How often have we seen Australia’s top order reduced to very little on board and their middle order and lower middle order coming to the rescue? It was another day in business for Australian middle order as they succumbed to 98/4. At the crease were Shaun Marsh, the man on a comeback and the puny all-rounder Steve Smith. Marsh was playing after a year and was on the team only because of a last minute freakish injury to Shane Watson. Steve Smith was coming after an injury layoff. These two stitched on a partnership of 199 and most importantly inflicted serious damage throughout the day and ended unbeaten.
The series was billed as the clash of the top two test teams. Last time around they were involved in a short yet intriguing series. This was also billed as the clash of the world’s best fast bowling units. The match started with South Africa bowlers removing the Australian top order of Chris Rogers, David Warner, Alex Doolan and Michael Clarke. Marsh and Smith put a heavy price on their wicket and were intent on surviving the initial passage of play when the ball was swinging around. Then they took their chances and then runs started coming freely. Marsh was strong straight down the ground and on the off side and brought up his second test century. Smith left the ball well and scored heavily on the bad balls. At the end of the day he remained unbeaten on 91. Full credit to the Australian management for investing in Smith and here is repaying their faith by topping the batting average from last year.
Dale Steyn with a stomach bug was not at his best, Philander could not find the swing and nagging accuracy and Morkel’s bowlers were less intimidating. The one bowler to gain some respect for surprisingly Ryan Mclaren. South Africa need to pick up on day 2 , else with huge runs on board their batsmen might face the heat and risk losing the match to Australia’s pace battery.
een Australia’s top order reduced to very little on board and their middle order and lower middle order coming to the rescue? It was another day in business for Australian middle order as they succumbed to 98/4. At the crease were Shaun Marsh, the man on a comeback and the puny all-rounder Steve Smith. Marsh was playing after a year and was on the team only because of a last minute freakish injury to Shane Watson. Steve Smith was coming after an injury layoff. These two stitched on a partnership of 199 and most importantly inflicted serious damage throughout the day and ended unbeaten.
