We needed to wait a day and a half for more play after bad light delays, rain delays and wet outfield delays – but an action-packed Day 4 was definitely worth the wait.
It was worth it alone to watch Pat Cummins bowl. This is what we were hoping for when he got the Test captaincy – in crunch times, our first fast bowling spinner in more than half a century just grabs the ball and breaks open the match.
His spell in the final session was incredible – it was fast, it was bouncy, it was hostile, there was reverse swing going both ways. Good luck, batsmen.
The set-up of Khaya Zondo was beautiful – coming around the wicket, he kept bouncing him, kept making him feel uncomfortable, and then just nailed the yorker when he least suspected it. It was an absolute beauty.
Almost as good was Josh Hazlewood, who really set the tone early with the new ball. His first over was like he hasn’t spent half the summer on the sidelines – it was fast, it was in the perfect channel, and he beat the outside edge time and again.
He looked really fired up, almost like there was some pent-up frustration from injuries and not playing for weeks. Particularly his full deliveries were sensational – they moved a bit in the air and off the wicket, and they beat the bat repeatedly. It was Josh at his best.
With all the chat of pecking orders this summer, and suggestions Scott Boland should have been picked ahead of him, I can’t help but wonder whether he just wanted to set the record straight that it’s Patty Cummins and then him for quicks in Australia. He certainly went a long way to doing that today.
He was formidable, he was hostile, he was controlled, and the Hazlewood Hallway of HesitationTM is back.
There’s enough in the pitch for the spinners as well. You’ve got to remember that this is effectively a Day 2 or 3 pitch, because it’s been covered for most of the match. It hasn’t had the chance to get sun on it, or for fast bowlers to create some rough, but there’s certainly enough incentive there for Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar to work with.
I’d love Agar in particular to get into the wickets. He bowled steadily enough, but it’s not the raging turner that we expected, just purely because of the lack of sun and the lack of playing time on it.
I’d like him to pick up a couple of wickets to enhance his case of playing in India. As it’s turned out, we could have played the five bowlers and had the extra option in Boland up our sleeve, which would have been handy. If Agar can have a really good day and prove he’s the second spinner behind Lyon, he’ll be hard to overlook for that first Test in February.
From what I’ve seen, this next wicket’s a big one. I was really impressed with Simon Harmer’s last half an hour or so with the bat – he backed his defence, but then when he got a half-volley, he put it away. The rest of the South Africans should take a leaf out of his book – block out the good deliveries, but if you get something loose in your scoring zone, put it away.
We saw the Proteas attack Lyon a bit, with Temba Bavuma and Zondo each hitting him for a couple of sixes when he got too short, but I don’t think we’ll see a lot of aggression from the on the final day. Every ball that doesn’t have a wicket gets them closer to drawing the match, so I’d expect more dogged defence.
Pat Cummins of Australia celebrates after taking the wicket of Kyle Verreynne of South Africa. (Photo by Brett Hemmings – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
I can’t see them getting to 275 to beat the follow-on, so they’ve got to be at their defensive best to get through 98 overs against a fire-up Aussie attack. They’ve got to show fight.
But if that first wicket falls early, I can see them collapsing; then, if they’re two or three wickets down at lunch, it’ll be all over. The new ball will be a factor, spin will be a factor, and then in 25-degree heat with the pitch getting drier and drier, reverse swing is going to be a factor late in the day too.
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I’m still confident the Aussies are going to take those last 14 wickets – but it could well be the first really exciting finish of the Test summer!
The one down side of the day was DRS again causing controversy – Steve Smith’s ‘catch’ off Dean Elgar looked like it went clean in. The real pity for me is it would have been one of the greatest slips catches I’ve ever seen had it been paid.
I still don’t think the cameras are at the right level – one angle made it look like it might have brushed the grass, but for me it’s still not definitive. I’d really love technology to go that next step and prove it one way or another.
That adds to the issues from Harmer’s catch off Marnus Labuschagne on Day 1, which the Channel Seven cameras showed was clean. I think it’s easier for the on-field umpires to say not out with disputed catches, because we’re hearing the soft signal has less weight now, and it’s up to the third umpire as well. But that makes it harder to overturn the not out decision and give it out.
Elgar, though, again couldn’t make the most of his bit of luck. His average as captain continues to sink into the mid-20s, and throughout his career, other than a big hundred in Perth in 2016, he’s really struggled in Australia.
He’s not a proactive captain, so I’d think he’d be under pressure to keep that job. It might turn out to be a blessing for him not to have to deal with it – maybe that would get his batting back to averaging 40. It’s been an unhappy tour for him.
There haven’t been too many positives for the Proteas, but one could be fighting it out to draw this Test. They’re slim hopes of making the World Test Championship final anyway, but it would at least give them a sniff and some confidence to take into future Tests.
Other than that, though, there isn’t much to get excited about. The problem with the squad they’ve picked is that it’s an older batting line-up without much experience at the top level. Guys like Zondo and Sarel Erwee are in their 30s already, so you can’t see them being part of the long-term top six.
Kyle Verreynne looked good again – he’s certainly been a big positive. Marco Jansen has technical difficulties against the short ball, but he’ll get better, and he has real promise with both bat and ball. Harmer looked good with the ball, even though he didn’t take a wicket, and equally good with the bat: in South Africa you probably only play the one spinner, so he’ll definitely be challenging Keshav Maharaj for the spot.
Obviously Anrich Nortje has enhanced his reputation, too.
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