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Key events
26th over: South Africa 92-2 (Bedingham 48, Bavuma 2) Bavuma is beaten by Lyon, who is starting to enjoy himself on a pitch that is already turning a little.
“Morning from a crisp Trafford, Rob,” writes Guy Hornsby. “I’m with you on the meagre returns for Manchester Super Giants’ Aiden Markram. He’s such a class operator whose numbers in Test cricket really should be better than they are. South Africa in general are an interesting line up. No one in the top six averages 40+, yet they are WTC holders. It feels like they’re trending up, especially Bavuma’s numbers as captain. They’ll need another long innings from him today if they’re to wrest this Test back.”
25th over: South Africa 91-2 (Bedingham 48, Bavuma 1) Cummins replaces Starc, who bowled an increasingly dangerous spell of 4-0-21-1. Bavuma gets off the mark from his 15th delivery. Bedingham was a bit slow to react but would have been safe even with a direct hit from backward square leg.
The crowd think Bedingham has his fifty when a loose ball from Cummins flies to fine leg for four. Alas, they were leg-byes.
24th over: South Africa 86-2 (Bedingham 48, Bavuma 0) A maiden from Lyon includes a good delivery that skids on to beat Bedingham. Australia are starting to build pressure – the last four overs have produced four runs and the wicket of Markram.
Drinks: South Africa trail by 304 runs
23rd over: South Africa 86-2 (Bedingham 48, Bavuma 0) Starc continues to pound the pitch from round the wicket. The bounce is awkward rather than nasty, but neither batter looks entirely comfortable. Time for drinks.
22nd over: South Africa 85-2 (Bedingham 47, Bavuma 0) Bavuma lunges at Lyon and loses his balance, with the ball ending up in the hands of short leg. Australia appeal but it was straight off the pad. Promising signs for Lyon, though – that ball turned a long way.
21st over: South Africa 84-2 (Bedingham 46, Bavuma 0) That was Starc’s 446th Test wicket. He’s never been better: in the last two years he has 88 wickets at 19.65 apiece.
WICKET! South Africa 84-2 (Markram c Renshawn b Starc 37)
Starc has pulled his length back and is getting some awkward bounce from round the wicket. And now he’s made the breakthrough! Markram edges a back-foot drive and is smartly caught by Renshaw at first slip. That’s a bit of a loose shot from Markram; for a player of his class, he gets far too many nothing scores.
20th over: South Africa 82-1 (Markram 36, Bedingham 45) Bedingham flicks Lyon onto the shin of Renshaw at short leg. Does that count as a chance? Probably not, but short leg is in the game when Lyon is bowling.
19th over: South Africa 79-1 (Markram 34, Bedingham 44) Bedingham hits Starc for three successive boundaries: an elegant cover drive, a tuck through midwicket and a precise back cut. Starc moves round the wicket and hits Bedingham on the bottom hand with a lifter. Bedingham receives treatment at the end of the over but looks okay to continue.
South Africa have scored 42 in the last seven overs.
18th over: South Africa 65-1 (Markram 33, Bedingham 31) It’s time for Nathan Lyon, who will be a key man if the pitch turns as much as expected. Markram drives his first ball for four, a nice statement of intent that prompts Lyon to change the angle and bowl from round the wicket. Two more singles in the over.
17th over: South Africa 59-1 (Markram 28, Bedingham 30) Starc replaces Cummins, who bowled a menacing spell of 3.2-0-11-0 this morning. Bedingham continues his impressive start with a beautifully timed cover drive for four.
Over 80% of South Africa’s runs have come in boundaries.
16th over: South Africa 55-1 (Markram 28, Bedingham 26) A rare half-volley from Hazlewood is on-driven sweetly for four by Bedingham. That’s a high-class shot, the best of his five boundaries.
An affronted Hazlewood responds with a seaming lifter that snaps past the edge. Bedingham looks a little quizzically at the pitch.
15th over: South Africa 50-1 (Markram 28, Bedingham 22) Bedingham shovels Cummins for a single to bring up South Africa’s fifty – and the fifty partnership with Markram.
Talking of Markram, he averages 64 in Tests against Australia and 32 against everyone else. Not many players have a statistical dichotomy like that.
14th over: South Africa 49-1 (Markram 28, Bedingham 21) Markram clumps a fullish delivery from Hazlewood to the cover boundary. South Africa are trying to strike the right balance between seeing off the new ball and putting pressure back on the Australian bowlers. Their rotation of strike hasn’t been great but they’ve hit five boundaries – three deliberate, two streaky – in as many overs.
13th over: South Africa 45-1 (Markram 24, Bedingham 21) Bedingham is fortunate to edge a snorter from Cummins over the slips for four. He tried to ride the bounce and work the ball to leg, but it got too big for him to control the shot.
Cummins ends the over with another bumper. This one doesn’t bounce as sharply and Bedingham is able to pull smoothly behind square for four.
12th over: South Africa 37-1 (Markram 24, Bedingham 13) Beautiful batting from Markram. Hazlewood was fractionally too straight, no more than that, and Markram put him away through midwicket with an understated flick of the wrists.
How can Aiden Markram have a Test average of 36? The guy is so good.
11th over: South Africa 33-1 (Markram 20, Bedingham 13) Cummins has a big LBW shout turned down when Markram plays around an excellent nipbacker. It was fractionally too high and Cummins is right to eschew the review. Lovely bowling nonetheless.
Australia have started with terrific discipline, making the batters play at almost every delivery.
10th over: South Africa 31-1 (Markram 19, Bedingham 12) Josh Hazlewood’s first ball is edged just short of the slips by Markram. The ball bounces through the cordon and away for four. Markram did well to soften his hands and ensure the edge didn’t carry.
Markram defends the rest of the over with authority.
9th over: South Africa 27-1 (Markram 15, Bedingham 12) Bedingham drives the first ball of the day crisply to mid-off. No runs but a promising start.
Time for the action. Pat Cummins has a couple of balls remaining in his first over; David Bedingham is on strike.
Matt Renshaw speaks to Mark Howard
It’s been a long time coming and I probably didn’t think I’d be in this situation. It’s pretty special to be able to help the team out in an important Test match.
I had an opportunity in 2023 and didn’t take that. After that I had a look and went, ‘Yeah I wanna play muy cricket this way’ and not stress about whether I was gonna play for Australia again. I wasn’t really thinking about that, never mind making a Test hundred.
When you open the batting so much, you get used to leaving the ball. With the situation we were in, it was about surviving for as long as I could. I got called boring by Josh Inglis this morning!
[On attacking the spinners] They’ve got two world-class spinners and I tried to put them off their length as much as I could, and trying to get a few boundaries with some safe risks.
“These may be famous last words, but you’d want to bat out here,” says Mark Nicholas on the South African TV coverage. “It looks a superb surface.”
The Durban pitch is expected to turn more and more as the match progresses, so South Africa’s batters will be desperate to cash in today. If they are batting at stumps – well, when bad light forces an early close – all results will be on the table.
Geoff Lemon
Day two report
If the choice to ask Nic Maddinson to open in Durban was a bust, the upside for Australia was that it pushed Matthew Renshaw down to number five. From there, the Queenslander returned from 10 years on the periphery to the centre of the spotlight in the first Test against South Africa, with an innings of 190 that saved Australia from peril, settled them into stability, then lifted them to dominance.
Staunch support from the lower order was the other part of the equation, as Renshaw batted through two extended sessions until he was last man out, just after tea, with Australia’s 390 followed by South Africa’s 27 for one before stumps.
Imagine the likelihood, with the score at 124 for six on the first day, that Renshaw might go on, not just to score his second Test century, but to exceed that career high of 184? His secret was that there was no secret, just the most common formula known to the game: patience, concentration and pacing. Continuing in the style of his unbeaten 46 from day one, Renshaw defended calmly, kept the score moving with singles and picked off the odd poor ball.
Preamble
Rob Smyth
We were promised a slow turner in Durban. So far, as is often the case on such pitches, we’ve had a slow burner. Only 11 wickets fell on the first two days, with the momentum crawling back towards Australia during Matthew Renshaw’s extraordinary innings.
Renshaw’s Test-best, probably career-defining 190 helped Australia recover from 124 for 6 to 390 all out, with South Africa reaching 27 for 1 before bad light intervened. It means we have a big day ahead at Kingsmead – one that should shape the match, and could shape the entire series.
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