Momentum swung in South Africa’s favour as Australia reached tea on 150-5 on day two of the third Test at Newlands in Cape Town.
The highlight for the Proteas was Morne Morkel picking up his 300th Test wicket with the dismissal of Shaun Marsh, which also broke Australia’s 78-run fourth-wicket stand between Marsh and Cameron Bancroft.
Bancroft (77) had done well for the visitors as he looked to rebuild their innings, but he was eventually trapped lbw by Vernon Philander with the last ball before tea. By the end of the second session, the Aussies trailed by 161 runs.
Earlier, Bancroft could do nothing as Australia lost David Warner (30), Usman Khawaja (five) and Steve Smith (five) as the game started to swing in South Africa’s favour early in the day’s middle session.
But Bancroft was ably supported by Marsh, and the two saw Australia recover strongly from 72-3 to 150-4, before the latter became Morkel’s 300th Test victim when he edged to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
The South Africans made serious inroads in the second session after they had taken a bit of stick from the Australian batsmen just before lunch.
Earlier, Morkel picked up his 299th Test wicket, that of Steve Smith, when he sent the Australian captain back to the stands, ensuring that his struggles in this series continued.
What the flurry of Australian wickets did was slow down their run rate, which was at a point in the game just under six-an-over. Halfway through the second session, it was down to 4.52 as the Proteas applied the brakes on the Australians.
Faf du Plessis’ plan to introduce Keshav Maharaj into the attack had the desired effect, and with Kagiso Rabada bringing his economy down after finding the length right from the Wynberg End, South Africa were able to reduce the run rate to just four runs an over.
South Africa 311 (1st innings): Dean Elgar 141*, Ab de Villiers 64; Pat Cummins 4-78, Nathan Lyon 2-43
Australia 150-5 (1st innings): Cameron Bancroft 77, David Warner 30; Morne Morkel 3-43, Vernon Philander 1-22
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
