In murky conditions and on a fresh track, the ball moved.
Cameron Bancroft and David Warner remained quiet for almost an hour, but after
the end of first drinks break, they flexed their muscles as it was time to
score runs. Give the first hour to the bowlers and the rest would be yours –
Warner and Bancroft’s of going the old way paid off in second hour. Again,
there is no point of hanging around in South Africa for a long time, but
counterattack or scoring runs should be the way to go.
They scored runs. But in the meantime, Vernon Philander
showed his young partners how to bowl the ideal length on this deck. Big Vern
scripted a breakthrough and then Kagiso Rabada set jitters in the Australian
batting line up. He nipped the ball back in more than swinging it away from a
fuller and back of a length. Especially, he showed how to hamper Steve Smith’s
hand-eye coordination.
You can nail Smith if you nip the ball back into him in from
off to middle and leg. Scoring runs on the onside may be Smith’s strength, but
the nip-backers are his nemesis. He shuffles to flick them and that’s where he
loses his hand-eye coordination. Maybe
an attempt to play it defensively might save him.
Rabada bagged five wickets and one must not forget how Lungi
Ngidi broke through in the critical junctures of the match: Castled Warner with
a beauty. Halted the threatening partnership of Tim Paine and Nathan Lyon and
ended the stubborn resistance of Lyon and Josh Hazlewood.
The South African hierarchy showed us all, no individual is
bigger than interest of the team. Only in places like South Africa or Australia
it is possible for omitting a legendary figure who is playing his final series
and surface a young blood.
In my opinion, the day is still evenly poised. The Australian
tail wagged again and progress from a shaky 170 for 7 to 243 all out is not bad
at all. Those valuable runs by the Australian tail might prove handy.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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