Pumped Rabada wrecks Aussies
SECOND TEST: KAGISO TAKES FOUR WICKETS IN SEVEN BALLS ON DAY ONE
Markram falls just before close of play as Proteas take control.
Australia’s Nathan Lyon said philosophically that “you have to identify the big periods in the game”, after stumps on the first day of the second Test against South Africa at St George’s Park yesterday.
This was after Kagiso Rabada had made it clear he was desperate to make an impact on the Test series with one of the best spells of fast bowling in the Proteas’ history.
Lyon was bemoaning the fact that Australia had not handled the key moments after lunch that saw them crash from 161/3 to 243 all out, but he was speaking in hindsight because at the time they were simply blown away as Rabada, bowling like the wind in a magnificent spell of sustained aggression and swing, took 5/13 in 18 balls.
It was a startling comeback by the world’s No 1 bowler, who had been poor before lunch as Australian openers David Warner (63) and Cameron Bancroft (38) put on 98 after the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first under overcast skies and on a pitch with a decent covering of grass.
Having survived the ball seaming around in the first hour, Warner and Bancroft cashed in after the first drinks break and South Africa needed the ever-reliable Vernon Philander to claim the first two wickets as he ended with figures of 2/25 in 18 overs.
Lungi Ngidi, preferred to Morne Morkel, showed his propensity to bowl wicket-taking deliveries as he ripped through Warner’s defences 40 minutes after lunch, but then it was Rabada who produced a burst that one could only marvel at.
Steven Smith was trapped lbw for 25 – with Rabada seemingly making unnecessary shoulder contact with the Australian captain in an incident that could yet lead to a ban for the fast bowler – and in his next over Rabada removed both the Marsh brothers, Shaun lbw for 24 and Mitchell caught behind for four.
From 98/1 at lunch, Australia had slipped to 170/6 at tea and Ra- bada wasn’t done yet. His first ball after the break had Pat Cummins caught behind without scoring and he then bowled Mitchell Starc for eight.
His overall spell, that started 20 minutes before tea, was five for 37 in eight overs, but even a supreme athlete like Rabada cannot bowl forever and once he was off, Tim Paine (36) was able to lead a rally of 61 runs for the last two wickets, both taken by Ngidi.
Australia’s early demise left South Africa with 50 minutes to bat before the close and, although they reached 39 for the loss of Aiden Markram, trapped lbw for 11 by Pat Cummins, they cannot relax.
Pleasingly, it was Rabada who was there at the close as a nightwatchman, having made it his day by stroking four impressive boundaries in his 17 not out.