CHENNAI: The year was 2010. After the massive success of Slumdog Millionaire, the film that won him the Academy Award for Best Director, Danny Boyle released a survival drama 127 Hours in Telluride Film Festival in September to rave reviews. Based on the true story of mountaineer Aron Ralston, who was unfortunately trapped in the narrow canyon for 127 hours till his eventual rescue.
In 2010, Sune Luus had not even made her debut for South Africa, but when it came to surviving in the trapped conditions for almost 117 overs in the one-off Test against India in Chennai, Luus did exactly that on Sunday. After India enforced follow on, having dismissed South Africa for 266 in the first innings, Luus hit a splendid century (109 from 203 balls) and added 190 runs in 394 balls along with captain Laura Wolvaardt (93 batting) to ensure the Proteas women didn't go down without a fight. As a result, South Africa finished the day with 232/2 in 85 overs, taking the match into the final day.
One needs to understand how much of a herculean effort it was from the former South African captain. For starters, the last time South Africa donned the whites was six months ago against Australia in February 2024, Luus had played all of 69 balls in both innings combined. A loss by an innings and 284 runs was always going to be difficult to digest. What followed was an even harder series against Sri Lanka at home where the right-hander could not play her role. In the ODI series against India, well, she became the first victim of India's vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who had never bowled in the format before.
That is when she turned to South Africa's current batting coach Baakier Abrahams. "I did the ODI series as a consultant against Sri Lanka. She didn't have the best series that she personally wanted and she was really hurt at that stage," Abrahams said after day three at Chepauk.
"So she was able to take a couple of weeks off from the game and just reflect. We spoke a lot about her ‘why’. Like what's the driver? What's the motivation? And she came up with some strong information around what is her driving force. And then it was just ironing out one or two technical things. But the biggest shift has been the mindset," Abrahams, who started with the team in May, was grinning from ear to ear.
One could see the shift in mindset during her fifty in the first innings, at least for a brief while. Day three started with a collapse, one can associate with Indian bowlers in the format despite gender, with Sneh Rana (8/77) being the destroyer in chief. It was a no-brainer from the Indian side to push for a follow-on. And that is exactly what Harmanpreet Kaur did, with Rana sharing the new ball with Renuka Singh Thakur. If there was any prediction for the match heading into the fourth day with South Africa 337 runs short of India’s first innings total of 603, it was as slim as the 15-inch MacBook Air, the device used to write this piece.
However, South Africa were determined. Mostly Luus. In both innings, she came in early, the difference was her batting partner at the other end. While her captain Wolvaardt was the one who was dismissed early in the first innings, Anneke Bosch could not do anything about a delivery from Deepti Sharma that kept extremely low on Sunday. Only nine wickets to get with the likes of Rana, Sharma, Thakur, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mandhana and even Kaur as bowling options, the duo was South Africa going against the hope.
However, it did happen. For the 65 overs she stayed at the crease in the second innings, every bowler from the aforementioned list, except for Mandhana and Rodrigues who sat out most of the day due to cramps, tried their luck against Luus. With her captain and best friend at the other end, the 28-year-old went on and on to go past some significant milestones that might have been missed in the bigger discussion.
For example, Wolvaardt and Luus were the first pair to score a century partnership against India under Kaur's captaincy. The second session on day three was the only session in the last three Tests where India was not able to take any opposition wicket. It might not sound that big a deal from the outside, but regular Test-playing sides like England and Australia could not achieve the same thing against this Indian side.
"I think South Africans in general, we are a proud sporting nation and when our backs are against the wall. We're very resilient and there was an opportunity for us to showcase again where that resilience comes from. So it was really just about our process. I just enjoyed the level of control and confidence she showed. If they got close to her, she was able to hit it over the top. She had the confidence to do that. If they bowled well, then she was strong in defence. That’s the language we’re using - strong in attack and strong in defence," Abrahams simplified.
When Luus eventually got out to Kaur for 109, she had survived for 117 overs in the middle with the bat. That too after spending most of the day one one the field watching India's batters break the record of highest team total in the format set by Australia in February against her own team. If the Test was supposed to test one, Luus passed with flying colours.
Maybe some South African fans were still heartbroken over their men's team falling short of glory to the same team overnight. Maybe some of them did not even bother to watch this Test. Maybe some of them closed their TV once South Africa lost six wickets for just 17 runs. However, for those who stuck by, the survival act put by the brave-faced Protea in Chennai might just work as a balm after a difficult outcome.
Luus survived for 117 overs in the humid conditions that are not easy to deal with. It is highly unlikely that she would be there for 117 deliveries when the shortest format gets underway a few days later. But for those who watched the epic unfold, it would be hard to forget anytime soon. Who knows, Sune Luus might compete with Danny Boyle for his next Oscar with the story of survival.