The day the country needed, but Marnus “shot to bits”

• Australia 4/330 stumps Day 2, leads by 1 run
• Matt Renshaw 74, Cam Green 65, Travis Head 41
• Josh Inglis 85 not out, Alex Carey 51 not out

“The day of Australian batting that the country needed”

Australia ground out Day 2 with a tough, disciplined middle-order batting performance to take the lead in Cape Town.

When Josh Inglis (85no) and Alex Carey (51no) came to the crease together in quick succession just before tea, the mood was that South Africa had their tails up.

To their absolute credit, Inglis and Carey dug in and played the tough, grinding, uncompromised style of batting this side has strived for all series. It was disciplined, controlled, mature and importantly allowed Australia to make steady inroads into the total without loss.

SEN Cricket's Bharat Sundaresan loved the change of pace from the Australians: “Just to see two batters dig in – how good is this!? It’s a credit to Alex Carey and Josh Inglis and the way they have batted. They have shown so much maturity.”

Adam Collins celebrated the session as “Proper Test Cricket”. “This has been the innings that Australia needed,” Collins said as Inglis brought up his half-century.

South Africa took the new ball with 45 minutes left in the day but couldn’t replicate Mitch Starc’s day one magic, as Inglis and Carey batted through the session, piling on runs late to take the lead in the final over of the day as the pair shared a 145-run partnership.

Is this the turning point?

“That is the day of Australian batting the country needed,” Gerard Whateley summarised. “A set of players that committed themselves in a makeshift line-up and they guide Australia to a position of strength. A one run lead with six wickets in hand.”

For Simon Katich, it highlighted a contrast in discipline between the two sides with the bat. “Australia have applied themselves really well. They’ve put a high price on their wickets,” Katich said. “Because they have applied themselves well they should get a decent first innings lead from here, whereas South Africa let that slip yesterday.”

Katich forecasts that Australia will be in a position to build a healthy lead tomorrow. “They’re in a bit of strife here, South Africa. Australia look like they’re going to make them pay for that collapse yesterday. I can really see Australia pushing for at least a 100-run lead. They will want to bat well into tomorrow whilst this surface is still playing well.”

“Shot to bits” - Marnus fails the pressure test across five balls of misery – is it finally the end?

After Travis Head’s departure for 41, Marnus Labuschagne came to the crease under extreme pressure. “I’ve rarely known an Australian batter to walk to the middle under as much pressure as Marnus Labuschagne is under here at Newlands,” Whateley observed as he made his way to the crease.

Labuschagne looked tense, he looked tentative, and he was gone for a five-ball duck, edging Simon Harmer to Aiden Markram at first slip. “That’s a player who was shot to bits from the moment he walked out there,” was Whateley’s assessment.

Katich laid the blame with selectors. “That’s nerves, and that’s the pressure the selectors have put him under for an extended period of time. They deserve to be in the same situation as him here. They put him in this position by not making the decision to give him a breather. I feel for him. I’ve been through it and it’s not pleasant.”

Sundaresan was sad and disappointed: “I’ve got to know Marnus for a long time. I know him very well. I would even call him a friend. I have never seen him more tense or intense than he was this morning. He looked like he could have been out on any of those deliveries. He’s just completely out of sorts.” He still has the second innings to bat, which will be the last-chance saloon to save his career.

Renshaw and Green’s important partnership sets up Australia’s innings – until Jansen turns the table

With Head and Labuschagne dismissed in the same over, you’d be forgiven for thinking a collapse could have been on the cards after the events of Gqeberha. Importantly, Matt Renshaw and Cam Green came together and showed great poise and temperament to build the score whilst throwing the occasional attacking punch.

Green flirted with his fate a couple of times, but across two hours of South Africa didn’t have the answers. Enter Marco Jansen who turned the tide, first with a short ball to Renshaw who succumbed to a “silly shot” as Vernon Philander put it, feathering it to Ryan Rickelton to be out for 74 on review, ending the 126-run partnership.

In his next over, Jansen removed Cameron Green for 65, caught by Harmer, leaving two fresh batters in Inglis and Carey at the crease. This game has ebbed and flowed through every session and just as you thought a team was on top, someone from the opposition steps up. On this occasion, it was Jansen. “We are seeing a very, very special talent here,” Sundaresan said of the 26-year-old.

“Frustration” and “anger” at Smith situation as CA clarifies his injury

Tom Morris and Sundaresan joined the SEN Cricket pre-match to discuss the “peculiar dynamic” around Steve Smith after he opted not to play in the third Test due to a neck injury. “There was frustrations and in some case anger from people within the Australian touring party that Steve Smith decided not to play, that he ruled himself out. They selected him to play, they wanted him to play, they believed he should play, and it was the player and player alone who ruled himself out. There is something not quite right with this entire situation that will come into sharper focus if Australia lose this Test match,” Morris reported.

Later in the day, Cricket Australia released a statement clarifying Smith’s injury. “Steve Smith developed neck pain on day four of the second Test in Gqeberha last week,” the statement read. “Subsequent MRI imaging confirmed a cervical facet joint injury. Due to this and his limited range of motion he was unfit to participate in the current Test. Steve will continue to receive treatment and rehabilitation, with a full return to availability anticipated for the upcoming home Test series against New Zealand.”

Hallelujah – we got 90 overs in for the day!

With the sun shining all day and South Africa bowling a good mix of pace and spin, all 90 overs scheduled for the day were bowled. Test Cricket has had a problem for at least the last decade with slow over rates. Today showed it is possible to get through the maximum overs if you don’t let distraction get you down. More please!

Green earns a reprieve after a contentious call by the TV umpire

The Australian No.4 Green looked to be caught in the cordon by Harmer off Gerald Coetzee for 22. The umpires referred the decision upstairs as is standard practice these days, and TV umpire Chris Gaffaney looked at two replays before relaying a “Not Out” decision.

Not only was the decision made rather quickly, it did catch many off guard as potentially the wrong decision. “If I’m South African I’m not rapt with that,” said Whateley. “It fits the definition of a catch to my eye.” Given Green and Renshaw were able to put on a steady partnership after this moment, how might things have played out differently if Gaffaney went the other way?

SEN’s Day 3 coverage starts at 7pm AEDT live from Newlands, with first ball 7:30pm AEDT.

Image credit: AP & Getty