Key events
Gervase Greene sends tribute from Sydney. “Pretty hard not to like Temba Bavuma. Comes in late and bats at 2-fer, 3-fer and then 4-fer, on a damp pitch doing a fair bit and Boland going ape… and still plays as steadily as you like, scoring freely still and even tonking one literally over the grandstand. As if it weren’t hard enough leading a team in an inherently fractious country, given a history still being worked through, he is quite remarkable. About two feet tall, but as wickets fell around him he stood up to a scary Starc, Baz Boland and Captain Planet as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Respect.”
“Last I saw Jansen bat against Aus he was at seven, and a candidate for the least technical batter I’d ever seen in that position – looks a marvellous eight though. Funny the gulf between a single place in the order.”
He was always too high at seven, Eamonn Maloney, he’s a ball-striker rather than a batter. He looks great when it works, and less good when he whacks one to a catcher in the deep too early in his stay, like he did in Durban. Many players like this in history. Now and then they make hundreds. He’s got a chance today. Shades of Mitchell Johnson in South Africa in 2009.
Lunch – South Africa fight back to 216 for 6
What an effort from Bavuma and Jansen, their partnership stands at 106. The session looked like it was only going one way when Wiaan Mulder was bounced out, so hostile was the bowling against a resolute player. But Jansen came out and played differently, in his style, and knocked the Aussies off balance with the ferocity of his counter. He got lucky a few times, certainly, but the power of his striking can’t be denied. At the other end, Bavuma didn’t need luck, he was just too good. The bowling wasn’t bad. Excellent quality of short bowling, some balls past the edge, with a lot less seam on offer. But now Australia will need the new ball to search for some lateral movement on a flattening pitch.
72nd over: South Africa 216-6 (Bavuma 76, Jansen 72) Webster is bowling his mediums, if you’re wondering. Bavuma happy to soak up the final over of the session.
“You know what, we should have picked Nathan Lyon…” goes one email. Rowan Sweeney, I do not believe that your hypothesis is supported by the data. Boland 4 for 57 out of 6 for 216.
71st over: South Africa 216-6 (Bavuma 76, Jansen 72) Maddinson now with left-arm spin. Something to break the concentration. Doesn’t look the worst, a bit of loop from around the wicket to the right-handers. One slip in place. The bowler gets away with a bit, given the imminent break. Bowl Jansen a low full toss normally, and he’d try to hit it into orbit.
70th over: South Africa 213-6 (Bavuma 74, Jansen 71) Finally, Webster gets a go. Batting seven, getting an over before lunch: they’re making him more of a bit-part player in this side than he needs to be. Bavuma’s masterful control of the innings continues, dropping a ball behind point for a run. It’s hard to remember a mistake that he’s made. Perhaps those two flirtations facing Starc. Jansen a run off the pads, Bavuma the same.
69th over: South Africa 210-6 (Bavuma 72, Jansen 70) Another quiet Renshaw over, three singles.
68th over: South Africa 207-6 (Bavuma 70, Jansen 69) Starc a good short ball, right on line, but Jansen sways back out of the way of that one, dropping his gloves from upper chest height. He’s only got so much restraint in him, though. Next ball is not as short, and Jansen clobbers it through midwicket for four! Breaks his bat, too. Cracks it, calls for a replacement.
Tom Barrington writes in. “Only able to follow the game on your OBO so maybe this is unfair, but have noticed on a few occasions you’ve mentioned Boland’s efforts in the field not being up to par. Combined with his minimal impact with the bat, do you think this may be another factor as to why he isn’t consistently in the side?”
Look, I don’t think he’s a bad fielder, he’s taken some excellent catches in the past, good hands, just not the most mobile, not fast off the mark. Like, it would be fair to say he’s the 11th-best fielder in this team, that’s why he’s at fine leg whenever possible, but that doesn’t mean he’s not good given international standards. Today he got in one tangle on the rope, and then didn’t get to a chance that a gun fielder might (might!) have got closer to. He’s not had a shocker.
67th over: South Africa 201-6 (Bavuma 69, Jansen 64) With Bavuma at the other end, the pace of an innings sure can change. Renshaw bowls six dot balls, though it’s not like Bavuma wasn’t trying to score, he just keeps finding the field. At one point it’s Labuschagne sliding along on his back, dragging the beck of his cable-knit sweater halfway down his spine as he finally stops the ball.
66th over: South Africa 201-6 (Bavuma 69, Jansen 64) Another reprieve for Jansen, big top edge from Starc that swirls on its way towards fine leg, but Boland coming in off the rope seems to lose track of the ball. It drops well short of him in the end. A more nimble fielder might have got there. Jansen gets a run, then gets back on strike, and stepping outside leg, drives three to deep cover. They score from five balls of that over, excellent rotation, and they’re past 200. South Africa in the game!
65th over: South Africa 194-6 (Bavuma 66, Jansen 60) DRS does it’s job! This would have been one of those bad-taste injustices of yesteryear, but it ends up the right way around now. Renshaw is convinced that he has Jansen’s wicket. A prod outside off stump, the ball past the edge, and a sound before it lands in the keeper’s gloves. That’s good enough for most umpires, and good enough for Dick Illy, who gives it out. But Jansen immediately reviews, and the tape shows a sliver of daylight between bat and ball, at exactly the moment that the bottom corner of the bat brushes the flap of the pad. A tiny bit of contact that no umpire could see, a tiny noise that the umpire just heard, and the mistake was entirely understandable, but it doesn’t end Jansen’s batting day.
64th over: South Africa 191-6 (Bavuma 65, Jansen 58) Starc comes back, and for a moment stems the bleeding. Jansen is almost out, skimming a ball to mid on, but just on the bounce. I think he half bailed out of that shot, in which case, well played.
63rd over: South Africa 190-6 (Bavuma 64, Jansen 58) Almost through the comm box window! Whoosh. The boxes at St George’s Park are positioned right on top of the sight screen, and Jansen absolutely murders a flat straight hit off Renshaw that just clips the roof above the commentary box for the TV, otherwise it would have showered that lot in a spray of broken glass. I hope they have safety glass in those frames… even so, it would have been messy. Jansen is flying, he’s nearly caught Bavuma in less than a third of the deliveries.
Half century! Jansen 50 from 43 balls
62nd over: South Africa 180-6 (Bavuma 62, Jansen 50) He ain’t subtle, is he! Jansen gets another over from Cummins, clears the front leg, and absolutely wipes him through wide long on for four. He’s hit seven singles and seven fours, good ratio, then adds his eighth single to fine leg to raise his milestone. He’s starting to annoy Cummins now, who expresses that by putting a bouncer up the nose of Bavuma, or trying to. It whistles through.
61st over: South Africa 175-6 (Bavuma 62, Jansen 45) Australia will turn to spin, but it has to come from their bevy of part-timers. Matt Renshaw will be the gamble, after a couple of wickets in Durban. Low full toss to start, driven back past him for a run by Bavuma, half stopped. Jansen chops his first ball past off stump, inside edge, then gets respectfully forward to block the next. Big shot feels inevitable. Perhaps luckily for Jansen, he gets a short one, so he can lash at it with all his force but still hit it along the ground, one run to deep point.
60th over: South Africa 173-6 (Bavuma 61, Jansen 44) Cummins is getting towelled up! The Aussies need to find a way to change this up. A spinner might be handy… Length ball and Jansen smites it, cut through point. Ducks a bouncer next ball, setting up leg side of the delivery, and Cummins has noted that, and slips in the yorker… it misses by a millimetre! That shaves the off stump as it goes by, it beat Jansen easily, he was hanging back and jammed down desperately but can’t intercept the ball. So nearly out.
59th over: South Africa 169-6 (Bavuma 61, Jansen 40) Bavuma is really growing into his work, for partial reward. Absolutlely gorgeous on-drive, a very straight one, but the mid on is set straight, so he doesn’t get a run. Then a square punch just in front of point, again crisp contact, no excessive force, but that shot is hauled back before the rope, two runs there. Finally, to end the over, Bavuma gets to try the on-drive again, this time getting it wider, and finally sends Boland to the fence. Sunshine baking the pitch, and it’s certainly offering less movement, according to the eye. Not sure what the Viz stats have to say about that.
58th over: South Africa 163-6 (Bavuma 55, Jansen 40) Nearly caught in the deep! Jansen continues to live dangerously, but for now keeps collecting rewards. Takes on Cummins with the pull shot, and the man at deep square leg loiters under it, but it just clears him and carries the rope. A metre or so in that. Some ones and twos around that in the over makes it a highly profitable one, a dozen runs from it.
57th over: South Africa 151-6 (Bavuma 52, Jansen 31) Beats him! Boland shows Jansen what he has in his locker, classic Boland seam away, so nearly the edge. Then goes at Jansen with the short ball again, a nasty one up at the gloves, but Jansen manages to play it down off glove and bat handle into the leg side and escape the strike. Drinks.
56th over: South Africa 150-6 (Bavuma 52, Jansen 30) Three singles from Starc’s over. Given the Hazlewood absence we’ll be seeing Webster Time soon. Still 24 overs from a possible new ball – break this stand and it may not be needed.
55th over: South Africa 147-6 (Bavuma 51, Jansen 28) You can hit Scotty Boland! Jansen channels a bit of the England approach from 2023. It’s not an overpitched ball exactly, but Jansen is so tall that his straight drive is able to meet it a shorter time after it lands. Very clean straight drive clears long off for six. Boland puts square leg back and goes the bouncer, and Jansen resists, just.
Half century! Bavuma 51 from 140 balls
54th over: South Africa 140-6 (Bavuma 51, Jansen 21) For those asking about whether Hazlewood is there, I should have mentioned that the playing regs mean that he can’t bowl for about 30 overs, which is the length of time that he spent off the field yesterday. Given he wasn’t off for an external injury, which is one of those quirky distinctions that still exists. Laceration, the game will look after you. Torn muscle or gastro, that’s your problem.
The Starc and Bavuma battle is an interesting one. A lot of angle across the right-hander, who leaves some, then flirts with a couple of deliveries, but they’re anomalous ones: first a no-ball, for an overstep, then a high full toss that he tries to steer away. Surely he couldn’t have known that was a no-ball… Last ball of the over though, Starc loses his line and bowls leg stump, and Bavuma glances four for his fifty.
53rd over: South Africa 135-6 (Bavuma 47, Jansen 21) That looks better from Jansen! Sublime on-drive from Scott Boland! Goodness me, what a shot. That comes after he clipped a boundary off his pads. Eight from Boland’s over, unheard of. Jansen has scored 20 in his last 11 balls.
52nd over: South Africa 127-6 (Bavuma 47, Jansen 13) Marco Jansen knows only one way, so he throws the bat at Starc and gets lucky. One edge, another couple through cover but with no technique, just whoosing the bat and getting middle. Three boundaries in the over makes for good reading, but doesn’t promise a long stay.
Luca Human writes in, no need for the skin suit when communicating remotely. “Unfortunately the alien overlords have decided to give me a runny nose today, which does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for the cricket. Quick Q: would you say Jansen and/or Rabada are top 10 Test bowlers right now? And how does Starc keep his longevity?”
Rabada is probably top 20 ever, so he’s definitely top 10 now. Incredible performer despite relatively limited opportunities and constant interruptions given SA’s stop-start schedule. Jansen is a bit like Boland: amazing numbers, but the sample size is still short of 100 wickets. He’s probably top 10 fast bowlers in the world right now, nearer 10 than top, though maybe not there if you include spinners.
As for Starc, just a relentless commitment to fitness, close attention to recovery, no alcohol, limited T20 league bowling means he takes breaks where he can, lanky sort of body and smooth action maybe makes him less injury prone as an older player. Conditioning in this era is a science, and he’s the beneficiary.
51st over: South Africa 114-6 (Bavuma 47, Jansen 0) Lovely on-drive from Bavuma, four down the ground, and Cummins replies with a forehead-seeking missile that the RSA captain barely avoids. And another one! Leaping at him, and Bavuma leaps, that was Robin Smith style, both feet off the ground while yanking his head away from the line over middle stump. Yikes.
WICKET! Mulder c Renshaw b Starc 13, South Africa 110-6
50th over: South Africa 110-6 (Bavuma 43) Starc goes up for a review! Once again, Pat Cummins makes the right change and gets immediate reward. Well, reward from the sixth ball, anyway. Bowls outside off, bowls full, five balls that let Mulder play or think about playing from the front foot. Then at the last, drops in the bouncer. It’s perfect. On line, that horrible height, Starc’s relatively flat skimming trajectory, given the way his front leg collapses and his bowling arm gets so low. The line, too, left-arm over to the right hander, giving him no way to escape the ball. In the end Mulder is squared up, facing the ball, trying to get under, trying to get his bat up, but all he can get on it is a flick of glove, onto a clip of the helmet, and away to slip. The standing umpire says it was all lid, but Starc and Renshaw are confident there was glove, and the soundwave proves them to be right.
49th over: South Africa 110-5 (Bavuma 43, Mulder 13) George from Brisbane: “Is Josh Hazlewood on the field?” Yep, or at least he was a few minutes ago, last time I saw him. Standing at mid on, best I can tell from the long lens. Australia opening up with Boland, on the hot streak, and Cummins for aggression. Good bouncer from Cummins! Perfect badge height to Mulder, who just gets under it. That might be why he sprints a single to mid on, and indeed there is Hazlewood, underarming at the stumps.
48th over: South Africa 108-5 (Bavuma 42, Mulder 12) Boland again, the whole over to Mulder. Goes past his edge a couple of times, and tries the bouncer variation in the middle, but Mulder is equal to that at least, and pulls a couple of runs.
47th over: South Africa 106-5 (Bavuma 42, Mulder 10) Bavuma looks intent on settling in. Cummins gives him a couple of bouncers, but he’s very happy to get out of the way. The tempter outside off stump is allowed to pass by. Contrast that to Mulder, who plays and misses at one of those.
46th over: South Africa 105-5 (Bavuma 42, Mulder 9) Boland to Bavuma may be the defining battle of the day. Scott is working him well, arrow-straight on that off-stump line, seam just gently lilting to the left and then the right, nipping in at the right-hander, who defends well, and eventually can deflect one such ball to leg for his first run of the day. Mulder follows suit.
45th over: South Africa 103-5 (Bavuma 41, Mulder 8) Not great fielding from Boland to start the day, sliding across at fine leg in awkward fashion, half on his back and his backside rather than sliding headfirst or feet first. That means that he touches Mulder’s glance but can’t stop it ricocheting into the rope. Cummins not wildly impressed. South Africa tons up. Mulder picks off a couple more to midwicket. He batted well in the Durban rearguard. He’s needed again. Three tons in his career, though they’re all against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
44th over: South Africa 97-5 (Bavuma 41, Mulder 2) It will be Boland to start the day, with the sun shining and the greenness having gone out of the grass. He spoke yesterday about not wanting to give players an easy leave early in their innings, but Bavuma is able to leave three of six balls to start the day.
First email of the day from Kenrick Riley.
“Dear Geoff, thanks for the link to that doco. What a ride you two’ve had! [That was yesterday, see the post here.] Anyway, I stupidly bet my mate that Boland would take 7-27 in the first innings. Mind you, at 4-31, if he got a hat trick now, I’d be only four runs off my prediction! Thanks for the blog.”
That was a bold prediction, given it would be in the top 25 Australian innings analyses ever, but sometimes one has to be bold. Seven wickets is still well and truly on. In theory, equalling Laker’s 19 is still on.
Scott Boland with 4 for 31 has been the story of the first two days, and he’ll have plenty of opportunity for a five-wicket bag in his first foray to South Africa as a cricketer. He’s now played in his fifth country, as well as England, India, West Indies, and at home.
There’s a line I’ve been seeing more often in the last couple of days saying, oh, well, he only has such good stats because he gets picked in favourable conditions. Which is the kind of thing someone would say who doesn’t watch the cricket or remember much. This is Boland’s 20th Test, and only three out of 20 have been played as part of four fast bowlers. And only three out of those 20 have been unsuccessful with the ball (Nagpur, Edgbaston, Leeds). So he’s played in a wide range of conditions, usually as a replacement for part of the Big Three rather than a complement to them, and has succeeded far more often than most bowlers in history.
You can email me anytime during the day – an OBO tradition. Thoughts, prayers, threats, curses, incantations.
Another point of interest is how Josh Hazlewood pulls up today, after being off the field crook yesterday. He and umpire Chris Gaffaney. Did they have a quiet dinner at an unvetted seafood joint?
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
You heard right. Cricket, like love, never runs on time. Or at least if often runs late. But today, at least, it’s running early. We’ll get that early start (by 15 minutes? What’s that going to get us, two overs?) and if the skies stay clear we can play late like we did yesterday. It won’t necessarily make up overs, in terms of the 450 scheduled for the match, given how slowly modern teams bowl their overs, but it will make up a few of the overs lost to rain the last two days. And every over we get back gets us closer to a result.
As to which way that result goes, Australia are in the better spot, but there’s so much riding on this current partnership and on Temba Bavuma specifically. We saw in Durban how lower order batting can define a match, and South Africa still have the opportunity to define this one. Bavuma has a great record as captain, though he’s often the supporting player – today he needs to be at the forefront, and get some help from Mulder, Jansen, and Harmer, primarily.
Can he get through the early burst from the Australians and build his way into the day? It all rides on that.
After a couple of days filled with rain interruptions that have only allowed a total of 43 overs, the skies have cleared and the sun is shining in Gqeberha with the mercury expected to hit 20C. Play will resume 15 minutes earlier than originally planned with first ball now at 9.45am local/6.45pm AEDT/8.45am BST and South Africa back at the crease.
Geoff Lemon will be with us shortly for a proper introduction, but for now catch up on his report from day two.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Scott Boland had to wait a long time. Scott Boland took a wicket as soon as he got a chance. It was the same story on day two of the second Test at Gqeberha as it had been on day one, with rain delaying play, this time until deep into the afternoon. When a wet outfield had finally dried enough to allow play to resume in African sunshine, South Africa lost three more wickets to finish on 97 for 5.
