Mitchell Marsh praised his teammate Mitchell Starc whose five-for helped skittle the Proteas out for 162 at Kingsmead on Friday.

According to Marsh, Starc is the best reverse-swing bowler in the world.

Starc was exquisite on day two of the first Test against the Proteas on a slow pitch in Durban. He bowled 11 overs at an economy rate of 3.18 and, more importantly, finished day two with his ninth five-wicket haul.

The Australia quick was pivotal to the Proteas’ collapse, taking out Faf du Plessis (15), Theunis de Bruyn (6), Vernon Philander (8), Kagiso Rabada (3) and Morne Morkel (0).

The 28-year-old proved his worth and rattled the Proteas’ tail – something the home team’s seamers struggled to do in the morning session.

ALSO READ: Starc too good for SA

Marsh, who anchored Australia’s lower order with a heroic 96, gave his teammate the ultimate praise.

‘In my opinion, when the ball is reversing like that, he’s the best in the world. Reverse-swing bowling at that sort of pace is nearly impossible to play, and we saw that today.

‘Hopefully, we are going to have a good day tomorrow. All three of our guys are world-class reverse-swing bowlers and it’s going to be hard for South Africa.’

ALSO READ: ‘We can turn this around’

AB de Villiers, who finished unbeaten on 71, touched on his teammates’ difficulties against Starc.

‘My plans were pretty simple against Starc. He was swinging the ball one way. I felt I had him covered. He bowled a couple of good deliveries and there’s not much you can do about it.

‘Swing is one thing but it was coming off the deck as well, so it’s difficult to cover that. Credit to him for bowling really well.’

ALSO READ: Poor day at the office all round for SA

Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix