Dean Elgar becomes Mr Go-To as South Africa thrive in the Highveld

South Africa did not have many certainties going into this Test series against Sri Lanka, except it was going to be tough for batsmen. The venues - SuperSport Park and the Wanderers - are known for pace, bounce, swing and seam movement and the strategy against teams from the subcontinent means those conditions are amplified.

That has meant that South Africa's own batsmen have had to struggle too in recent years, but that was considered a small price to pay for series wins over India (2018) and Pakistan (2019). It also allowed the cream among the home players to rise to the top, and over the last five years that has been just one person: Dean Elgar.

Among openers, Elgar is Test cricket's leading run-scorer in the five years since January 2016, and reclaimed top spot on the final day at the Wanderers after Dimuth Karunaratne had briefly overtaken him with his hard-earned century in Sri Lanka's second innings.

His returns are particularly impressive because they have come at a time when the rest of South Africa's line-up has been inconsistent and without a clear leader. South Africa have long lacked a go-to batsman; a reliable top-order presence who is almost guaranteed to come good, in the manner of Kane Williamson or Virat Kohli, let alone Jacques Kallis or Graeme Smith. Elgar may not automatically be mentioned among those names, but in the current South African context, perhaps he should be.

"I think that, with my experience and my time in the Proteas set-up, I need to contribute [more]," he said while receiving the Player of the Match and Series awards. "In years gone by, there's always been experienced heads so you block it out and give them the older ball to try and score, but I feel that if I look to score and try and be positive, it's something that we can gain from."

Mark Boucher, South Africa's coach, is certainly impressed: "If you have a look at conditions our batters have had to face over the last period, there have been some tough conditions to bat in," he said, "especially as an opening batter with the new ball. I'm very happy he is in good form and technically, is looking very good."

Although an Elgar innings is not always aesthetically pleasing and usually involves a few hours of grind, it is often an effective knock, and one that sets South Africa up well. "He has been nice and aggressive as well, which is something we have spoken about in the team," Boucher added. "There's nothing better than when a senior player takes those words on board, especially at the top of the order."

Elgar's establishing of his own authority in this series was the most notable aspect of his batting. It is because of his 95 and 127 and the partnerships he featured in - the first century stand for a South African opening pair in more than three years, with Aiden Markram at SuperSport Park, and a 184-run second-wicket stand at the Wanderers with Rassie van der Dussen - that South Africa won. Elgar finished the series as the leading run-scorer and, if he can repeat that against Pakistan and Australia, don't be too surprised if it results in him being named Test captain. Until then, he still has a major role to play for South Africa: the role of certainty.

At the other end of the line-up is someone in an altogether different stage of his career. Lutho Sipamla made his debut at SuperSport Park amid South Africa's uncertainty over who to anoint as their third seamer, and has now made a strong case for keeping the spot. Sipamla started poorly, with 66 runs coming from his first 12 overs, but finished strongly with 10 wickets and 101 runs from his next 27.5, and he has impressed Boucher with his tenacity.

"It was difficult to judge Lutho on his first day of Test cricket - there are so many butterflies and nerves and certain people handle those feelings in different ways," Boucher said. "He is very young and he has probably never felt like that before, especially because Test cricket means such a lot to him. That's a good sign for me, when a guy is so passionate about playing for his country, especially for a Test match. He is one of the pluses for me. From where he started to where he is now, he has learnt a hell of a lot in the last two games."

Sipamla demonstrated an ability to adapt quickly, when he went from spraying both sides of the wicket in his opening spell of the first Test to plugging away in the channel outside off thereafter. He was rewarded with wickets in the Sri Lankan tail in both matches, which Boucher said came as a result of hard work. "It's one thing cleaning the tail up but the areas that he was hitting, always asking questions, with some decent pace as well [show how he improved]."

Aside from Elgar and Sipamla, South Africa had other sparks of excellence, such as Faf du Plessis' 199 and Anrich Nortje's second five-for, but also some indifference. Losing 9 for 84 on the second day of the second Test remains their biggest concern. "The collapse wasn't ideal. There were a couple of good balls in between there and maybe one or two lazy shots," Boucher said. "They got the ball to swing a lot and swing with a bit of bounce is always going to be very friendly to bowlers. The conditions were quite difficult to bat in. If you are a bowler and you got the ball in the right area, there's always something for you."

That sums up South African conditions which will remain challenging for batsmen, from home and away, but which can be conquered. South Africa have started to show how that can be done again. Their real test will come later in the summer, against Australia, when, given the attacks in each camp and the likelihood of the bubble being in Johannesburg again, the only certainty is that it will be tough for batsmen.