Dark clouds loomed ominously early in Hobart, threatening to disrupt proceedings throughout day one.
However, with only minimal delays, the threat was diminished by lunch, as the sun was starting to poke through.
Unfortunately for Australia though, the dark clouds looming over their recent performances turned into a rampaging cyclone. Six top-order wickets tumbled before lunch, in what was the most inept session of Test match cricket played by Australia on home soil in living memory.
David Warner started the rot and appeared to have no appreciation of the situation, as he took an uncontrolled swipe at a wide delivery and was dismissed in the very first over.
After Australia’s fourth Test loss in a row at the beginning of the week, the pressure has been growing on captain Steve Smith.
Several former Australian players and opponents have openly discussed the potential of a change in leadership before the end of the summer. Vice-captain Warner’s brain fade was not the dismissal selectors and cricket boards like to see from aspiring leaders in waiting.
The wickets continued to tumble in the morning session through a combination of an inability to play the swinging ball in overcast conditions, and outright stupidity. Coach Darren Lehmann should be asked to explain the Australian batsmen’s mindset, given debutant Callum Ferguson was run out attempting a suicidal second run when Australia was four wickets down with just 17 on the board.
Vernon Philander was almost unplayable and had three wickets for two runs before being bizarrely cut down in a mid-pitch collision with Smith.
Philander, with his back to the batsman, appealing for leg before, was struck in the shoulder as Smith was completing a run. There was no malice from Smith and it was simply an unfortunate accident. The force of the contact though, was enough to send Philander to the dressing room clutching a shoulder for the remainder of the session.
Kagiso Rabada stepped up in his place, as he trapped Peter Nevill leg before.
Nevill kept the wolves at bay with a fighting innings during a lost cause in Perth. However, his dismissal on day one has seen them return, and they’re howling loudly. Unlike the two wicketkeepers who came before him, Nevill does not offer the stability in the batting line-up that Australia has been accustomed to.
Debutant Joe Mennie played some impressive strokes and appeared to justify the selectors, who believed his batting warranted selection over his peers. He and Smith survived through to lunch.
The six for 43 runs scoreline flattered the home side, as the tourists will argue if Philander had not been forced from the field, they would have had Australia all out before lunch.
Philander confirmed that line of thinking when he returned in the second session and bowled Mennie through the gate in his very first over. In conditions that suited, Philander’s length was impeccable and his probing line constantly asked questions of a prodding Australian batting line-up.
Along with Kyle Abbott, the pair ran through the remainder of the tail as Australia was dismissed for 85 shortly after lunch. It was perhaps Philander’s greatest performance against the Australians, who have traditionally had the better of him.
Smith remained unbeaten in a defiant stand, given the conditions and carnage going on around him. Judging by his expression and the way he walked off, Smith was disappointed with what he witnessed first-hand.
Particularly after lunch, when the last three wickets fell to ambitious drives with minimal footwork. Surely given the state of the game on an uncertain pitch with the ball doing plenty, the message at lunch would have been to shelve the expansive shots, move your feet and get in behind each delivery.
South Africa then proceeded to rub salt into Australia’s open batting wounds. Their openers dismissed the difficulty of the conditions as an excuse for the home side’s fatalities with the willow, surviving until tea with 43 runs on the board.
Australia had its only bright patch of the day just after the break. Mitch Starc produced an inspired first over, sending both openers packing.
An unplayable yorker cannoned into Dean Elgar’s pads and Stephen Cook followed him back to the pavilion three balls later as he was caught nicking one through to Nevill.
Starc then followed up in his next over, as Perth hero JP Duminy continued the trend started by the Australian batsmen, perishing on the drive.
Josh Hazlewood chimed in, trapping Faf du Plessis on the crease and hitting him plumb in front, as a fightback commenced.
Hashim Alma was patient, and along with Temba Bavuma, they steered South Africa to a first innings lead. Amla fell late in the day, dismissed by Hazlewood for the third time in the series already.
Australia will hope, like their opponents did in Perth, they can come roaring back into the contest on day two. Smith will know that any lead over 150 confronting his fragile batting line-up, on this pitch and in these conditions, will be difficult to manage.
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