Key events
55th over: Australia 270-6 (Webster 27, Cummins 0) Matt Renshaw ends the match of his life with 272 runs and a ticket to India.
The ball after driving six over long-on, Renshaw popped a drive back towards the bowler. Maharaj dropped it twice in his follow through but took the catch at the third attempt when the ball fell into his left hand while he was on all fours. A most unusual catch to end another brilliant innings from Renshaw: 82 from 99 balls with seven fours and two sixes.
Updated at 08.01 EDT
WICKET! Australia 270-6 (Renshaw ct and b Maharaj 82)
Matt Renshaw: an apology. We stated that you were nailed on for another century, but you appear to have been dismissed for 82.
54th over: Australia 259-5 (Renshaw 75, Webster 23) Now Renshaw puts Harmer away on the off side, driving beautifully through extra cover for four. He’s in the zone of his life and – time permitting – seems nailed on for another century.
53rd over: Australia 249-5 (Renshaw 69, Webster 19) Webster, who is looking more fluent now, flicks Jansen behind square for another boundary.
It’ll be fascinating to see how South Africa approach their second innings. Graeme Smith’s great team of the early 2010s relished batting for a draw, most famously at Adelaide in 2012-13. But the last time any South African team managed to do that was in Colombo 12 years ago.
52nd over: Australia 242-5 (Renshaw 67, Webster 14) Harmer overpitches to Renshaw, who pops him lazily over midwicket for six. That’s a fabulous shot, both relaxed and dominant.
“It’s hardly breaking news,” writes Gary Naylor, “but to watch Australia play below-par cricket, collectively at least, in the first Test of a series away to the world champions, and be cruising to a win, is galling to say the least. I know ‘sporting DNA’ isn’t a thing, well it is if we’re talking clichés, but how else to account for this? Yours, already with the fear.”
I know what you mean about a below-par performance, but their collective bowling display was superb. That + Renshaw + a decent toss + South African rust = 1-0.
51st over: Australia 229-5 (Renshaw 55, Webster 13) Renshaw works Jansen off the hip for another single. Four days ago he had a Test average of 28; it’s now 37.
Webster gets his first boundary with an edge for four. It went between Verreynne and Markram, standing slightly wide at slip, though it wouldn’t have carried anyway.
Verreynne appeals for caught behind when Webster chases a wide yorker. Jansen isn’t interested and replays show there was no contact. The over concludes with an excellent stroke from Webster, who times Jansen behind square for four more.
50th over: Australia 220-5 (Renshaw 54, Webster 5) Webster bat-pads Harmer wide of Bedingham at short leg. He’s struggling to get going – 4 from 18 balls – so pulls out the reverse sweep to rotate strike.
Harmer gets the last ball before drinks to turn sharply into Webster, who defends awkwardly. It’s another reminder that Australia hold 99.94% of the aces in this game.
“Rob,” says John Starbuck. “It’s beginning to look as if ‘Renshaw’ is turning into a verb.”
A synonym of Bradman? Or perhaps of G Kirsten, who holds the record for the most runs in a Durban Test: 286 against England in 1999-2000.
The best cricket-surname verb is surely ‘to Waqar’.
Updated at 07.35 EDT
49th over: Australia 218-5 (Renshaw 53, Webster 4) Marco Jansen, who has bowled only five overs in the innings, returns to the attack. Male pride notwithstanding, I’d be tempted to save his legs for Gqeberha and Cape Town, because there’s surely no way South Africa can win this Test.
A quiet over, one from it. Australia lead by 324.
48th over: Australia 217-5 (Renshaw 53, Webster 3) Renshaw is still the only man to reach fifty in this Test, and now he’s done it twice. Not that ‘reaching fifty’ does justice to his mighty 190 in the first innings. It’s a heartwarming story. Never give up on your dreams, eh.
REVIEW! Australia 215-5 (Renshaw not out 52) Thanks Geoff, hello everyone. I’m straight into the action with a successful review from Matthew Renshaw, who was originally given out LBW after trying to reverse sweep Harmer. He reviewed instantly and replays showed a little brush on the glove.
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Geoff Lemon
47th over, Australia 215-5 (Renshaw 52, Webster 2) Just trying to survive, is Webster, facing Nortje. He’s suddenly seemed tentative in his last few Test innings, after being very effective in his first few. Gets hit by Nortje, tries to duck a bouncer but there’s a lot of Webster to go under a ball. Doesn’t score from the over.
That’s it for me today. I’ll leave you with Rob Smyth.
Updated at 07.24 EDT
Half century! Renshaw 52 from 75 balls
46th over, Australia 215-5 (Renshaw 52, Webster 2) Yet another reverse from Renshaw, and he gets Harmer fine for four! A century and a fifty in the same Test, not all that common a feat. Right now he’s unstoppable.
Updated at 07.17 EDT
45th over, Australia 210-5 (Renshaw 48, Webster 1) Almost gone, Webster! Big nick into the cordon, but it bounces just short of slip. He manages to push a run from the next ball.
“I’ve noticed Durban has been receiving a fair bit of undue stick as a Test venue,” is how Julian Menz begins the case for the defence. “My family spent some time in Durban when I was a kid, and watching Natal (as it was known) at Kingsmead was my first real introduction to cricket. The likes of Barry Richards and Mike Procter in their pomp. It’s a beautiful ground, in a beautiful part of the world, with a fantastic history. Yes, the light fades fast, and late-afternoon thunderstorms are common, but that is no reason to dismiss it as a Test venue. I don’t have the stats, but I doubt more time is lost on average to rain/bad light in Durban than at English grounds, for example.”
No doubt a beautiful spot, I very much enjoyed travelling to Durban. I think it’s fair, though, if bad light is so predictably and routinely a problem, to question scheduling there. Any venue can get rain, but that’s an erratic risk. Plus the fact that literally nobody has shown up to watch today. The visible spectators are in the dozens.
44th over, Australia 206-5 (Renshaw 45, Webster 0) The long figure of Beau Webster now to the middle. Has a big sweep at Harmer, no love.
ShareWICKET! Carey b Nortje 24, Australia 205-5
43rd over, Australia 205-5 (Renshaw 44) Oh no. Mulder might have done his shoulder here. Carey strokes a cover drive nicely, on the up, and Mulder goes chasing the ball back. Dives awkwardly, right on the rope, and lands really heavily on his right shoulder as he turns, landing on the boundary sponge really, but those sponges aren’t actually very soft, if you get up close and personal with them. They have the hard rope running through them. He might be ok, it seems as the over goes on, just sore. Carey uppercuts four over the cordon for another boundary, but then from the last ball of the over, chops on! A drive more than a cut, straighter bat than most chop-ons, but there’s some angle from the right-armer, and the inside edge gets a skinny angle going back, enough to take out the stumps.
Anrich Nortje celebrates after bowling Alex Carey. Photograph: Themba Hadebe/APShare
Updated at 07.25 EDT
42nd over, Australia 197-4 (Renshaw 44, Carey 16) The singles keep on gathering, four more in this over. There’s still the odd big turning ball from Harmer, but no damage from that turn as yet.
Updated at 07.04 EDT
41st over, Australia 193-4 (Renshaw 42, Carey 14) Nortje is down on the boundary line getting his foot strapping renovated, adding a reading nook and knocking out a new window into the kitchenette. Comes back to bowl the over, jogs to the middle, and bowls over the wicket to Carey. Nortje is up in appeal, but Carey smashed that into his pad, the ball goes sideways into the knee roll on the back leg. Carey follows up with a back-foot punch for a couple, then is beaten cutting.
Updated at 07.04 EDT
40th over, Australia 191-4 (Renshaw 42, Carey 12) Harmer toils on, got the one wicket went Steve Smith went weird, but this is pretty dry stuff here. He’s bowling really wide of Carey’s off stump, turning it away, looking to draw an overly adventurous shot.
39th over, Australia 189-4 (Renshaw 41, Carey 11) Edged but safe! Renshaw goes up to 228 runs for the match as he edges Nortje through the cordon. Notional cordon. There’s one slip, then a big gap to two gullies, and naturally the ball finds the gap rather than the gully. Four runs. Then a couple more through square, and one dropped to the off. He’s so adept at collecting runs, is Renshaw.
38th over, Australia 181-4 (Renshaw 34, Carey 10) Harmer gets some big turn in the over. Two left-handers to turn the ball away from. Walking up with his distinctive approach: Sunday stroll into swan dive, both arms out and wrists turned up like he lives on the top of a wedding cake.
Looking more closely to answer Jonah’s question more accurately, I would say the attendance today is absolutely bloody bugger-all.
37th over, Australia 179-4 (Renshaw 33, Carey 9) That’s a fair old start after tea. First ball he faces, Carey steps forward and laces Nortje through cover. Lovely shot. Big appeal from the last ball of the over, Carey hit on the pad around leg stump, but it was likely pitching outside or impact outside. The speed gun says 150.1 kph for that one. Mind you, it also has Starc’s fastest at 148 and Cummins at 146, and I’m not sure either of them has bowled that fast for some years. (Feel free to factcheck me if you have the stats software.)
Jonah Sack drops us a line. “Anyone in the stadium today? I know it’s a weekday but Durban crowds are the absolute worst. I’ve always thought we should keep Tests away from that ground because no one comes! Plus, bad light at the end of the day is guaranteed — why they don’t start earlier in Durbs I’ll never know.”
Well, if they started any earlier then it would be a dawn service. 9:30am is the break of day for Test cricket. Grounds tend to be damp from overnight moisture in the morning, too, that takes some time to dry off. As for the crowd, doesn’t look like many in the stands for a Monday’s play.
Eamonn Maloney on the correspondence: “As I was reading this I was myself making a defenceless attempt at fruit [Ed: see the Maddinson wicket post] trying to understand the modest orchard at our new house (no gardener, me). If any of your readers have any loquat recipes I’d be obligated (that’s what the online plant identifier suggests it is, and it’s going, ahem, bananas).”
The little orange guys? They’re called nespereira in Portuguese. Lots of them on the trees in my yard here. Lovely flavour, tart and light. My only advice is that they do not keep at all, barely for a day, so only pick them as you’re ready to eat them. Cooking, I did try stewing some with a little orange juice, not bad though the texture gets a bit leathery. Not sure if there’s anything more elaborate one can do.
Paul from Leichhardt emails in. “I’m inclined to see Maddinson’s innings not just in personal terms (a slightly crazed hit-and-hope strategy after his travails in the first dig) but also to see it as a pretty gutsy contribution to what the team needs. Given how many overs get lost to bad light in Durban, Australia really need to motor along in their second innings if they’re going to set a decent target and have enough overs left.”
Yep, that’s fair. It could be a bit of both.
ShareLunch – Australia 174-4 lead by 280 runs
Pretty successful session for Australia despite the wickets, because they need to press on. Maddinson’s innings gave them a good boost in that regard, Smith looked in complete control until he wasn’t, and Labuschagne completed a rare double: making 37 from 58 balls in both innings.
Matt Renshaw during Australia’s second innings. Photograph: Themba Hadebe/APShare
Updated at 05.58 EDT
36th over, Australia 174-4 (Renshaw 32, Carey 5) How has Renshaw done that? Harmer has bowled that ball a foot outside leg stump, and Renshaw, as a left-hander, has reverse-swept it through cover! I don’t know how he even reached that, let alone got so much leverage to hit it back onto the off side, let alone got such timing that it split the fielders and rolled to the rope. That’s astonishing.
Lovely bowling from Harmer to Carey after that, flight and dip and turn, just misses the outside edge. The umpire’s do a stumping review of their own volition, but Carey’s fine.
35th over, Australia 169-4 (Renshaw 27, Carey 5) Just a couple of singles from Nortje as the grind goes on.
34th over, Australia 167-4 (Renshaw 26, Carey 4) Still not very expansive batting against Harmer, though Renshaw does take off for a kamikaze run, but manages to return to base and land safely when Carey tells him the mission is cancelled.
33rd over, Australia 165-4 (Renshaw 25, Carey 3) Finally a change of pace, literally, as Nortje comes back. He’s still got some pep, gets one ball to zip past Carey’s edge.
32nd over, Australia 163-4 (Renshaw 24, Carey 2) Carey a good option to keep the score moving, backs away and cuts Harmer, but it’s stopped at backward point for one.
31st over, Australia 161-4 (Renshaw 23, Carey 1) Three from Maharaj. Renshaw almost sweeps a ball onto his stumps, a little glove and pad and it rolls back past his heel towards the stumps, has him swivelling around trying to knock it away, but it misses leg stump.
30th over, Australia 157-4 (Renshaw 21, Carey 0) Harmer a quiet one. Carey in the middle. Australia 264 ahead.
29th over, Australia 157-4 (Renshaw 20) Oh no! Markram tries to do a Steve Smith, and he gets flummoxed for his trouble. The pressure to mimic a bit of genius. Renshaw shapes to reverse sweep Maharaj, and Markram things he’ll be clever and jump across towards the off side like Smith did. Instead, Renshaw gets a bit of glove on the ball, underside of his glove, and it rolls very fine through the spot where Markram might have stopped it.
Next ball, another reverse, this one flat and square and down into the ground! Through square for four. Renshaw hit one of those in the first innings. It doesn’t matter how much anticipation the slip has if you hit your reverse into the ground first. Note to Bavuma and Verreyne.
Labuschagne falls from the last ball of the over.
ShareWICKET! Labuschagne c Bavuma b Maharaj 37, Australia 157-4
Gone in the 30s again! His last six innings read 37, 1, 31, 4, 37, 37. Much better than six ducks, but Labuschagne is trying to do the team thing and keep the score moving, and he tries slamming a cover drive. A bit more air from Maharaj, Labuschagne can’t keep his shot down, and Bavuma takes the catch diving forward.
Updated at 05.59 EDT