SA vs AUS, 1st Test, Day 4, Review: Australia on the cusp of victory despite a heroic knock of Markram

Australia are on the brink of a famous victory in the first of the four-match Test series against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban. The match should’ve finished earlier only for the heroic knock from the opener Aiden Markram who got brilliant support from Theunis de Bruyn and Quinton De Kock. However, they collapsed courtesy Mitchell Starc but the fading light denied them the victory on the fourth day itself.

Earlier Australia added 14 runs to their overnight total as Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins played their shots in quest of some quick runs. Finally, it was Keshav Maharaj who brought an end to the proceedings by castling the latter on 26 as the visitors were bundled out for 227 in their second innings with the mammoth target of 417 set in front of them.

Top-order collapses again

The opening duo of Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar once again started confidently and added 29 runs together but they needed more from them as the latter edged a wide delivery off Mitchell Starc. Hashim Amla’s poor run continued as Hazlewood pinned him in front for 8. The chaotic mix-up followed then between the two players in the middle and AB de Villiers was sent back for a golden duck. Pat Cummins came on to bowl then and castled the skipper Faf du Plessis to reduce South Africa to 49/4.

Markram fights along

Everyone must have thought the game might finish in the second session but Markram and Theunis de Bruyn had different ideas. They blunted the Australian bowling attack and increased in confidence slowly. Meanwhile the opener completed the third half-century of his Test career even as his partner started playing his shots. The duo added 87 runs for the fifth wicket but Hazlewood came back to find the edge of de Bruyn on 36 which brought Quinton de Kock in the middle.

That is when the drama began as they took the attack to the opponents and South African players in the dressing room grew increasingly comfortable. Both batted beautifully with De Kock finding his groove finally and played aggressive shots. Markram was absolutely class apart with his cover drives which absolutely pleasing to the eyes. He also brought up his third Test century much to the applause of the crowd and even his teammates stood up in respect of the wonderful innings.

The rate of scoring increased soon after as the shots unfurled at the Kingsmead in Durban. With the deficit going below 150, there were some nervous faces in the Australian camp as the conferences on the field also happened in order to break the partnership. Finally, the moment came when Steve Smith handed over the ball to Mitchell Marsh and Markram edged the delivery to Tim Paine. The heroic came to a stunning end as the crowd gave the standing ovation to the young cricketer.

He was dismissed for 143 off 218 deliveries with as many as 19 fours to his name but his team still needed 134 runs to script a historic win. However, the master of reverse-swing Starc came to the fore soon after the wicket and cleaned up the tail much like he did in the first innings. He sent back Vernon Philander first who edged the ball behind and then disturbed the furniture of Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada off successive deliveries to leave the hosts at 290/9.

However, the drama started after that with the umpires allowing only spinners to bowl the remaining overs with the light fading quickly. Smith and Lyon bowled for a while but couldn’t pick the required wicket as it was frustrating for everyone to go off. The last pair of Morne Morkel and De Kock played out the tricky period and will come back on the final day with South Africa 293/9.

There has to be a special mention for De Kock who batted gamely ever since he came out to bat and remained unbeaten on 81. He would love to add as many as he can on the final day and only miracle can win South Africa the game. Australia would be fairly confident with Starc surely taking the first over in the morning who is on a hat-trick.

Brief Scores

Australia 351 (M Marsh 96, S Smith 56, D Warner 51; K Maharaj 5/123, V Philander 3/59) & 227 (C Bancroft 53; K Maharaj 4/102)

South Africa 162 (AB de Villiers 71*; M Starc 5/34, N Lyon 3/50) & 293/9 (A Markram 143, De Kock 81*; M Starc 4/74)

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