No excuses for big Test defeat against New Zealand, says South Africa captain Dean Elgar
South Africa arrived in New Zealand on a high note after a hard-fought home series win over India, but a punishing defeat in their first Test against New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday served as a sobering reality check. Captain Dean Elgar refused to make excuses, blaming neither losing the toss, the 10-day quarantine on arrival in New Zealand, nor the matter of head coach Mark Boucher facing a May disciplinary hearing over charges of racism. "Being a touring party, we are always going to be up against home conditions and rightly so," Elgar said of having to bat first on a Hagley Oval pitch that had a nice covering of grass and offered plenty of assistance to the always relentless Blackcaps' pace attack. "If the shoe was on the other foot, we would like to have utilised it to our strength."
