The former NWU cricket captain, Marques Ackerman, has looked at home in Test cricket, scoring his first half-century for the Proteas in his second Test match at Newlands on Tuesday, October 27.

Ackerman opened the batting with Aiden Markram and shared in a superb, attacking 158-run partnership that had the experienced Australian bowling attack frazzled.

Ackerman looked on course for a maiden Test century but lost his wicket on 95 off 94 balls after trying to attack Nathan Lyon. He was stumped after missing a wider, flatter delivery.

“You live by the sword and you die by the sword. I’ve learnt that throughout my career. I left a hundred out there. So I’m not really happy with that. But, you know, it’s good motivation for hopefully trying to get my first one,” stated Ackerman at the post-day-one press conference.

Ackerman scored briskly, hitting 12 fours and two sixes in his innings. He showed that he is comfortable against the short ball and adept at playing delightful cut shots square of the wicket. He is also strong off his legs, with his strong wrists flicking fuller deliveries to the boundary. He was especially harsh on Mitchell Starc in one over, hitting four superb boundaries.

“I do tend to bat on the quicker side most of the time, but I think they tried to bowl a lot of short balls at me, which allowed with the challenge of the short ball, it does allow you to score a lot quicker. So, yeah, it was nice to get a bit of runs out there.”

Ackerman, who normally bats at number three or four in the Dolphins’ top order in first-class cricket, has had to adjust to opening the batting for the Proteas.

“I think practising against our fast bowlers in the nets and stuff, if I can manage that and form a game plan or how I want to go about my innings against our bowlers, it definitely gave me a good perspective as to what I wanted to achieve facing the Australians.”

He also stated that he had settled in nicely in the Proteas setup and had enjoyed being part of a special group of players.

“I’ve played with and against a lot of the players and worked with the coaches. And coming into the squad, I’ve been made very welcome and felt really welcome.”