|
|||
|
Matches:
South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg
Series/Tournaments:
Australia tour of South Africa
Teams:
Australia
| South Africa
|
|||
A fearsome spell from Pat Cummins and a canny one from the spinner,
Nathan Lyon, helped Australia hold South Africa to an uneasy 94 for 3,
with a lead of 64, at lunch on day three.
The hosts had flown to 40 for 0 in 7.1 overs before Cummins bounced out
Jacques Rudolph, and after Lyon had outsmarted Graeme Smith, the
teenaged debutant gave Jacques Kallis the sort of examination that not
even South Africa's most prolific Test batsman of all could withstand,
eventually being caught in the slips for two.
AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla were together at the interval, their
contributions critical to establishing a sizeable target for Australia
to chase in the fourth innings.
Mitchell Johnson had resumed the attack to complete his opening over,
which had begun the previous night, and did so with a shortened run-up.
The gambit appeared to be geared towards achieving a higher-arm action
and a greater chance of swing, but it brought no early wickets as
Australia's narrow lead was quickly swallowed up.
Cummins was much the more dangerous proposition for the openers, and
after Rudolph had made a fluent start he hooked unwisely at a swift
short ball and skied the simplest of chances for Brad Haddin. Smith
interspersed edges through the third-man region with the occasional
sparkling drive and was looking good for more when spin was introduced.
Lyon had a difficult start to the Test but then bowled better with each
over. He quickly struck a nice length and line in his first over to
Amla, and then set about tempting Smith outside off stump. A modicum of
rough provided the natural variation that Lyon enjoys, and when one ball
bounced and turned a little more than Smith budgeted for, the airborne
cut was taken in the gully.
Michael Clarke immediately took Lyon off to try Cummins and the
18-year-old set about working over Kallis with all the venom of a
genuine strike bowler. In the space of 19 balls - reminiscent of Ishant
Sharma's fabled spell to Ricky Ponting in Perth in 2008 - Cummins made
Kallis look decidedly uncomfortable, no more so than when one throat
ball was only parried down off glove and bat handle with a fair helping
of luck. An airy play and miss soon followed, and the bowler completed a
comprehensive victory over his quarry when Kallis sparred at a delivery
seaming away and edged to Clarke at slip.
Not content with Kallis' wicket, Cummins soon had de Villiers hopping
around and calling for medical attention when a searing yorker struck
him on the boot. The session ended with Australia hopeful, both for this
match and for the future beyond, with Cummins singular talent at their
disposal.
No comments:
Post a Comment