Smith’s awareness at slip in the first innings to pouch two reverse sweeps was stunning, and he added another sharp catch from a conventional edge by Kyle Verreynne in the second innings. Hazlewood claimed a good one at fine leg to take Tristan Stubbs’ hook shot, while Alex Carey’s superb leg-side dive to remove Wiaan Mulder came at a time when South Africa were proving stubborn on the final day.
Planning for this Test has been tricky for both sides. As is the trend through this spring series, there is virtually no relevant data for the venues, although the local talk has been that the pitch, which is far from green but has a decent matting of grass, is “typical” of the ground despite it being at a different time of year.
“Maybe a T20 or one-dayer is different, but I quite like that challenge of playing what’s in front of you. All the different tempos and things that present to you throughout the five days. I’ve always enjoyed that as a bowler and captain”
Pat Cummins
Neither captain declared their XIs the day before the Test, partly due to an uncertain forecast for the opening day. It is South Africa who have the more moving parts with a new-look top order, debate over their spinners, and Temba Bavuma even discussing other all-round options.
The amount of grass, expected to be around 6mm, has almost inevitably seen Scott Boland’s name mentioned but the incumbent quicks have pulled up well from Durban and a four-man pace attack would appear unlikely despite the compelling skillset he brings, particularly on a surface which may keep lower as the game progresses.
“I mean, every Test match we’re trying to work out how we can fit Scotty Boland in there somehow and Nathan Lyon and even [Michael Neser],” Cummins said. “I think it’s really hard here to judge the data because it’s a different time of year. A lot of the Tests are played later in the summer.
“So, again, we’re going to have a good look. We’d like to see it again with the weather around. But of course, when you’ve got someone like Scotty… you leave some training sessions shaking your head how that bloke is [not] in your first XI.”
More broadly, however, Cummins doesn’t mind not having it all laid out in front of him.
He was proactive in the field at Kingsmead, making use of his various part-time bowlers – Australia used six spinners in all, with Webster sending down both his medium pace and his offspin – with Renshaw proving especially valuable in the second innings having not bowled in the first.
“There’s not much you can do about it [the uncertainty] and it’s not really going to change too much tactically what we’ll do,” Cummins said. “Maybe a T20 or one-dayer is different, but I quite like that challenge of playing what’s in front of you. All the different tempos and things that present to you throughout the five days. I’ve always enjoyed that as a bowler and captain.”
Meanwhile, there is still a chance Green could feature in the final Test as he continues his recovery from the abdominal injury he picked up in the final ODI. “It’s a bit of a weird injury but he’s ticking off all the steps so far,” Cummins said. “There’s still a bit to go, but we’re [hopeful] for next week.”
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at Cricinfo