Key events
Day two stumps: South Africa 97-5
Phew. Mulder survives the final over from Starc and that’s the end of the action on day two. It looked at one point that we wouldn’t get any play at all but in the end it was a gripping thirty over session. Australia took three more wickets and South Africa still have their captain at the crease, Temba Bavuma battling through to the close unbeaten on 41.
43rd over: South Africa 97-5 (Bavuma 41, Mulder 2)
42nd over: South Africa 96-5 (Bavuma 40, Mulder 2) Scott Boland has to settle for his four-fer for now. Say that ten times fast. Just a single to Bavuma off his last one of the day, he’ll be back tomorrow to wreak more havoc. Starc is going to bowl the final over of the day.
41st over: South Africa 95-5 (Bavuma 39, Mulder 2) Starc beats Mulder with a ball that seams in and decks away at pace, how did that not take the shoulder of the bat?! Boland will bowl his last over of the day next up with the scent of a Michelle in his nostrils.
40th over: South Africa 92-5 (Bavuma 38, Mulder 0) Rickelton couldn’t believe the catch had been snaffled and stood rooted for a good few seconds. Mulder replaces him… and is nearly pinned LBW first ball! He got a scratch on it that saves him for a rapid departure. Wicket maiden for Boland – he has 4-30 from 15 overs with five maidens. Cripes.
WICKET! Ryan Rickelton c Renshaw b Boland 31 (South Africa 92-5)
Matt Renshaw pulls off a stunner at first slip! Rickelton edges that man Scott Boland and for a second it looks like the chance is going to fly between Carey and Renshaw. The keeper doesn’t go for it so Renshaw sticks out a late velcro paw and grasps it milimetres off the turf! He can’t quite believe it himself. Boland has four wickets and Australia get the late breakthrough they wanted. They might still get another this evening…
39th over: South Africa 92-4 (Bavuma 38, Rickelton 31) Starc replaces Boland for a final burst on day two, he spears down a maiden to Bavuma. Can this pair make it the close unscathed?
38th over: South Africa 92-4 (Bavuma 38, Rickelton 31) Drop! The plan was hatched and the leg side trap set, Rickleton obliged with a flick off his hip to Cummins that went straight to Marnus at leg slip… it was on him too quickly and smashes him in the solar plexus before falling to the floor. A big chance goes begging. Salt, meet Wound. Rickelton gets on his tippies and punches on the up for four to close out the over.
37th over: South Africa 86-4 (Bavuma 37, Rickelton 26) Boland draws Rickelton forward and takes the edge but it squirts downwards and away past the cordon for four. Lewk in the bewk. The home fans are at their loudest now, DJ Otzi is being parped and hollered…
36th over: South Africa 81-4 (Bavuma 37, Rickelton 21) Ooof Madon! Cummins goes short and Bavuma slams him for SIX out of nowhere! What a shot that is! No attempt whatsoever to keep it down, the Proteas captain swats it away in style. There’s a bit of a delay as the ball is fetched from outside the stadium, Big Pat will not like that. He repsonds with two dots to finish the over, South Africa chalk another one off.
35th over: South Africa 73-4 (Bavuma 30, Rickelton 20) Scott Boland replaces Webster and is on the hunt for more notches in the wickets column. Bang! Rickelton greets Boland’s out of character loosener with the full treatment, cutting for four past point. A streaky two follows with a slice through the off side. Tricky conditions for batting made worse by the sun dipping in and out over the pitch.
34th over: South Africa 67-4 (Bavuma 30, Rickelton 14) Cummins spears in a maiden with the whole ground now in shadow. We are due to get 45 mins or so more play but with the sun going down rapidly that could be unlikely. A few more overs for Bavuma and Rickelton to get their head down and they can look back on a decent fightback. Ouch! Rickelton wears a short one in the ribs, pass the arnica.
33rd over: South Africa 66-4 (Bavuma 30, Rickelton 14) Rickelton has shown decent judgement since he arrived in the middle. Webster nibbles it about on a length and Alex Carey is up to the stumps but Rickleton abjures anything he doesn’t need to get his bat down on. Oh, just as I type that he takes a risky single that might have seen him back in the sheds had there been a direct hit! That was a classic case of take a run for the shot – it was straight to mid off! Lucky lad.
32nd over: South Africa 65-4 (Bavuma 30, Rickelton 13) Cummins is around the wicket but both Bavuma and Rickelton work the angle to collect singles into the leg side. This partnership is now the longest and most lucrative of the South African innings, the Proteas need them to survive to stumps and go again tomorrow when the going should be much more batter friendly.
31st over: South Africa 62-4 (Bavuma 29, Rickelton 11) Webster stitches together his third maiden on the bounce but Bavuma only had to play at a grand total of two deliveries in the over. Straighten it up Beau, old son.
30th over: South Africa 62-4 (Bavuma 29, Rickelton 11) That’s more like it. Rickelton plays the shot of the day to Cummins’s first ball, driving on the up back past the Aussie captain for four. Rinse and repeat! Cummins goes full again a couple of balls later and Rickelton pings him wide of mid off for another welcome boundary. A nosebleed inducing eight runs off the over.
29th over: South Africa 54-4 (Bavuma 29, Rickelton 3) Another maiden to Webster, he has a ring field and is bowling stump to stump, targeting the stumps and front pad. Bavuma plays a couple of handsome drives but can’t break through the field. Starc is done this time, Cummins is coming on for a bowl with the shadows lengthening across the outfield now.
28th over: South Africa 54-4 (Bavuma 29, Rickelton 3) Starc wasn’t hooked, it’s a change of ends for him. Oooosht! He has Bavuma hopping around the crease with a delivery that spits off a length at 92mph and snorts passed the edge.
27th over: South Africa 52-4 (Bavuma 28, Rickelton 2) Webster has two slips and a gully. Hazlewood would be bowling these overs under normal circumstances but he’s off the field with illness. Webster does his job though and keeps the pressure well and truly on with a maiden to start.
26th over: South Africa 52-4 (Bavuma 28, Rickelton 2) Bavuma playing a lone hand at the moment, he guides Starc away for four with aplomb and then takes a single with a clip through midwicket. Beau Webster is going to replace Starc for the next over.
25th over: South Africa 47-4 (Bavuma 23, Rickelton 2) Boland peels off a maiden to Rickelton who does well to survive the examination.
24th over: South Africa 47-4 (Bavuma 23, Rickelton 2) Shot! Starc sends down a searing 92.5mph delivery but Bavuma plays it as if he is a medium paced dobber, stepping forward and lasering it through the covers.
23rd over: South Africa 43-4 (Bavuma 19, Rickelton 2) Bavuma is offering some solidity, if he goes then the you fear the whole batting card could collapse. He plays late and drops a single into the leg side.
22nd over: South Africa 42-4 (Bavuma 18, Rickelton 2) Rickelton arrives in the middle with a rescue job needed. He didn’t get any as opener in the first game and is in at six for this one. he gets off the mark straightaway with a tuck to square leg. South Africa are in the mire though.
WICKET! Matthew Breetzke c Carey b Starc 4 (South Africa 40-4)
Starc strikes in his first over of the day! Breetzke plays too far away from his body and feathers an edge through to Carey. Problems for the home side.
21st over: South Africa 40-3 (Bavuma 18, Breetzke 4) The tv pictures cut out for a few minutes but there’s two off Boland’s over as Bavuma clips tidil off his pads. Mitch Starc is coming on to replace Captain Pat.
20th over: South Africa 38-3 (Bavuma 16, Breetzke 4) Cummins looks dangerous but after three dots Breetzke tucks off his hip to get down the other end .Bavuma negotiates a horrible ball in at the ribs.
19th over: South Africa 36-3 (Bavuma 15, Breetzke 3) Bavuma leans on a full ball from Boland and collects four with a compact drive down the ground. Two more singles, this pair doing well to keep the scoreboard moving despite the pressure cooker hissing.
18th over: South Africa 30-3 (Bavuma 10, Breetzke 1) Bavuma takes another nifty single off Cummins to bring Breetzke on strike, the latter gets off the mark with a guide down past gully for a couple.
17th over: South Africa 27-3 (Bavuma 9, Breetzke 0) Boland dots up Bavuma for five deliveries in a row but can’t manage the sixth as the batter takes a single into the leg side to keep strike for the next. It’s a gripping battle out there, another wicket in this passage of play and the Proteas are really in the mire.
16th over: South Africa 26-3 (Bavuma 8, Breetzke 0) A maiden from Cummins but there is a leg bye to the total courtesy of Bavuma’s diddy pads. The bad parp away and the whole ground is bathed in glorious sunshine. Boland is coming back for another examination.
15th over: South Africa 25-3 (Bavuma 8, Breetzke 0) Matthew Breetzke is the new batter, this guy is a serious talent and his team need something from him here. He survives the rest of Boland’s over but looks a smidge nervous out there, feet in concrete for the final ball and he does well to keep it at bay.
WICKET! Marques Ackerman c Carey b Boland 6 (South Africa 25-3)
It’s a beautiful afternoon in Gqeberha now and apparently the weather is set fair for the rest of the match. Will we have enough time to see a result?
Err you wouldn’t bet against it! Ackerman plays a loose waft outside off stump while on the walk to Boland and he pays the price! A thin edge through to Carey and he’s on his way.
14th over: South Africa 25-2 (Bavuma 8, Ackerman 6) Cummins is pounding in, his very first ball takes a chunk of Ackerman’s shoulder and is caught by Carey diving forward behind the sticks… Australia don’t even send it upstairs, they know that the bat was nowhere near it. Ackerman drops and runs for a quick single and Bavuma does well to block out the rest of a typically probing Cummins over.
13th over: South Africa 24-2 (Bavuma 8, Ackerman 5) Boland beats Bavuma’s defensive poke with a beauty that nips back late and almost tickles the off bail too! An absolute stunner to start proceedings from Scotty too Hotty. Shot! Bavuma then unfurls a peach of a cover drive to bisect the field. Honours even. Test cricket, you can’t beat it.
Temba Bavuma is going to face up to four balls from Scott Boland to kick off day two. Thank all the higher powers that we have got here, finally. PLAY!
Right then, here we go. Well done to the groundstaff at St George’s Park who have battled the wet stuff all day. The sun is shining brightly now and we’ve got a potential 30.4 overs of play to get through.
“Buckets and buckets of saw dust being applied to the outfield in front of the Castle Corner” writes James Walker. “Can’t wait to see if the ball lands there and sticks like a 9 iron landed on a wet green.”
Walker also has some goss:
“Was at the pub for lunch earlier and the owner asked us did we know what time the cricket was finished? The Australian team had a booking at her other venue and she’d been told they might arrive at 3pm or 6pm. Cue jokes about texting Cummo to confirm. Seems like the boys weren’t expecting any cricket to be played today. Maybe they hadn’t figured on all the saw dust.”
Some more news – Josh Hazlewood is poorly and won’t take the field today. So when they do get on Australia will be a bowler short. It shouldn’t trouble them too much on a severely truncated day and the suggestion is he should be good to go tomorrow.
Here we go! The umpires have spoken – all being well we will have play at 3:45pm local time, just 25 minutes from now. There are 30.4 overs as a maximum and we’ll be lucky to get all of them in with the light but heck, we’ll take anything right about now.
The players are warming up in sunshine. Inspection currently taking place, stand by your beds folks!
More good news from Gqeberha! The players have arrived at the ground having been at the hotel all day. Buckle up folks, we could well have some Test cricket to watch in the not too distant.
I tell you what though, there are promising signs at the ground, the stumps are being readied and pitch lines painted! Hopefully we will see some action in a little over half an hour, wouldn’t that be something!?
Source: www.theguardian.com
