Four-star Starc leaves South Africa reeling
A FAILED decision review capped a miserable le day for South Africa on the opening ng day of the first Test against Australia at the WACA yesterday.
A f ter faa st bowler Mitchel l St a rc ret u r ned i n st y le w it h fou r wickets to o help Austra lia dismiss South h Africa for 242, t he visitors wereere denied the crucial wicket of Dav id Warner in bizarre circumstances rcumstances late in t he day.y.
Seamer Vernon Philander believedeved he had trapped Warner lbw for 17 with the he Australian total on just 19, but umpire e Aleem Dar di s mis s e d the appeal. l.
T h e S o u t h Africans called for a review, only for replays to show i it was a front foot no-ball by Philander.Phila Their frustra frustration was exacerbated when further replays revealed it wou would have been out had Philander not overstepped. At stumps o on the first day it was shaping u up to be a costly error by PhilanderPhiland as the reprieve helped the freefree-hitting Warner get through to the closec to cap a tremendous day for the home side. Australia were ini a commanding position at 105 w without loss, with Warner on 73 and Sh Shaun Marsh on 29, the latter having battledbat to survive an opening salvo from paceman Dale Steyn. Despite t he ex t reme d i sappointment of t he f irst day of t he series, South African batsman Temba Bav uma sa id t hey were st i l l i n t he match a nd would be desperate to atone on day t wo.
“It’s only one day of cricket where we played badly,” he said. “It’s quite obvious Australia have the upper hand but the game is far from over.
“What’s happened has happened, our peformance in the first session tomorrow will give us a chance to get back into the game.”
Warner made the most of his good fortune with some dashing strokeplay, including a six over third man off Steyn where he ended up on his backside as the ball sailed over the fence.
The left-hander reached his halfcentury in just 39 balls and now has 744 runs at 106.28 in Tests in Perth.
The opening partnership was also a record for Australia against South Africa at the WACA Ground as the home team capitalised on the earlier good work of its pace bowlers.
Starc said it was almost a perfect day for t he Aust ra l ia ns. “It’s only ea rly days, but we couldn’t have asked for much more on day one of the summer,” he sa id. “T here were a few ner ves in t he dressing room at t he sta rt of t he day.
“To bowl South Africa out, with their pretty experienced line-up, and then be none for 100 at the end of the day, we are pretty happy with that.”
Returning from a gruesome leg injury suffered in training, Starc struck with the fourth ball of the match and bowled with sustained pace as the tourists struggled after winning the toss and electing to bat.