Led by Kagiso Rabada, South Africa made a strong start to the World Test Championship final as Australia reached 67/4 at lunch on day one at Lord’s, on Wednesday.
Rabada (2/9) set the tone with a fine display, and he was ably supported by Marco Jansen (2/27) and Wiaan Mulder.
It was a measured start by Australia as they moved to 12/0 before Rabada struck twice in the seventh over to remove both Usman Khawaja (0) and Cameron Green (4) with Australia reeling on 16/2. On both occasions, fine catches came in the slips from David Bedingham and Aiden Markram respectively.
The double blow immediately vindicated skipper Temba Bavuma’s decision to bowl first.
South Africa’s Bowlers Apply Pressure Early in the Innings
Jansen came close to striking in the eighth over as Marnus Labuschagne (17) edged a delivery to short leg, but the ball just dropped short.
The two quick wickets brought together Labuschagne and Steve Smith (26 not out) as they went about rebuilding their innings.
As Lungi Ngidi (0/19) came into the attack he relieved some of the pressure as he went at nearly five runs to the over.
At the other end though, allrounder Wiaan Mulder (0/6) was at his miserly best as he opened his account at Lord’s with three consecutive maidens.
Less than half an hour before lunch, Jansen came back into the attack and he found the edge of Labuschagne’s bat to reduce Australia to 46/3 after 18 overs.
Jansen would strike again to dismiss Travis Head for 11, as Kyle Verreynne took a great catch diving to his right.
Earlier, Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bowl first under cloudy London skies.
The Proteas announced their team a day prior, with no major surprises on the day.
The surprising selection though, was the inclusion of Lungi Ngidi who has not played any first-class cricket since August last year, at the expense of Dane Paterson who has been tearing it up in country cricket over the last couple months.
@Michael_Sherman
IOL Sport
