South Africa vs Australia 2018: 4th Test, Day 1, 5 Talking Points

Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar need to find form as a combo again for the Proteas. Photo: Gallo Images.
Markram and Elgar registered their 5th 50+ opening stand.

After a week where controversies were the talk of the town, the focus shifted back to cricket with South Africa leading the series 2-1. Australia were shattered and looked clueless in the second innings (day 4) of the third Test. With Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft sent home, Tim Paine became Australia’s 46th Test captain.

Winning the toss and batting first, South Africa got off to a solid start as Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram put on 53 runs for the first wicket. South Africa’s first three wickets added 247 runs before Pat Cummins and Chadd Sayers took 4 wickets in the final session to restore some sort of parity.

However, the day belonged to Markram who scored his 4th Test century and registered his career-best score. AB de Villiers gave a good account of himself as well with a fighting 69. South Africa ended the day at 313/6 with Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma at the crease.


#5 A steady, solid start for South Africa

On a pitch that was a lot browner than the one used against India, South Africa had no hesitation in batting first. In the pitch report, Shaun Pollock had said: “a lot of grass was left on it (against India), but they've given it a haircut.”

South Africa got off the mark in style. Hazlewood, bowling the first over in the absence of Mitchell Starc who suffered a tibial bone stress in his right leg, bowled a leg-stump half-volley which Dean Elgar sent away to the boundary.

For the next hour or so, the duo of Markram and Elgar played out the Australian bowlers with little difficulty. There were a few plays and misses, but the opening pair looked solid. All the three pacers (Hazlewood, debutant Sayers and Pat Cummins) were blunted.

However, Nathan Lyon’s introduction changed things. Elgar struggled against the off-spinner and was dismissed trying to take him on. The left-handed opener was dismissed for 19 but it was a solid 53-run opening stand that got South Africa off to a good start.

#4 Australia’s subdued nature

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The Australian players were pretty quiet on the field today

Australia are generally known for their chirpy nature on the field. The bowlers are generally in the face of the batsmen trying to bog them down and instil fear in them.

However, none of that was visible today as the Aussies were largely quiet on the field. The bowlers just turned back to get to their mark after delivering balls. There were no stares (or glares), nothing was said, no long follow-throughs. Even the fielders did not speak a lot.

The Australians were uncharacteristically quiet on the field and they also looked a little flat when (multiple) partnerships started to develop.

#3 Pat Cummins - once again the standout bowler for Australia

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Pat Cummins once again bowled his heart out

Pat Cummins has had a wonderful summer. After a successful return to cricket in early 2017, he continued his good form in the Ashes series. In Australia’s victory in the first Test, he took just two wickets. However, in the next two games, he was Australia’s best bowler.

In this Test, he continued his good form. He didn’t look too good in the first session, but he found his rhythm in the second session. He constantly troubled Amla after thelLunch break and eventually found the edge of his bat.

Again in the final session, South Africa were cruising at 247/2 with Aiden Markram and AB de Villiers milking the bowling. But Cummins once again broke the partnership as he dismissed the centurion Markram in the 71st over of the day. Off the very next delivery, he caught skipper Faf du Plessis right in front as the latter left alone an inswinger to be dismissed LBW.

Cummins once again lifted the spirits of the Aussies just like he did in the last game. He ended the day with impressive figures of 3/53 in 19 overs.

#2 AB de Villiers fights hard for his 69 while Faf du Plessis’ poor form continues

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de Villiers fought hard for his 69

AB de Villiers has been absolutely brilliant in this series. After waging a lone battle in the first innings of the first Test, de Villiers scored a majestic 126 to help South Africa bounce back in the second Test. He continued his good form in the third Test with twin fifties (64 and 63).

The star batsman continued to torment the Australian bowlers in this game as well. However, this time, it was a fighting innings from de Villiers. He was subdued at the start. But in the 70th over, de Villiers took on Nathan Lyon and struck two fours and a six to bring fluency to his innings. He also registered his 7th 50+ score since his comeback.

After that, he remained solid and looked set for a big one but fell in the last hour of the day.

On the other hand, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis’ troubles with the bat continued. After the 63 he scored in the first innings of the second Test against India in Durban, du Plessis has managed to reach double figures only thrice. In his last ten Test innings, he has just managed to score 113 runs.

#1 Aiden Markram’s scores a brilliant 152 but late strikes help Australia end the day positively

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Aiden Markram scored his second hundred of the series

When Markram scored heavily against smaller teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and then didn’t get a lot of runs against India, people felt he would struggle against top quality bowling attacks. However, he has proved his critics wrong.

After a gutsy 143 in the first Test, Markram failed in three consecutive innings before coming back strongly with a fluent, eye-catching 84. In this Test, he scored a brilliant 152 (his career-best score). He got off the mark with a nice boundary to backward point. From that point, he was largely untroubled. He did play and miss on a few occasions but looked positive throughout his innings.

He drove beautifully, pulled with conviction and used the crease well. He attacked Nathan Lyon early in his spell and never allowed him to settle. He shared decent partnerships with every batsman. His innings of 152 was certainly a splendid one and was his second hundred of the series and fourth of his career.

At 247/2, things were looking very good for South Africa as the Aussies looked a little lacklustre on the field. However, Cummins’ double strike (two wickets in two balls) brought Australia back into the game. After Markram and du Plessis were dismissed, de Villiers attacked a little more and registered a fighting half-century.

But debutant Chadd Sayers, who was the least impressive of the Australian bowlers up until that point, came back strong and struck twice in two balls. With the second new ball in hand, Sayers dismissed de Villiers to get his maiden Test wicket. And on the next ball, he got rid of night-watchman Kagiso Rabada to lead Australia's comeback.

Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock played out the rest of the day safely as the Proteas ended with 313/6.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram