/ 19 March 2009

SA turn screws on Australia

South Africa bounced back from the disappointment of losing the Castle Lager series to Australia and by the end of the first day of the
third Test at Newlands on Thursday were in a strong position, after dismissing the visitors for 209 about an hour after tea.

At close of play, South Africa had 57 without loss and appeared to have responded well to stand-in captain Jacques Kallis’s call to put Australia under pressure from the start.

For the sixth consecutive Test between the two teams this summer, Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to bat.

Australia made one change to the team that won the first two Tests, with 37-year-old spin bowler Bryce McGain making his Test debut. He replaced all rounder Marcus North, who has been admitted to hospital with a stomach bug.

There were three changes to the South African team, with vice-captain Ashwell Prince returning to the team as opening batsman and Dolphins batsman Imraan Khan and Titans and Proteas one-day all rounder Albie Morkel making their debuts. South Africa also had a new captain, with Kallis standing in for the injured Graeme Smith.

Openers Phillip Hughes and Simon Katich got off to a slow start, taking an hour and a half to score their first 50. Simon Katich was lucky to survive a leg before wicket appeal in Makhaya Ntini’s first over, and then was given another life when he was dropped by Khan off Ntini with his score on nine.

About 20 minutes before lunch, stand-in captain Jacques Kallis brought Paul Harris into the attack, and the tall spinner achieved success in his first over. Phillip Hughes, who became the youngest player to score a century in each innings of a Test in the second Test in Durban, was beginning to look
dangerous, and South African shoulders drooped when JP Duminy dropped him off Harris’s third ball, but Harris responded to the disappointment with an excellent delivery that trapped Hughes leg before wicket for 33.

Morkel had the perfect start to his Test career when he had Ponting caught behind by Mark Boucher without scoring, and Australia went to lunch on 66 for two.

Dale Steyn made inroads in the Australian batting line-up after the break when he captured the important wickets of Michael Hussey (20) and Michael Clarke (0) in his third and fifth overs, to reduce Australia to 81 for four.

Katich and Brad Haddin went some way to clawing the visitors back into the match with a fifth wicket partnership of 71, and it was Harris who broke the partnership when Khan made up for his earlier lapse by catching Katich for 55.

Harris struck again immediately after tea, when he trapped Brad Haddin leg before wicket for 42.

Andrew McDonald and Mitchell Johnson kept the South Africans at bay for about an hour with a somewhat tentative partnership of 32, but then Makhaya Ntini took two wickets in three balls to dismiss McDonald (13) and Peter Siddle (0), and the Australian innings was all but over. It was left to Dale Steyn to wrap up the tail, which he did by taking two wickets in three deliveries.

South Africa’s new-look opening pair of Khan and Prince successfully negotiated their way to the end of the day’s play, with Prince — who made 254 for the Warriors a week ago, bringing up their 50 partnership with a magnificent six off Bryce McGain’s second delivery in Test cricket.

At stumps, Prince was not out on 37 and Khan had 15. – Sapa