Hazlewood finished with figures of 4-68 off 22 overs
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
After everything South Africa stand-in captain Faf du Plessis has gone through in regards to the ball-tampering incident that has become known as Mintgate or Lollygate, all eyes were on him on the first day of the third Test in Adelaide.
Met with boos with he walked out the crease in South Africa’s first-ever day-night Test match, Du Plessis stole the spotlight and made everyone focus on him as he scored a gritty hundred in hostile conditions.
The 32-year-old may have been docked his entire match fee for the second Test in Hobart for breaching clause 2.2.9 of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Code of Conduct, which relates to “changing the condition of the ball”, but he did not let that bother him as he led from the front and rescued the Proteas from a difficult situation.
Du Plessis opted to bat first after winning the toss, but that backfired big time as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood ripped through South Africa’s top order.
With the tourists struggling at 44/3, they opener Stephen Cook and Du Plessis started the hard task of rebuilding their side’s innings, but all that came to an end when Cook was dismissed by Starc for 40.
South Africa continued to slip deeper beneath the surface as they were plagued with wickets at regular intervals, but despite this, Du Plessis continued to stand tall and lead the charge.
Together with Kyle Abbott, the pair put together a much-needed 54-run partnership as the Proteas began to claw their way back into contention.
Abbott’s resistance was ended when he was trapped lbw off the bowling of a returning Jackson Bird, while Kagiso Rabada only managed to make one run before he was stumped by Matthew Wade, who last played Test cricket in March 2013, off the bowling of Nathan Lyon.
Du Plessis and debutant Tabraiz Shamsi began to go after Australia after Rabada’s dismissal and managed to put together an unbeaten 39-run stand before Du Plessis made a gutsy decision to declare with his side on 259/9. This marked the second-lowest score South Africa have declared on in the first innings of a Test match after the 248/8 they declared on against England in January 2000.
Du Plessis ended up making 118 off 164 balls, which included 17 boundaries, while Shamsi was unbeaten on 18 off 23 deliveries, which included two boundaries.
Du Plessis celebrates after scoring his sixth Test century
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Starc and Bird snapped up two wickets apiece, and Lyon chipped in with one.
Trailing by 259 runs, Australia were determined to get through the 12-over period they had to face before stumps and since David Warner was off the field towards the end of South Africa’s innings, he wasn’t allowed to open the batting.
As a result, it was left to Usman Khawaja and 20-year-old debutant Matt Renshaw to see off a charged up South African bowling line-up.
In the end, the duo managed to amass an unbeaten 14-run partnership before stumps was called, with Renshaw finishing on eight off 34 balls, which included two boundaries, while Khawaja remained undefeated on three.
Australia ended day one on 14/0 and will continue batting on Friday at 14:00 local time or 03:30 GMT.