South Africa vs Australia 2018, 1st Test, Day 2: 5 things we learnt from the day

With Australia resuming at 225/5 and with only 4 overs to go before the new ball, the game was in the balance at the start of the second day’s play. Australia fought hard with Mitchell Marsh scoring a patient 96 and Mitchell Starc contributed with a quick-fire 35. Australia finished with 351 on an uncharacteristically slow Kingsmead pitch.

Keshav Maharaj was the pick of the bowlers for the Proteas as he picked up his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Australia struck early as Lyon picked up two wickets in his first over (eighth over of the innings) to send back Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla back in the pavilion. de Villiers then fought a lone battle as he battled hard to take South Africa to a respectable total. But Starc and co blew away the South African batting line-up to help Australia gain a big lead of 189.

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#5 Mitchell Marsh fights but misses his century

On the first day, after Australia lost key wickets of skipper Steve Smith and Shaun Marsh on either side of the tea break, they were in a spot of bother at 177/5. However, Mitchell Marsh who had a wonderful Ashes series joined hands with Tim Paine and took the Aussies safely to stumps.

However, their challenge was to take Australia to a competitive score. But Paine was dismissed in the first over with the new ball (83rd over). South African bowlers bowled tight lines as there were no freebies on offer. But Mitchell Marsh stood tall. On a slow pitch, he was patient as he battled it out against a quality Proteas attack.

He first saw off the second new ball and then when Mitchell Starc was striking the ball well, the younger Marsh rotated the strike very well. And when Starc was out, Marsh took the onus of doing the bulk of the scoring. He started taking calculated risks and found the boundary regularly post-lunch.

Batting on 96, he tried to clear mid-on and failed, thereby missing a well-deserved ton by a whisker. Nonetheless, Marsh with the help of the lower-order took Australia to a very competitive total of 351. The last three Australian wickets added 100 runs and frustrated the Proteas as the bowlers toiled hard on a slow pitch.

#4 Keshav Maharaj picks up a well-deserved fifer

There was a lot of talk about this series being a battle between two superb fast bowling line-ups. However, once a brownish surface was rolled out, the two spinners – Maharaj and Lyon were always going to play a big part.

On the first day, Keshav Maharaj bowled beautifully as he picked up the key wickets of Shaun Marsh and Steve Smith. On the second day, he continued the good work as he plugged away from one end. He tossed the ball up and put lots of revolutions on the ball as he found turn and troubled the Australian batsmen consistently. Even after Marsh and Starc went after him, Maharaj continued to toss the ball up and reaped rewards.

Playing his first Test on his home ground, Maharaj cleaned up the Australian lower-order as he picked up his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. It was also just the second fifer by a South African spinner against Australia since their re-admission.

#3 Nathan Lyon continues his impressive form

Nathan Lyon was the highest wicket-taker in 2017 (63 wickets). He bowled superbly throughout Ashes series and was one of Australia’s unsung heroes in that series.

With Maharaj finding turn on a slow pitch, it was almost certain that Lyon would have a big impact in this game The South African openers saw off the new pair of Starc and Hazlewood. However, things changed once Nathan Lyon was introduced into the attack. The off-spinner was brought into the attack as early as the 8th over of the innings and he struck immediately.

He picked up two wickets in his first over as he dismissed Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla. Elgar was caught and bowled brilliantly, while Amla was caught at short-leg of the inside-edge. He then came back to prize out Quinton de Kock who was looking good. The South African wicket-keeper was out bowled.

Lyon bowled beautifully throughout the day as he constantly troubled the South African batsmen. He was getting the ball to drift, dip and turn. He was the pick of the Australian bowlers.

#2 AB de Villiers wages a lone battle

AB de Villiers produced a couple of match-winning and series-defining knocks in the Test series against India and often helped South Africa get out of trouble. He was at it once again. Coming in to bat at 27/2, AB de Villiers soaked in the pressure brilliantly.

Right from the word go, de Villiers looked in supreme touch. He had answers to everything Australia threw at him. He played the Aussie quicks brilliantly. But the way he countered Lyon was superb. The 30-year old New South Wales offspinner was bowling beautifully, but de Villiers used his feet excellently, swept well and also used the depth of the crease very well as he was the only batsman who put Lyon under some sort of pressure.

de Villiers struck 11 boundaries as he made an unbeaten 71 and he was the only South African batsman who could handle the pressure. It certainly looked like AB de Villiers was batting on a totally different pitch as compared to his teammates as he was left stranded at the other end as he found no support and South Africa were bowled out for 162.

#1 Mitchell Starc reverse-swings his way to a superb fifer

The Aussie pace trio bowled brilliantly as well and took advantage of the opening created by Lyon. They used reverse-swing to great effect.

Starc, in particular, was magnificent. After he bowled four overs with the new ball, he was taken off. He was then brought back when de Villiers and du Plessis were stitching a partnership and helping South Africa rebuild.

However, in his first over of the second spell, Starc got rid of the South African skipper as he edged a reverse-swinging delivery to the keeper. Theunis de Bruyn looked at sea against the left-arm quick and finally edged one to the keeper to give Starc his second wicket.

After De Kock was dismissed and with the lower-order in, Steve Smith recalled his spearhead for his last spell of the day and Starc was bang on the money. He wrapped up the tail to give Australia a huge lead of 189 runs. On a sluggish track, reverse-swing was always going to be the key and Starc used it superbly.

He finished with 5/34 to go with a useful 35 earlier in the day and capped off a fabulous day.