Duminy insists South Africa can overcome spin

If the sky is a reflection of mood, then the spirit in the South African camp should have lifted significantly this weekend. The drab damp they experienced in Bangalore was replaced by brilliant and bright blue in Nagpur. They could train without dodging drizzle, think sans the sound of soft splatter and see clearly. Even if they only thing they were looking at was themselves.

"The guys have admitted to the fact that we made a few errors, especially in that first Test. We'd like to rectify it going forward," JP Duminy said.

South Africa's mistakes have stemmed from their method. In Mohali, they allowed the pre-match talk to overwhelm them and played conservatively in conditions they had imagined to be much worse than they were. To compensate for that in Bangalore, they did the opposite. They attacked to try and establish some authority. Both times, they failed.

Given that South Africa know the change in overhead conditions is unlikely to change things on the surface - as Duminy put it, "the expectancy is that it will turn," - and given that their premeditation has proved faulty, the only thing left for South Africa to do is play as normally as possible. They have approached Nagpur with that cliché of it being "just another game," knowing it is not just another game but a must-win if they are to pull off the ultimate coup and beat India on home soil.

To do that, South Africa have to practice what they have been preaching for the last few years: that, as a batting group, they have improved against spin. There is already evidence that the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy can negotiate R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but only de Villiers has done so in this series.

Last year, Dean Elgar's century in Galle showed that he could deal with sluggish, spinner-friendly surfaces and he has managed the same here, but calmness abandons him at crucial moments while Stiaan van Zyl and Dane Vilas remain raw and this is a new challenge for them. If South Africa are to prevail, collectively the batting will have to come together.

"We understand that their strength lies in their spin and there's no point in trying to deny that. It's about having a game plan against it," Duminy said. Part of that game plan has to involve allowing themselves to improvise on the day and play in the moment. "Not to play the person but to play the ball," is how Duminy described it, talking specifically about Ashwin although that should apply to Jadeja too. India's spin twins have had equal amounts of success with 12 wickets a piece.

There's no question they are South Africa's biggest challenge and Duminy has promised South Africa are ready to meet it head on. "We always knew there would come a time when we would be challenged quite a bit. It's how you come back from those challenges that is going to make us as a team. We pride ourselves on that - that we're a resilient team, that we never back down from a challenge. We know it's a tough challenge for us but we also know we have the capability of facing those challenges. We've done it before. We've come here and played well in all formats."

South Africa have never come from 1-0 down to win a series away from home before, but they have fought back to draw level, most recently in the UAE where they won in Dubai after being defeated in Abu Dhabi. They have also won several series in the subcontinent, including a Test and ODI series in Sri Lanka, to support Duminy's theory. On this visit to India, they have already claimed two trophies. On their last visit, they won in Nagpur. So if memory is a reflection of mood, South Africa are more upbeat than the scoreline suggests they should be.