Gabba’s ominous green stripes were replaced by MCG’s encouraging brown stripes, but South Africa got off to a phenomenal start in the second Test, going 4-for-58 at lunch. Cricketing his Australia sent lavish tributes to Shane his Warne, prompting spectators to don the iconic slouch hat and zinc his cream that the Wizard of Spin had worn throughout his playing career. Fans flocked to the MCG. His name and Test cap number – 350 – were also depicted on the wicket.What the fans got was another Test in which the home side did their best early on.
Asked to go first, Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwie were initially reluctant. The South African skipper tried to catch and bowl to opponent Pat Cummins in four overs, but survived. Australia found the wicket angle much more worrying for the duo and, testing the determination of their two left-handed sluggers, went for it. 10 For a long time, the duo did well to keep an edge from balls teasing them outside the off-stamp, with Erwie chasing one of Scott Vorland in the 11th and a slip against Usman Khawaja in the third. I decided.
On the first ball after the drink break, Elgar saved a solid ball from Cameron Green to create another chance, albeit a difficult one. Nathan Lyon extended his arm and dove to his left and put his hand on the ball, but it wasn’t enough to hold onto it. Elgar wasn’t sure how he pulled off the run, but one of his most confident shots of the morning, a swipe across the floor to a full ball from Borland, gave him a 5,000-plus shot. With more than one test run, South Africa took one win. 50.
Theunis de Bruyn seemed much more confident than his captain until an error in stroke selection packed him in. He attempted a pull shot against a ball that wasn`t short enough from Green and ended up top-edging it to Alex Carey behind the stumps. There were more unforced errors to come as Elgar was run out when he took on Marnus Labuschagne at mid-off by attempting a quick single and lost. The next ball had to be shaped slightly off length and Temba Bavuma played with it. Bavuma beat it, taking South Africa down by four in a heated end to the session. Short score:
South Africa 58/4 (Mitchell Starc 1-13, Scott Boland 1-15, Cameron Green 1-9) v Australia