Dean Elgar claims patience behind consistent batting on first day of Boxing Day Test

South African batsman Dean Elgar claimed that patience was the best practice for his sides batsmen on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test against West Indies at St George's Park on Friday.

On the opening day of the second Test, Elgar became only the third South African opener to score a century at the ground, and owed it to his composure and persistence on a slow-scoring day.

Elgar said that at times there were a lot of dot balls bowled to them, adding that he believes West Indies had three maiden overs at South Africa at a stage, Sport24 reported.

The batsman claimed that it's one of the chats they had in the build up to this Test, the patience aspect, adding that even with the ball in hand one has to be patient, as sometimes one doesn't pick up wickets as often as one wants to.

Elgar said that it's something that he has been fighting with himself personally throughout the last few games, adding that he tends to get to the 20's and give his wicket away.

He claimed that it's nice to contribute in the manner that has just happened.

Edgar's 179-run partnership with Faf du Plessis followed a similar approach, with both batsmen biding their time despite numerous let-offs from the tourists.

Elgar claimed that luckily one has a guy at the other end that one communicates with, adding that Du Plessis and he get along quite well when they have the bat in hand, as well as off the field.

South Africa would look to follow a similar batting approach to that of SuperSport Park, and would be encouraged by the lively look of the St George's Park pitch.

Elgar claimed that there is a lot of seam movement out there, adding that he believes if one bowls the ball in the right area with a bit more consistency the rewards would be there.