South Africa needed creative methods to protect their fingers at the Wanderers, where variable bounce resulted in several batsmen taking blows to the body and hands. On the fourth morning, Hashim Amla was seen wearing what Herschelle Gibbs called "a mattress" on Twitter, essentially a heavily padded glove which was reinforced by splinting material.
South Africa's physiotherapist Craig Govender roped in opening batsmen Aiden Markram, who was dismissed early, to help. The pair used different coloured Kineso-tape to add some "flair," in Govender's words, to the gloves. Hashim Amla, Vernon Philander and Dean Elgar were among the worst affected on a pitch that the ICC rated as poor.