Australia Vs South Africa 3rd Test: Day 2 – Summary and Analysis

1.  Day 1 saw South Africa laying a solid foundation on the first part of the day while Australia’s fast bowler Cummins led Australia’s revival by shattering the middle order.

2.  South Africa’s day had come to an end on 266 for the loss of 8 wickets courtesy of Cummins four wickets.

3.  On Day 2 of this test match Dean Elgar and Rabada looked to take their team’s score past 300 while Australia aimed to stop them from reaching their target.

4.  After much persistence from the batsmen Australian bowlers wriggled through the tail order and left Dean Elgar standing on the other side as the opener saw the tail falling from the non-striker’s end.

5.  Lyon took the last two wickets of Rabada and Morkel to bowl out South Africa for a total of 311 runs. Dean Elgar was given a standing ovation as the opener carried his bat off the ground unbeaten of 141* from 284 balls; a superb knock.

6.  Australia had now a slight advantage and their openers Bancroft and Warner came out bat looking pretty confident. Both openers showed intent with Warner being the aggressive one as he was striking the ball quite fiercely.

7.  However, this tactic of Warner did not hold out for long as Rabada claimed his wicket by shattering the opener’s defenses as the opener fell after scoring 30 off 14 balls.

8.     After Rabada claimed this wicket South Africa saw it as a potential opening and claimed two more wickets in less then 40 runs. Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith became the victims of Morkel as Australia slumped to 72/3.

9.  A fighting partnership from Marsh and Bancroft, however steadied things up as the pair added 78 for the fourth wicket.

10.       But this strong partnership was cut short by Philander and Morkel as they shared 3 wickets between them in a space of 6 runs.

11.       The Australian fast bowlers showed some intent but not for long as Starc and Cummins were removed by Rabada to send Australia 8 wickets down for 175 runs.

12.       But, the surprise package for Australia came out as Nathan Lyon scored a rapid 47 off 38 balls thus denying South Africa to have any further grip on the game.

13.       Lyon was removed by Morkel at the end of the 2^nd day but the damage had been done. Tim Paine and Josh Hazelwood still remained unbeaten at the crease and saw the day off as Australia were now only 66 runs trailing behind their hosts.

14.       It was a similar day as the first one as South Africa dominated in the first half and Australia showed their batting prowess in the latter part of the day.

15.       Day 3 will witness Australia seeking to extend their lead while South Africa will look to take the last wicket and put a handsome lead on board.

16.       That is it for now. Do join us tomorrow for the latest updates.

D Elgar

AK Markram

HM Amla

AB de Villiers

F du Plessis (c)

T Bavuma

Q de Kock

VD Philander

KA Maharaj

K Rabada

M Morkel

DA Warner

CT Bancroft

UT Khawaja

SPD Smith (c)

SE Marsh

MR Marsh

TD Paine

PJ Cummins

MA Starc

NM Lyon

JR Hazlewood