Suryaa Sports Desk: South Africa gave away wickets with worst shots on an easy pitch.. Smith two wonderful slip catches.. Aussies first innings lead 106 Durban, October... South Africa gave away wickets with worst shots on an easy pitch.. Smith two wonderful slip catches.. Aussies first innings lead 106 Durban, October 12: In the first Test against Australia, South Africa were bowled out for 284 in the first innings, giving the Aussies a lead of 106 runs. Cricket analyst Telford Wise in his analysis stated that the reason for this situation was the ill-advised shots played by the Safari batsmen on a pitch that was easy to bat on. A steady wind blowing from the northeast throughout the day kept the weather calm. However, the analysis stated that the Safari batsmen went for unnecessary shots one after the other and lost wickets. Aussie bowlers bowled with discipline. Steve Smith took two extraordinary slip catches off the bowling of Nathan Lyon. Both came for reverse sweep shots.
Temba Bavuma and Kyle Vereen were the victims of these two catches. On Smith's catching, Lyon said: Smith has been at first slip or leg slip for most of his career, the way he moves, the way he anticipates is "horrendous" and there are very few people who can do that in the dressing room. Six batsmen crossed 30 runs in South Africa's innings but none made a half-century. Only David Bedingham and Simon Harmer faced more than 70 balls. Harmer remained unbeaten on 35 runs. Three half-century partnerships have been recorded: Markrum–Beddingham, Stubbs–Mulder, Harmer–Norkea. None of them could turn into a big partnership. The Aussies also put up three half-century partnerships. Among them Renshaw-Lyon added 134 runs. This is the highest partnership for the ninth wicket against South Africa in Tests. Mulder praised Renshaw's decisive play (leaving the ball) in Saturday's press conference. But on Sunday himself, Cummins attempted a pull shot without letting go of the bouncer.
The ball hit the bat and went into the hands of the midwicket. Mulder's 30 was the epitome of the innings. Jansen hit boundaries early off the bowling of Cummins and Hazlewood, then made the mistake the Aussies were waiting for and was caught at mid-off. The innings ended when Norkia Webster was caught at slip. Ashwell Prince of South Africa's coaching staff spoke to reporters on this. Renshaw was praised for playing brilliantly. But he said that over-aggressive playing is not the reason, every player has his own style and the timing of wickets is not right: He said that every time we were standing in the game we lost a wicket. The analysis states that it will be difficult for South Africa to win the match in this situation and it will not be easy to draw. On the fourth day, Australia is playing the second innings with a huge lead. Also Read: Congratulations to the Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad
