SA vs AUS, 1st Test, Day 3, Review: South Africa fight hard but Australia stay on top

The third day of the first Test between Australia and South Africa witnessed yet another absorbing contest between bat and ball. The hosts tried their level best with their bowlers picking wickets at the regular intervals but the mammoth first innings lead meant the visitors were always on top. The likes of Keshav Maharaj and Morne Morkel bowled extremely well for the home side and have somehow kept them in the game. However, it will not be easy for them to chase the score beyond 400 in the fourth innings.

The second innings of Australia began in the morning as the opening duo of David Warner and Cameron Bancroft looked comfortable to start with. The former was looking in the mood to take the game away quickly from their opponents but his mistimed a shot straight to mid-on in the 14th over off Kagiso Rabada. Soon Maharaj ended Usman Khawaja‘s vigil as his approach against the spin will come once again come under the scanner. Meanwhile, Bancroft completed a brilliant half-century and looked assured during his stay in the middle.

SA keep chipping away

However, he was dismissed at the stroke of lunch off the left-arm spinner on 53 and missed out on an opportunity to score big. The pitch was getting harder to bat as the skipper Steve Smith and Shaun Marsh added 38 runs for the fourth wicket before the former was pinned in front by Dean Elgar. It was surprising to see the best batsman in the World falling to the part-timer but such had become the nature of the pitch.

His wicket stemmed the flow of the runs considerably as Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine and Shaun Marsh were sent back either side of the tea break. Australia slumped from being 146/3 to 185/7 in the final as the crowd got behind South Africa in the anticipation of them coming out to bat. But Pat Cummins stuck it out and played an unbeaten knock of 17 runs as the lead for Australia went close to 400 runs.

He added crucial 28 runs along with Mitchell Starc for the eighth wicket before Morkel scalped the latter and Nathan Lyon. However, Josh Hazlewood survived three balls from him in which he also hit an elegant drive only to take the lead to 402 and umpires sent off the players due to bad light. There was a possibility that the game would be stopped early as the clouds gathered in the third session and the match never resumed. Australia ended the day on 213/9 with the lead of 402 runs and are well on top in the Test match.

South Africa would be aiming to pick the last wicket quickly on the fourth day and then aim to play well in their second attempt. It is highly unlikely that they would chase the target down but when the likes of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis decide to grind it out, anything is possible. The fourth day is going to be an exciting one as the game might even finish if the reverse swing comes into the picture.

Brief Scores

Australia 351 (M Marsh 96, S Smith 56, D Warner 51; K Maharaj 5/123, V Philander 3/59) & 213/9 (C Bancroft 53; M Morkel 3/42, K Maharaj 3/93)

South Africa 162 (AB de Villiers 71*; M Starc 5/34, N Lyon 3/50)

State of the game: Australia lead by 402 runs

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