South Africa Positioning Themselves

AB deVilliers made a fluent 40

South Africa have placed themselves comfortably as the only team who can win the first Test in Brisbane, after their amended batting order added nearly two hundred in a little more than two sessions of the third day and then crumbled the Australian top order in their strong grip.

The South African batsmen were so dominant in the elongated first session that the only wicket lost was to another umpiring mistake. Having added 165 with Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla was badly treated by Asad Rauf and by his batting partner Kallis. After being rapped above the kneel roll, he might have expected better umpiring and should have expected Kallis to suggest a review. The ball would have climbed over the stumps comfortably.

AB deVilliers and Kallis moved through the new ball and at lunch, any total was possible.

In the second session, Australia finally won a session in this Test match, when James Pattinson was rewarded for bad bowling thanks to Rob Quiney and Dave Warner. Both held brilliant catches to send Kallis and de Villiers to the stands when they were full of murderous intent. Kallis' 147 was his highest score against Australia and the highest by a South Africa at the Gabba. All Pattinson did was bowl two poor short balls outside off stump.

Vernon Philander edged Siddle to Michael Clark at slip and by the time Jacques Rudolph was holing out to Quiney at cover from the long suffering Nathan Lyon, it was obvious that the word had come to hit out or get out.

There was just time after tea for Hilfenhaus to launch a bumper war against Dale Steyn, the purpose of which escapes me. Its true that Steyn's most dangerous delivery is his outswinger but inviting retribution was not the  smartest trick Hilfey has pulled from his hat. The tail was cleaned up and much was made of the last six  wickets falling for 76. This was by people who can't count to 450.

Ed Cowan had some luck

The start of the Australian reply was hard to watch.

On any other day, Ed Cowan's tentative edge in Philander's second over might have stayed with gully or third slip, instead of bisecting them and taunting the slips cordon from the third man boundary. The fact it was Cowan's only false shot during an afternoon at the crease in which he batted with great zeal and confidence, is certainly encouraging. It was a stroke of luck and one which he appeared determined to benefit from.

An over later, Dave Warner stayed on his crease and the man who bowls poorly to left handers, Dale Steyn, sent a fast, full ball across his edge and into the safe buckets which Kallis substituted for hands many seasons ago. Its hard to say what this failure means for Warner but he looked like he was swimming in the deep end with Mafia designed shoes.

Quiney only stayed three overs and struck the ball with great confidence, nervousness perhaps causing him to be in a hurry. Morne Morkel was introduced and Quiney swatted him aggressively to fine leg. It was sweetly struck, flat and hard ... and straight at Dale Steyn. It used to be that lumbering fast bowlers retreated to fine leg to swig on their power drinks and recover between overs but in this more athletic age, much more is expected. Steyn's catch belonged to the "much more" category. His first interception bagged, the momentum of Quiney's strike pushed him back to the boundary. Before crossing, he tossed the ball in the air, stepped back and then forward again once on balanced feet and pocketed the lob thrown to himself to complete a memorable catch.

I'm not sure Merv Hughes could have done that.

Ricky Ponting came and went in a flash, caught at second slip by Kallis as he pushed across his crease at Morkel. His hands were hard, his footwork inconclusive and doubts about his management of his off stump were reinforced. To be fair, I feel entitled to repeat what I said two weeks ago ...
"Ponting's off stump will be under constant attack. Sure Steyn and Morkel will muscle up and give a recently unreliable hook shot an opportunity to offer gifts behind square leg, but it's back at off peg they will come time and again. The Indians didn't have the pace of the expertise to exploit his lazy footwork which is squaring him up and trying to play everything to mid on. Most older players go back to where they started. The little man is a champion and is batting like a Test player in Tassie colours, having made better use of the short first class season than any of the batsmen selected. Unfortunately, this could be a bridge too far."

Morkel (2-25) looks the biggest threat

It was Ponting's 17th Test duck. Australia, if not on its knees, were certainly staggering at 3-40.

The Aussie skipper arrived with the decks awash with blood and instead of mopping up and playing sedately until stumps, he set about the quicks with drives through cover, powerful square cuts and some of his own luck. An attempted big drive near the end saw Morkel snicked down a narrow passage past second slip.

Cowan took off, hooking, pulling and cutting all of the bowlers in an hour of defiance. Well behind in the scheme of the match, Cowan and Clarke were so impressive that they added 71 in the last hour. However, apart from Clarke's close call, Cowan should have been out at the death, taking a hip-high ball off his glove to deVilliers behind him. Again Rauf failed and turned it down. It was Graeme Smith's review which both proved the ball had brushed the glove but also proved Morkel's big front foot had over-stepped in the Peter Siddle manner. It was the ninth time Morkel has lost a wicket when over-stepping in Tests.

Some blokes are slow learners.

There are only two days left and no terrors in the pitch but South Africa have already shown smarts well beyond the Aussie quicks. Their line was off stump and Kleinveldt aside, their length was full. The debutante was smashed by Cowan and Clarke because he handed them half track rubbish wide of the stumps. Morkel was superb and even at this early stage of the series he looms as the largest threat if its at all possible to find only one in this quality attack. It will take a lot of courage if Australia is to save this game and Clarke's approach this afternoon looks the right one.

Big Brother isn't just watching ...
... he's getting in the way!

Two further observations not readily obvious from your side of the TV screen. Firstly, interruptions by non-playing team mates running onto the field with drinks, gloves, gum, racing tips etc have been greatly reduced. One suspects a directive. Secondly and not surprisingly was the sight of Graeme Smith speaking a complaint to umpire Rauf in the 14h over of the Australian innings. His topic ... the TV Spidercam. During previous overs it and its shadow were several times in the eyeline of the slips fielders. Smith spent a few minutes explaining his concerns and he pointed to it several times in the following overs. Cameras are supposed to record the action, not be part of it. As a spectator, I found it distracting more than once but as the TV audience has for years won all the privileges over the shmucks at the ground, Smith may be fighting a losing battle.