Morne Morkel gets wicket No 300, SA tighten noose

THIRD TEST Lanky seamer removes Australia skipper early as Proteas have visitors on the mat on second day

Morne Morkel borrowed the limelight from fellow fast bowler Kagiso Rabada as he took his 300th Test wicket for South Africa and Australia slid to 150-5 in the third Test on Friday.

Morkel took two of the three Australian wickets to fall in the second session on day two at Newlands, sending captain Steve Smith back for 5 before capturing Shaun Marsh caught behind for No. 300.

Morkel, who will retire from international cricket at the end of this series, celebrated the milestone excitedly. He broke out of a team huddle to pump his fists down toward the ground and then looked up at the sky.

He is the fifth South African to reach 300 test wickets.

Australia trailed by 161 runs at tea, with the tourists’ first innings held up by opener Cameron Bancroft, who made 77 before falling lbw to Vernon Philander right on the tea break.

Morkel had 3-43, taking the attention away from Rabada, who was in the heat of the action in the first session.

Then, Rabada won his latest battle with David Warner as Australia began its first innings in a hurry.

Warner (30) hammered five fours and a six, all off Rabada, before the fast bowler knocked out Warner’s off stump. Rabada was also in the midst of it for the second wicket to fall, taking the catch at backward square leg that dismissed Usman Khawaja off Morkel.

The Australians were going at nearly six runs in the first session, due mainly to Warner’s 30 off just 14 balls and Cameron Bancroft was 22 not out off 30 balls.

But Rabada’s strike to get Warner was a big early blow that set the tone for South Africa.

It came after Warner hit three successive fours off Rabada in one over. In the next, he hooked a huge six over the backward square leg boundary. The ball needed to be recovered from a roof of one of the stands by a man using a crutch.

Warner sliced the next delivery for another four, but was out the ball after when Rabada tightened his line and smashed the off stump out the ground.

In trouble previously in this series for over-the-top celebrations against Warner, Rabada stayed away from the Aussie opener.

The fast bowler behaved this time, but a member of the crowd didn’t.

As Warner walked off the field and up the stairs leading to the dressing rooms, he was confronted by a spectator , who directed comments at the batsman. The man was later thrown out of the stadium, but it was another off-field incident involving Warner in a fractious series.

At the start of the second day in Cape Town, Rabada helped out with the bat, putting on a 50-run partnership with Dean Elgar that took South Africa to 311 in its first innings. Elgar batted through the innings for his 141 not out.

Rabada has also been the center of attention since he overturned a two-test ban to play in the crucial third match in Cape Town. The four-test series is level at 1-1.

NOW, SPECTATOR

TAKES SHOT AT WARNER

David Warner has been involved in another off-field incident in Australia’s cricket series in South Africa, when a spectator walked up to and directed comments at the batsman as he left the field after being dismissed.

Television footage on Friday shows Warner stopping in his tracks and turning to face the man, who then appears to continue making comments as Warner walks up the stairs toward the team dressing room at Newlands. A security official tries to intervene.

The man, who was thrown out of the ground, is standing beside a small fence which separates an exclusive members’ stand at Newlands from the players’ stairs. As Warner goes up the stairs, the man also walks up on his side and continues talking.

CAPE TOWN: