A fightback from Mitch Marsh and Tim Paine late on day one helped Australia share honours with South Africa in the first Test in Durban yesterday.
After David Warner (51), Steve Smith (56) and Shaun Marsh (40) all failed to convert their good starts, Australia were teetering at 5-177 before Mitch Marsh (32no) and Paine (21no) shepherded them to stumps, which was called early due to bad light.
At 5-225 Australia are about 100-120 runs shy of what would be a solid total on a slow, dry deck which is already amenable to spin and a tad two-paced for the quicks.
[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]
The younger Marsh gave cause to believe his extraordinary Ashes series was no fluke. That commanding performance against England was built around Marsh’s willingness to tone down his aggression and bat according to the match situation.
Yesterday the scenario he encountered demanded circumspection and that was just what Marsh produced as he left or dead batted the good deliveries and pounced on the rest.
While Marsh seems to have finally identified a batting method which works for him in Tests, his WA teammate Cameron Bancroft looks a muddled mess.
Bancroft’s dismissal in the sixth over of the day was utterly bizarre. He was on five when he decided to walk down the wicket at Vernon Philander, getting himself outside the line off stump, only to push aimlessly at a delivery that would have passed at least 50cm wide of the stumps.
As wicketkeeper Quentin de Kock pouched the edge, Bancroft must surely have thought: “What the hell did I just do?”. That was only the second delivery Bancroft had faced from Philander, which suggests it was a premeditated strategy to try to combat the Proteas gun.
It gave the impression of a batsman who had little faith his technique could withstand the probing of the world’s most accurate Test quick.
Bancroft already was under fierce pressure after his underwhelming Ashes series, during which he averaged just 25 against a limp England attack on batting-friendly decks.
His opening partner Warner looked in supreme touch yesterday. The left hander’s footwork and balance were impeccable, as was his patience.
Warner waited for the South African bowlers to overpitch or offer width and then cashed in, moving to 50 with a beautifully placed cut shot from a rare loose delivery by Philander.
Unlike Bancroft, who gifted his wicket, Warner and Usman Khawaja both were undone by testing deliveries.
Philander got the ball to leap unexpectedly off the sleepy deck and catch the edge high on Warner’s blade. Khawaja, who had moved confidently to 14 with a couple of sumptuous boundaries, got a jaffa from Kagiso Rabada.
That delivery pitched on middle stump and seamed appreciably across the left hander, earning an edge to de Kock.
Warner’s wicket had come from the last ball before lunch and left Australia vulnerable at 3-95. Steve Smith (56 from 114 balls) and Shaun Marsh (40 from 96 balls) bided their time nicely but neither was able to kick on and anchor the Australian innings.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Smith, surprisingly, was out caught behind trying to cut a Maharaj delivery which was too tight to his stumps. In doing so the Aussie skipper repeated a mistake he seemed to have eradicated from his game after the 2016 Test tour of Sri Lanka, where he was troubled at times by left arm spinner Rangana Herath.
Marsh, meanwhile, erred in playing for the spin, just as the Australian batsmen did with monotonous regularity during that disastrous series in Sri Lanka.
The West Australian had looked greatly assured against Maharaj before that error saw him edge to first slip.
Maharaj benefited from a dry pitch which offered generous turn for a day one surface. His first delivery of the Test turned sharply, beating the inside edge of Warner and prompting an unsuccessful LBW review by the Proteas.
That one delivery would have planted a smile on the face of in-form Australian tweaker Nathan Lyon, who will get to bowl last on this parched pitch.
Maharaj was steady, without ever appearing overly threatening. Philander was easily the best of the SA quicks, with Rabada fading as the day went on, and Morne Morkel well below his best.
The Proteas will know they can bowl much better than they did yesterday, and they’ll have access to the second new ball after just four overs today.
Marsh and Paine still have a lot of work to do.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Henrich Klassen and Lungi Ngidi should have played in place of DeCock and Morkel.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
Not sure what the point of that entire rant was. Marsh's career dismissals couldn't be more irrelevant; besides, I have no idea how you could have possibly gotten "Marsh never misses balls on the stumps" from that comment. Not sure what relevance Bancroft has to this discussion either. That statement is extra weird given that only S Marsh's decision would have been overturned anyway. Puerile comments like that aren't particularly endearing.
Rob
Guest
Hello Don, Your right Mitch Marsh never miss the ball on the stumps. I must be dreaming that 44% of his dismissals in Test cricket have been bowled or LBW? The only bloke in the team with a worse percentage of preventing balls hitting the stumps with his bat is Bancroft 50%. I'm sure Bangers job as opener in this team is to burn up a couple of reviews to look after The Marsh boys down the order? Got love the WA team work.
DavSA
Guest
Well at least we now know what pitch was to be prepared. A little surprising but it does show that SA have a lot of confidence in Maharaj. I think another 100 runs and AUS are in pole position especially with SA having to face Nathan Lyon final innings. But then again was it so surprising . On my way to work yesterday morning banner headlines read " SA have a 48 year itch to scratch ". Yes 48 years since we last beat AUS on our own soil. Fair enough 20 of those years we were in isolation , so lets more accurately say 28 years . Still a long time . The likes of ABDV , Amla , Morkel and Du Plessis will never again have a chance to tick off that box . This is their final attempt . I believe that SA wanted to try something completely different , backing Maharaj and Philander to do the damage . They probably rightfully surmised that preparing a pacey wicket would clearly have evened out things so why not try something else.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Australia will end-up scoring 300.
jamesb
Guest
Do you think that one tour match leading into the first test is enough?
Don Freo
Guest
That is just so silly. If the ball was on the stumps, Marsh would have hit it. He was defending those stumps. He missed it because it was not on target. Don't assume he was going to miss any ball no matter where it was bowled. What your comments are saying each post is, 'Whatever SA does is fantastic and whatever Oz does is lucky." Reverse parochialism is weird.
Don Freo
Guest
That's because they shouted when they shouldn't have. Ridiculous to suggest that was lucky. They weren't out. One was, later, but that was not unlucky...it was delightful comeuppance for Protea silliness earlier.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Was sound asleep when he was batting, but certainly seemed very positive when I woke up this morning. Looking forward to watching him and Paine bat this evening. At present, fingers crossed, it's advantage Australia. While their spinner looks like a fine bowler, Lyon is in the form of his life and will be bowling last on a deck that looks like it'll suit him. Get to 300 and RSA will have a hell of a lot of work to do to win this,
Fergus
Roar Rookie
Probably me I’ve watched smith a bit and since Sri Lanka he has shelved trying to cut shots on the stump not the cut shot itself, although he stopped playing the horizontal cut for a bit. His dismissal stems from the fact I don’t think he picks length up from the spinners quite as well. Specifically he occasionally plays back when he should be coming foward. One example of this was his dismissal against Ashwin first innings 4th test. I think that’s why he gets out cutting a fair bit, he’s playing on line and misjudging the length and the variability in bounce does him as he doesn’t have long enough to adjust.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
Not a lot said about M Marsh because plenty of people only have something to say about either Marsh when they're not doing well. Plenty left to do but Marsh has been very convincing since his recall
vrx
Guest
Not many comments on Mitch Marsh today but I thought he did very well. He was fighting the odds against Vern and Rabada but he passed the test, and then released the pressure by getting most bad balls away. Some of his fours off Maharaj were commanding. We would be way behind the game if Marsh had failed. Still, lots of work to do this morning.
AREH
Roar Guru
Not able to convert on this occassion; and yes I'd imagine he would've been pretty dirty given how close his dismissal was to lunch after a session of digging in. In fairness, I didn't realise how solid his 50/100 stats actually were, so happy to wear that.
AREH
Roar Guru
Fair; didn't realise his 50/100 stats were quite that good; I do feel his average could have been pushing Smith levels though if he went on and scored big as often as Smith does. In the last 12-18 months Warner has also produced a lot of scores in the 20-50 range, so you only have to imagine what his numbers might look like if he could push on more often.
Rob
Guest
Philander releases the ball very close to umpires left ear and has very little to no angle in but moves away late. Rabada and Morkel are wider on release so when they bowl off stump the ball is always moving in. Smith will do the same to them as he did to Broad, Woakes and Anderson. Ali came around the wicket and got Smith with a straight one because he was trying to hit the ball pitching on off to the leg side. The 2 referrals were dumb but on another day missing balls and getting hit on pads can have you heading to the pavilion. M. Marsh was set up perfectly by Rabada. He was lucky he just missed his mark IMO.because Mitchell was long odds to get bat on ball.
Nick
Roar Guru
"Warner not able to convert in that 50-100 range, and he would’ve been filthy given the timing of his wicket." Warner's actually in the top bracket of players regarding conversions. Where on earth did this myth begin?
Johnno
Guest
I am not convinced with the review system. There is no way that that was hitting.....bowling around the wicket, from out wide, and darting back in (that is how the Commentator described it)......and the tracker has it hitting leg stump?
Rob
Guest
Not sure if Smith was playing the exact cut shot but he was dismissed twice caught behind and I once at point off Yasir Shah last PAKISTAN series. The deliveries had him on the off side spinning away?
Nudge
Guest
Someone else noted that the ball was a fraction to full to cut
Peter
Roar Rookie
Does Warner often get out shortly before lunch or am I just imaging it?