Brave Rassie earns praise after broken finger batting heroics: 'It was courageous'

Proteas captain Dean Elgar may be the epitome of grit, but even he had to give deference to Rassie van der Dussen's brave knock against England with a broken finger.

Van der Dussen's 41 that spanned 132 balls and three minutes short of three hours wasn't enough to prevent an innings and 85-run defeat on the third evening of the second Test at Old Trafford.

What it did do was earn the praise of Elgar, who knows what it takes to play these types of knocks, even in futility.

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Elgar said the innings spoke volumes of Van der Dussen's character, with the lanky batter having to miss the third Test that starts on 8 September at the Oval because of the fractured digit.

"I thought it was a courageous effort," Elgar said.

"He showed a lot of character and toughness. That's what his character brings out when his back is against the wall.

"He was competing with a broken finger and at times, that can help you because you forget about the opposition and you deal with the pain in your finger.

"I thought he showed a hell of a lot of character in this innings. I wish he continued because I thought something special was coming, but it was inspirational."

The big loss was SA's second innings defeat this year, but Elgar said they won't panic despite the wide margin of defeat.

The Proteas have time between the second and third Tests, time that Elgar said they will use productively.

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"We're not the kind of guys to panic. We're still a good side and time away from the game isn't a bad thing," Elgar said.

"We do have two days now, but we have some time away from the game that was already planned