Ken Borland

The odds are stacked high against South Africa as their batsmen face trying to avoid turning the second Test versus Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground into something akin to a four-day franchise game, ending the third day still needing 371 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

The Proteas batted for just seven overs in their second innings on Wednesday, but in that time they lost captain Dean Elgar, caught down the leg-side for a duck. Sarel Erwee (7*) and Theunis de Bruyn (6*) then took them to 15 for one when rain stopped play at 4.21pm local time.

Mitchell Starc, bleeding from the finger he dislocated in the field on the first day, swung the ball prodigiously, but it was captain Pat Cummins who grabbed the wicket as he bowled three successive maidens.

The bowlers have been through one of their toughest tests as Australia piled on 575 for eight declared, their biggest total against South Africa since they smashed 652 for seven declared at the Wanderers in 2002. It meant the Proteas conceded a monstrous 386-run first-innings lead.

Anrich Nortje produced a thrilling double-strike in his second over of the day as he bowled Travis Head for a dashing 51, shaping the ball back into the left-hander. That brought second-day hero David Warner back to the crease, the left-hander celebrating his 100^th Test having retired hurt with severe cramps upon reaching his epic 200*.

But Nortje, whose tremendous fast bowling the previous day had thrilled the MCG crowd almost as much as Warner’s innings, bowled the veteran opener first ball back with an excellent yorker.

Cummins survived the hat-trick ball but was then caught behind off Kagiso Rabada for 4. With Cameron Green and Starc both nursing hand injuries, South Africa may have expected to wrap the innings up quickly as Nathan Lyon came to the crease with Australia on 400 for six, leading by 211.

But Lyon batted brightly to score 25 off 17 balls as he and Alex Carey put on a quickfire 40, and the wicketkeeper/batsman carried on in exhilarating fashion to an exciting maiden Test century, one that ensured Australia enjoyed an insurmountable lead.

With Green surprisingly returning to the crease with a fractured finger and defending stoutly, Carey feasted on the tired bowling on a flat pitch, scoring a superb 111 off 149 balls before offering a return catch to Marco Jansen as he tried to withdraw his bat from a steepling, tennis-ball bounce lifter from the left-arm quick.

Green became more fluent the longer he was at the crease, but his 51 not out was still a grind, albeit a brave one, coming off 177 deliveries in 224 minutes.

Having bowled themselves into the ground, South Africa’s bowlers eventually received some respite when Australia declared shortly before tea, having batted for 145 overs. Nortje earned immense respect for his effort as he finished with three for 92 in 25 overs.

South Africa conceded a monstrous 386-run first-innings lead as Australia piled up a massive 575 for eight declared, wicketkeeper/batsman Alex Carey stroking an exciting century, on the third day of the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Anrich Nortje produced a thrilling double-strike in his second over of the day as he bowled Travis Head for a dashing 51, shaping the ball back into the left-hander. That brought second-day hero David Warner back to the crease, the left-hander celebrating his 100^th Test having retired hurt with severe cramps upon reaching his epic 200 not out.

But Nortje, whose tremendous fast bowling the previous day had thrilled the MCG crowd almost as much as Warner’s innings, bowled the veteran opener first ball back with an excellent yorker.

Pat Cummins survived the hat-trick ball but was then caught behind off Kagiso Rabada for 4. With Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc both nursing hand injuries, South Africa may have expected to wrap the innings up quickly as Nathan Lyon came to the crease with Australia on 400 for six, leading by 211.

But Lyon batted brightly to score 25 off 17 balls as he and Carey put on a quickfire 40, and the wicketkeeper/batsman carried on in exhilarating fashion to his maiden Test century, one that ensured Australia enjoyed an insurmountable lead.

With Green surprisingly returning to the crease with a fractured finger and defending stoutly, Carey feasted on the tired bowling on a flat pitch, scoring a superb 111 off 149 balls before offering a return catch to Marco Jansen as he tried to withdraw his bat from a steepling, tennis-ball bounce lifter from the left-arm quick.

Green became more fluent the longer he was at the crease, but his 51 not out was still a grind, albeit a brave one, coming off 177 deliveries in 224 minutes.

Having bowled themselves into the ground, South Africa’s bowlers eventually received some respite when Australia declared shortly before tea, having batted for 145 overs. Starc also came out to bat and scored 10 not out, a blow to the helmet from Jansen bringing the declaration.

Nortje earned immense respect for his effort as he finished with three for 92 in 25 overs.

The Proteas should have a bit more than 30 overs to weather in the final session on the third day, and although the pitch looked fantastic for batting, there will not be a lot of rand bet on them avoiding an innings defeat.

Ryan Rickelton’s magnificent century took the DP World Lions to almost certain safety on the third day of their CSA 4-Day Series match against the Dafabet Warriors at the DP World Wanderers Stadium on Tuesday.

The wicketkeeper and Proteas Test squad member blazed a fiery 125 off just 112 deliveries to take the Lions to 433 all out, a first-innings deficit of just five runs. The Warriors then batted for 18 minutes before stumps, getting to five for one. They will take a 10-run lead into the final day and the home side will be going all out to dismiss them cheaply on a pitch that is showing some signs of inconsistent bounce with occasional deliveries keeping low.

Rickelton came to the crease with the Lions in control on 187 for three on a glorious sunny day without a cloud in the sky. That handsome position was thanks to an impressive top-order display by the Central Gauteng side.

Openers Josh Richards and Dom Hendricks, who resumed on their overnight score of 19 without loss, took their first-wicket stand to a hefty 123 before Richards was bowled for 60 trying to hit left-arm spinner Tsepo Ndwandwa over the covers.

Captain Hendricks fell for 62 as he was caught behind off Beyers Swanepoel, who found the left-hander’s edge with a fine delivery that moved away late. Wiaan Mulder, who took 28 balls to get off the mark, was most unfortunate to be run out for 4 when a powerful straight drive by Temba Bavuma was deflected into the non-striker’s stumps by bowler Mthiwekhaya Nabe.

But Bavuma was in commanding form and he and Rickelton added 54 for the fourth wicket before the Warriors began making inroads with the ball.

Bavuma was also caught behind the wicket off Swanepoel (22-7-74-3), having scored a fine, free-scoring 67 with 12 fours and a six. Mitchell van Buuren was caught behind for 2 off part-time medium-pacer Matthew Breetzke just before tea, and 241 for three became 320 for eight as Glenton Stuurman (22-4-73-3) struck three times with the second new ball.

At that stage, the Lions were still 118 runs behind and could have left themselves with an anxious final day, but Rickelton, who had looked firmly in control at the crease, then took his innings deep and played some imperious strokes as he belted 11 fours and seven sixes in his third century in five innings in the four-day campaign.

He found an able ally in Lutho Sipamla, who scored a polished career-best 36 as they added a rollicking 84 for the ninth wicket in an hour, all but taking the Lions to parity.

After such batting heroics, Kagiso Rabada could not let the day go by without making a mark of his own, and his second delivery, Jordan Hermann’s first, was the perfect ball to a left-hander, forcing him to play and then just nipping away to find the edge and have him caught behind for a duck.

Kyle Jacobs and Diego Rosier then survived another four overs before the umpires let the batsmen retire to the changeroom due to bad light, shadows moving over the pitch.

Proteas batting coach Justin Sammons admitted that their contact points and bat-angles could have been better, but he said their dismal batting effort on the third day of the third Test against England at The Oval was mostly due to the accuracy and skill of the English bowlers.

Having lost the toss on the first morning shortly before rain washed out the whole first day’s play and then the second day was cancelled to honour the life and passing of Queen Elizabeth II, South Africa had to bat on an overcast morning and try to counter movement both off the pitch and through the air on Saturday morning.

And England’s pace bowlers, especially Ollie Robinson (14-3-49-5) and Stuart Broad (12.2-1-41-4) exploited the conditions superbly as they bundled the Proteas out for just 118 in 36.2 overs.

“The reality is you have to give credit to the opposition, they bowled really, really well. They bowled in the right area 80% of the time and they consistently asked us questions,” Sammons said.

“Our contact points and bat angles could have been better and that would have given us a better chance, but we might still have nicked the ball anyway.

“We did not give away our wickets through mental errors, it was all about execution and they were better than us today. We need to be decisive in our decision-making and our movements.

“We’ve been missing partnerships, that big one of a hundred-plus that you need. But to do that you need individuals to make their innings count, and unfortunately we haven’t done that,” Sammons admitted.

Contact points refer to where the bat makes contact with the ball, in terms of how far in front of the batsman’s head it is.

England will go into the penultimate day on 154/7, leading by 36. South Africa will be grateful to 22-year-old Marco Jansen, not only for his runs as he top-scored with 30 to lift the Proteas from a parlous 36/6, but also for the four wickets he took with fantastic left-arm swing bowling that pegged the home team back after they had made a flying start to their innings, reaching 84/2 at tea.

“Marco has had a very good game so far. He batted very well in a difficult situation, he showed maturity beyond his years. He has worked really hard on his batting and it was good to see the results today,” Sammons said.

The former Highveld Lions batting coach said his charges will only be better for their tough experiences at The Oval on Saturday.

“These have been extraordinary circumstances, but they will only get stronger for having experiences like these. Of the top eight, only one [Dean Elgar] has played Test cricket in England before.

“So we are inexperienced, but hopefully we reap the rewards of these experiences sooner rather than later. With the ball nipping around, it was not easy, especially with Robinson bowling superb lengths.

“Test cricket is a massive step up and it will be for any first-class batsman anywhere in the world. We have owned that we have not been good enough and I’m confident that sooner rather than later we will reap the rewards for a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes,” Sammons said.