Nic Maddinson (17*) and Travis Head (10*) made a bright start with the bat, but bad light once again halted Australia’s charge on day three of the first Test in Durban.
Australia leads by 139 runs, reaching 0/33 in their second innings in only 5.4 overs after South Africa were bowled out for 284 in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 390.
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After his 33-ball duck on day one, Maddinson got off the mark with a hook shot for four off Marco Jansen on the first ball of the tourists’ second innings.
The two left-handers raced out of the blocks to add to Australia’s advantage as Maddinson also slashed a boundary over backward point in the opening over.
Head got in on the act with a lofted boundary over the leg side off Wiaan Mulder as well as crunching Jansen through the covers to the fence.
The end of the day’s play was sealed when Maddinson flicked Mulder for six over square leg but boundary rider Ryan Rickelton failed to pick up the ball as it sailed over the rope.
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Earlier, the wickets were shared among Australia’s champion bowling attack – Pat Cummins (3/54), Josh Hazlewood (2/54), Nathan Lyon (2/58) and Mitchell Starc (2/63) – to establish a 106-run first innings lead.
While not to the extent of centurion Matt Renshaw and the Australian tail, South Africa’s bowlers fought admirably with the bat, adding 87 runs for the final two wickets.
During the middle session, captain Cummins’ short ball ploy undid both Mulder (30) and Tristan Stubbs (32), while Lyon has Smith to thank for both of his wickets due to his remarkably anticipation of the reverse sweep at slip.
Wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne (13) was the second South African to be undone by Smith’s brilliance with captain Temba Bavuma (3 off 27) also caught out by the champion Australian batter spotting the reverse sweep early, shuffling to his right and taking a fine catch.
Verreynne could perhaps feel a little more hard done by as Smith’s catch to dismiss him was undoubtedly the pick of the pair.
The 37-year-old took a one-handed screamer to his right that former Zimbabwean cricketer Pommy Mbangwa said was “out of this world”, while follow commentator Mark Howard bellowed that Smith’s classic was “from another planet”.
Even Smith’s teammates were in disbelief at the latest catch to be added to his ever-expanding slip fielding highlight reel and former South African great Shaun Pollock said Lyon owes Smith “a few beers” for his efforts.
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Mulder will not be wanting to watch any replays, however, as he was caught in two minds against a Cummins short ball and tamely offered a simple catch to substitute fielder Cooper Connolly at square leg.
Stubbs was then bounced out in Cummins’ next over as Josh Hazlewood completed a nice catch coming forward at fine leg.
Hazlewood got in on the act later in the session when he ended Marco Jansen’s (26 off 20) counter-attacking effort when the towering No.8 spooned a catch to Travis Head, who unleashed a mighty fist pump in celebration, at mid off.
Spinners Keshav Maharaj (34) and Simon Harmer (35*) then provided some rearguard action, steering the hosts through to tea as Cummins through the ball to Head and Marnus Labuschagne, who bowled his leg spin rather than his medium pace, to provide some overs of part-time tweak before the break.
Their 52-run partnership was broken early in the evening session, however, as Maharaj chipped a simple catch to Cummins at mid off to give Starc his second wicket.
But Harmer carried on, adding 35 valuable runs with No.11 Anrich Nortje (16), including tucking into Beau Webster’s medium pace with a six over mid-wicket, a lofted four over wide mid off and a cut to the boundary in consecutive deliveries.
Webster (1/23) eventually broke the stand with Nortje edging to Smith at slip for his fourth catch of the innings.
In the first session, Starc triggered a mini-collapse of 3/15 with the crucial wicket of Australia’s World Test Championship final nemesis Aiden Markram (37) thanks to a nice catch from first innings centurion Matt Renshaw at first slip shortly before drinks.
Markram’s demise ended a dangerous 84-run partnership between opener and Proteas’ No.3 David Bedingham (49), and from then on it was the Smith show.
The Australians did an excellent job of tying down Temba Bavuma, whose patience ran out when he attempted to reverse sweep Lyon.
Smith saw the shot coming from slip, however, and in an incredible act of anticipation, shuffled to his right to snaffle a catch to level Joe Root on the all-time leading Test catchers list.
Three overs later Smith reclaimed top spot from the England captain with his 221st Test catch, flying from second slip in front of Renshaw to send Bedingham on his way one run shy of a half-century and to give Australian captain Pat Cummins his first wicket.
BLINDER! Smith reclaims catching record | 01:51
Australia’s storied pace attack dismissed a member of South Africa’s top three apiece with Hazlewood getting opener Ryan Rickelton for a third-ball duck late on day two as the visiting quicks were relentless in their line and length.
They constantly enticed the South Africans to play at deliveries around off stump, in contrast to Renshaw’s spectacular century where his willingness to leave balls in a similar channel was a feature.
In the absence of any swing, Australia’s fast bowlers quickly adjusted to banging the ball into pitch to extract some movement and pump the brakes on after Markram and Bedingham scored at roughly five runs an over in the first ten overs of the day.
The South African pair were streaky at times, but the first hour was clearly the most fruitful time to bat so far in the day.
Lyon came into the game once he entered the attack with the footmarks created by left-armers Starc and Marco Jansen giving the off spinners targets outside the right-handers’ off stump.
The visitors thought they had Wiaan Mulder (6*), who has Tristan Stubbs (14*) for company, in the last over before lunch too, but the third umpire declared that the ball hit the ground when in Labuschagne’s hands at slip off Lyon.
Labuschagne shook his head in frustration as ‘not out’ appeared on the scoreboard, but Australian great Mark Waugh had little sympathy.
“Yeah, well, it was taken, but on the half volley!” he said on Kayo Sports.
“It’s close, but you’re standing too deep, Marnus. And I just wonder why Steve Smith wasn’t there at first slip, but it’s a game of inches, isn’t it?”
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Match details
Venue: Kingsmead, Durban
First ball: 6:30pm (AEDT)
Watch it live: On Fox Cricket (channel 501), and streaming on Kayo, from 5:30pm (AEDT)
Teams
Australia: Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje.
