Morkel joins 300-club
MORNE JOINS EXCLUSIVE CLUB WITH 300 TEST WICKETS
Proteas just hold the upper hand at Newlands.
The action continued apace on the second day of the third Test between South Africa and Australia at Newlands yesterday as the crowd of 10 000 were able to cheer two world records being equalled on the same ball in the morning, the milestones of Morne Morkel and the excellence of Kagiso Rabada.
As well as getting into trouble themselves and attracting an official complaint from Cricket Australia over what coach Darren Lehmann called the crowd’s “disgraceful” behaviour.
By the end of the tumultuous day, Australia were 245/9, still 66 runs behind the South African first-innings total of 311.
As on the first day, the first two sessions belonged to the home side. The Proteas resumed on 266/8 and added 45 more runs as Rabada showed the desire required to tough it out in the lower-order, hanging around for another 45 minutes in going to 22.
The introduction of spinner Nathan Lyon saw Rabada and Morkel falling in the space of five deliveries, Steven Smith catching both at slip to equal the world record of five catches in an innings. Morkel’s dismissal also meant Dean Elgar carried his bat for a fabulous 141 not out. It was the third time he has achieved this feat, matching the record of West Indian great Desmond Haynes.
The first half-hour of the Australian reply was a dazzling affair, the Rabada versus David Warner battle being fit to rank up there with the great passages of play in Test history. The left-hander hit Rabada for four fours and a six in five balls, but the next delivery was the perfect riposte, a thunderbolt that pitched on off stump and straightened to send the stump cartwheeling backwards.
The first sign of the crowd trouble then became apparent as Warner, having lashed 30 off 14 balls, was verbally abused by a spectator as he returned to the changeroom. That spectator was evicted on the insistence of the match referee, Andy Pycroft, and the stadium security later removed sections of the crowd who were singing “offensive” songs.
Cameron Bancroft survived a number of French cuts as he scored 77, but Morkel, so often left on the fringes of discussions about great South African bowlers, made yesterday his day.
He became the fifth SA bowler to claim 300 Test wickets as he removed Usman Khawaja (5), Smith (5) and Shaun Marsh (26) to put the Proteas firmly in control as Australia withered away to 175/8.
But a late rally, engineered by some eccentric but effective batting by Lyon (47 off 38 balls) and Tim Paine (33*) drew the visitors closer to parity. They are behind, but South Africa’s hold on the Test match is not as firm as they would have liked.