Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis gave Australia a lesson in batting on the opening day of the Brisbane Test match but the home team will take some heart from a tough day.
We’ll bring you the live scores and commentary of the action throughout the first Test match, with the match starting at 10.30am AEDT on Saturday.
First, though, the South African batting. It was a no-nonsense affair, from three batsmen whose demeanour from their art usually exudes calmness.
Calm they were and half-centuries for all three of them ensured that the first day of such a high-profile series belonged totally to South Africa.
And Australia will need to contend with Amla and Kallis again on the second morning when play hopefully resumes at the Gabba, with the weather forecast being a concern.
Alviro Petersen’s 64 was an almost chanceless innings that laid the foundation for Amla and Kallis to exploit later. A close lbw shout went against Australia on the DRS thanks to a minor tweak in the rules but that aside Petersen looked good to bat out the day.
While he fell to a surprising rush of blood against Nathan Lyon, Amla and Kallis were stubborn in their resistance for most part of the day. Both gave chances for the bowler Peter Siddle, but neither were taken.
Kallis’ swivel-pull landed into the eager hands of mid-off but the third umpire ruled it a no-ball. Later Amla drove one back to the bowler but a relatively easy catch was spilled was Siddle.
From Australia’s perspective, they were not totally shut out by the Kallis-Amla partnership. The aforementioned chances will give them hope, as will the fact that the South African batting will be shortened because of the unfortunate achilles injury to JP Duminy just minutes after the day’s play.
To give Australia a chance in the match, the bowlers must return back to the habits that saw them trounce the Indians last season.
Bowling fuller will reap dividends, even against the pedigree of Kallis and Amla, but the trio of Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and James Pattinson will need to be more consistent.
Else, weather permitting, Australia could be in for another long day in the field.
We will bring you the coverage throughout the game from the Gabba in Brisbane and hope to receive your opinions as the action unfolds.
WayneO
Guest
Day 3 and the weather is still looking extremely dodgy. I am on the Gold Coast and it has rained all night. Much anticipated series being wrecked by rain. And there has not been hardly any rain for weeks. Very annoying.
pope paul v11
Guest
Send this to the Aussie selectors Suneer, they only pick players in "form".
langou
Roar Guru
Not a bad day for the aussies
Johnno
Guest
No cricket today this well help both teams in a way today. the aussy bowlers will freshen up, and the proteas havnt bowled yet anyway and will be really fresh. Duminy is not as big a blow they already have good batting depth, and very few spinners do well at gabber anyway.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Right, so the day has been officially called off without a ball being bowled. It has been an utter waste of a day and we will now now hope to cover it up by playing an hour extra everyday - half hour in the morning and the same time in the evening. South Africa are still at 2/255 and Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis will hopefully resume batting tomorrow after the washout today. Hoping for a better forecast.
Red Kev
Guest
100 off 126 - his first century of the season, good scoring rate, difficult pitch - good on him.
Jason
Guest
He's currently 94 off 120. None of the other 14 batsmen in the match have gone past 25.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Continues to rain Peter, chances of any play look bleak. This could essentially turn out to be a four-day Test match (with play to start half hour early and end half hour late).
Peter Wickham
Guest
Is it still raining there? Will play resume today?
Red Kev
Guest
Looks like a difficult pitch too since Tassie got rolled for 95. Khawaja needs to turn it into a century.
Disco
Roar Guru
Meanwhile, Khawaja's in the runs again today.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
My sympathies are with you Thabang, it is at times like these that I feel that it may not be such a bad idea to have cricket played under a closed roof.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
And there is no respite yet from the rain. According to reports, some of the cricketers have headed back to the hotel while some are in the ground. Difficult to see any play happen today.
Thabang
Guest
I woke up in the early hours of the morning(in Johannesburg) hoping to see the Amla-Kallis show, now the rain, as usual, spoilt my morning.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Lunch to be taken at 11.50 am at the Gabba. Still continues to rain and that means there may not be play immediately after the lunch break.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Still raining at Brisbane, so no play yet. It does seem like we will be off for a long time. Will have more updates as soon as I hear something.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Let's look at Amla's averages now. He is unbeaten on 90 and passed the 50-average mark in this, his 63rd Test match. Looking at his averages every 15 games, he had an average of 25.5 at the end of the 15th match. In his 16th game, he slammed an unbeaten 176, his then-highest score in Test match cricket that took his average to more than 30. It has never come down after that! After 30 games, it had propped up to 39.66, again to pop up above 40 in his 31st match. Again, it never came down below 40 after this. At the end of the 45th game, it was within touching distance of 46, because by now he had a new highest score - an epic unbeaten 253 against India. Since then, his average has remained consistent at 45 plus levels till that triple-century he hit against England when it touched 50 for the first time in his career. It came down to around 49 in the next two games but has now gone back over 50. Given his consistency, I will not be betting against Amla ending his career as one of those greats with 50-plus end-of-career averages!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
There is an other side to this as well. The two at the crease can well take the game away from any opposition with their sometimes stubborn play. As we saw towards the end of the opening day, they were quite ready to throw the anchor and play out a sticky period, but that came after we saw a rather aggressive Jacques Kallis (by his own and Test match standards), as he got to his half-century off only 63 deliveries. Later he slowed down, ending the day on 84 off 135.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
South Africa have established an excellent position for themselves at 2/255 but Australia are right in this. An early breakthrough is a possibility if the bowlers learn quickly enough about the lengths to bowl on this pitch with the availability of the new ball as soon as the play begins. A wicket or two here and the suddenly likes of Jacques Rudoph and the rest of the lower-order could get exposed, especially now that JP Duminy is out injured.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
It is and unfortunately, has been raining since the time JP Duminy got injured last evening! So the only hope is the excellent drainage system at the Gabba, but for that it needs to stop spitting down for starters.