2013 Won [25]
2 103   Sri Lanka 1 1 1/2   Galle International Stadium, Galle Away 16 July 2014 Won [26]
3 121   West Indies 1 1 2/3   St George's Park Cricket Ground, Port Elizabeth Home 26 December 2014 Drawn [27]
4 118*   England 2 2 1/4   Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban Home 26 December 2016 Lost [28]
5 127   Australia 2 3 1/3   The WACA, Perth Away 3 November 2016 Won [29]
6 129   Sri Lanka 2 2 2/3   Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town Home 2 January 2017 Won [30]
7 140 †   New Zealand 2 1 1/3   University of Otago Oval, Dunedin Away 8 March 2017 Drawn [31]
8 136   England 2 4 3/4   The Oval, London Away 27 July 2017 Lost [32]
9 199 †   Bangladesh 1 1 1/2   Senwes Park, Potchefstroom Home 28 September 2017 Won [33]
10 113   Bangladesh 1 1 2/2   Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein Home 6 October 2017 Won [34]
11 141*   Australia 1 1 3/4   Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town Home 22 March 2018 Won [35]
12 160   India 1 2 1/3   VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vishakhapatnam Away 2 October 2019 Lost [36]
13 127 †   Sri Lanka 1 2 2/2   New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg Home 3 January 2021 Won [37]
14 185 †   India 2 2 1/2   SuperSport Park, Centurion Home 26 December 2023 Won [38]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Northerns Squad / Players – ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Elgar joins Haynes in carrying-the-bat honours board". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Natalie Sciver talks up the importance of bowling evolution - Cricbuzz". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Bavuma and Elgar to captain the Proteas". Cricket South Africa. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  5. ^ "South Africa name Dean Elgar Test captain and Temba Bavuma ODI and T20I captain". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Elgar carries bat but Moeen spins England to lead". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Sports Media. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  7. ^ "Elgar's best, Duminy's second-best". ESPNcricinfo. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Duminy, Elgar tons set Australia huge target". ESPNcricinfo. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  9. ^ "Twin centuries cap memorable return". ESPNcricinfo. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Lowest scoring rate in 19 years". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  11. ^ "A first in Test history: 120 wickets up for grabs, 120 wickets taken". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Australia v South Africa 3rd Test 22-26 March, 2018". ESPNcricinfo. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  13. ^ "Dean Elgar sets batting world record for South Africa - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Du Plessis misses Lord's; Elgar captains". ESPN Cricinfo. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Faf du Plessis suspended for one Test due to second over-rate offence". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  16. ^ "CONFIRMED: Elgar to captain Proteas at Wanderers". Sport24. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  17. ^ "South Africa name Dean Elgar Test captain and Temba Bavuma ODI and T20I captain". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Dean Elgar banks on 'we' guy captaincy mantra to lift South Africa to greater Test heights". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Scorecard, 2nd Test, Johannesburg, Jan 3 - 6 2022, India tour of South Africa". ESPN Cricinfo. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  20. ^ "MSL 2.0 announces its T20 squads". Cricket South Africa. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  21. ^ "CSA reveals Division One squads for 2021/22". Cricket South Africa. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  22. ^ "CSA T20 Challenge, 2022: Full squads, Fixtures & Preview: All you need to know". Cricket World. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  23. ^ "Dean Elgar Profile". cricbuzz. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  24. ^ "Dean Elgar Test centuries". HowSTAT!. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  25. ^ "New Zealand in South Africa Test Series – 2nd Test". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  26. ^ "1st Test, South Africa tour of Sri Lanka at Galle, Jul 16-20 2014". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  27. ^ "2nd Test: West Indies tour of South Africa at Port Elizabeth, Dec 26-30, 2014". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  28. ^ "1st Test, England tour of South Africa at Durban, Dec 26-30 2015". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  29. ^ "2nd Test, South Africa tour of Australia at Perth, Nov 3-7 2016". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  30. ^ "2nd Test, Sri Lanka tour of South Africa at Cape Town, Jan 2-6 2017". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  31. ^ "South Africa in New Zealand Test Series – 1st Test: New Zealand v South Africa". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  32. ^ "3rd Test, South Africa tour of England at London, Jul 27-31 2017". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  33. ^ "1st Test, Bangladesh tour of South Africa at Potchefstroom, Sep 28 – Oct 2 2017". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  34. ^ "2nd Test, Bangladesh tour of South Africa at Bloemfontein, Oct 6–10 2017". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  35. ^ "3rd Test, Australia tour of South Africa at Cape Town, Mar 22-25 2018". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  36. ^ "1st Test, ICC World Test Championship at Visakhapatnam, Oct 2-6 2019". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  37. ^ "2nd Test, Sri Lanka tour of South Africa at Johannesburg, Jan 3-5 2021". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  38. ^ "1st Test, India tour of South Africa at Centurion, Dec 26-28 2023". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
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