It was an evenly poised day at Durban on Day 1. David Warner
and Steve Smith motored the Australian innings well and which conveyed the
message, without these two, the Australian batting lineup lack the back up. The
others need to step up.
Steve Smith was very commanding on the onside. Even against
the balls which pitched up in and around off, his shuffle across that line prompted
him to play through the leg side.
I am not sure why the South African pacers targeted him with
a middle and leg line. Yes, he exposes his leg stump but he also knows how to
protect them. The ideal way to dismiss Smith is by targeting the top of off and
move the cherry away from him.
Interestingly, Smith was dismissed by a bad ball. At times,
the bad balls become so much important in a Test match.
Vernon Philander had been the impressive pacer today. His
persistence with a middle stump line against left handers was pretty handy.
Then he used the wobble-seam and three-quarter length stuff quite effectively.
Keshav Maharaj was another bowler who proved to be a wily
customer. Discipline had been his strength and extracted turn which would
encourage Nathan Lyon a lot.
The crowd at Durban was not discouraging. On a working day
the presence has been better than some of the Twenty20 Leagues where stadium
are almost empty.
South Africa love Test cricket and number of crowd will
increase in the upcoming days.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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