Twitter Reactions: Australia get back in the game after late strikes on day 2

South Africa lead by 20 runs by the end of day 2.

By Nikhil Anand

View : 2.8K

2 Min Read

AB de Villiers
info
AB de Villiers of South Africa celebrates scoring a half-century. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Team South Africa dictated the terms on the first day of the second Test against Australia. It was a very good show by the hosts on the first day’s play considering the fact that they were beaten badly in the first Test against the touring side. A spirited bowling effort by the Proteas, headed firmly by Kagiso Rabada, saw the Aussies bundle out for just 243 in their first innings. Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts with a five-for to his name.

Also, they put on 39 runs on the board with the loss of Aiden Markram by the end of the day’s play. On the second day, team Australia managed to pull things back by the end of the day. However, the fortunes turned for the visitors only in the final session of the day. In the first couple of sessions, the South Africans managed to get a firm hold on the proceedings by not letting the wickets fall away easily.

Dean Elgar and Kagiso Rabada resumed the proceedings for the hosts on the day. Rabada could not add much to his overnight score and perished after scoring 29 (40). Hashim Amla, who has been under the firing range this season, joined Elgar at the crease. Both batsmen managed to reach their individual fifties. But the task was not easy at all. They had to struggle for their runs and this was evident from the fact that the run rate of the innings hardly touched 3.

The partnership of 88 runs between them eventually ended with Hashim Amla being cleaned up by Mitchell Starc on 56 (148) in the early overs of the final session. In the very next over, Pat Cummins cleaned up Dean Elgar on 57 (197) to send both the set batsmen back in the dressing room.

A couple of more wickets followed and the onus was on AB de Villiers to rebuild the innings after Proteas were six down. Another wicket, that of Quinton de Kock, did fall down but AB de Villiers held the fort for the other end. He remained unbeaten on 74 to ensure South Africa finished with 263/7 on the board. They now lead by 20 runs.

Here is how the fans reacted to the day’s play

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store
South AfricaAustralia