Australia vs South Africa – 2nd Test Day 1 Summary and Analysis

1. Australia faced off Australia in the 2^nd Test match with having the advantage of 1-0 in this series. South Africa and Australia are two top test playing nations and this match, like the first one was always going to be interesting.
2. The toss was won by Australia and they chose to bat on a green pitch which was going to prove quite helpful to the seamers of South Africa as it did later on in the match. David Warner walked along with his opening partner Bancroft and started things off for Australia. The two played well and frustrated the South African bowlers by putting on a 98 run stand before Bancroft edged out to Philander who was handsomely rewarded with this wicket for being highly economical.
3. Usman Khawaja joined Warner but his stay was cut short by Philander (also known by the nickname “Big Vern” in his team) who outsmarted the inform batsman to edge out to De Kock. Then came Australia’s partnership builder and the captain of Australian team, Steven Smith looking to rebuild with Warner.
4. However, Warner’s stumps were uprooted by the young pacer, Lungi Ngidi in no time leaving Australia at 3-117. But, the new batsmen Shaun Marsh built a crafty partnership with the skipper before Rabada pinned Smith on the pads to claim an lbw and practically turned the tables in favour of his team. Australian team now were looking to their middle order to put them on track but little did they know that Rabada was on fire.
5. Some resistance was shown by the lower order and the middle order batsmen Tim Paine who scored an invaluable 36 off 68 balls but Rabada was looking for blood as he demolished the middle order while Paine became a victim of Lungi Ngidi who sent his stumps flying in the air.
6. The fast bowler, Rabada took the wicket of Smith and 4 other wickets in a span of 18 balls to claim his five-for and leave Australia at an average total of 243 runs in the 1^st innings.
7. In reply, South Africa’s Aiden Markram( who scored 143 in the 4^th innings of the 1^st test match) and Dean Elgar walked on the pitch in hopes to resist the likes of Starc and Cummins. However, Cummins struck in his 1^st over to remove Markram and give Australia a reason to cheer.
8. The day was coming to an end so the Africans sent their night watchman Rabada to bat along with Elgar and see the Australian ballers of which they did and finished the day with a score of 39 for the loss of one wicket.
9. At the end, the day belonged to South Africa who bowled out the Australians for and average total and gave away only wicket in their innings. However, Australians are expected to come back strong as they always do and we are all set for some riveting action on Day 2.

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