English
Destructive Australian opener David Warner gave Australia an outstanding start against South Africa at WACA, Perth. South Africa batting first was dismissed for 242; Australian opening pair David Warner and Shaun Marsh coming into the middle in the last session of the first day, southpaw David Warner launched an onslaught on the South Africa bowling attack. Warner started playing them around the park and scored a run a ball half century, but missed his 17th Test hundred by three runs. After a duel between David Warner and Dale Steyn, the later got rid of Warner when the Aussie tried to play a lazy off drive but ended up being caught at the slip. Steyn too has to leave the ground early in the morning as he received a shoulder injury.
Earlier in the day, South African captain Faf du Plessis winning the toss elected to bat first, but Australian pace batteries Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood didn’t let South African batsmen settle down at the bouncy WACA pitch. Starc has taken four wickets while Hazlewood scalped three wickets. As the first innings of South Africa meet the end, Australian batsman David Warner started battering South African bowlers like Dale Steyn, who later received an unfortunate injury and Kagiso Rabada. For a while, Warner and Steyn shared a great battle between bat and ball. During Warner during quick fire 97 runs innings he hit an upper cut off Dale Steyn and fell on the ground which was one of the fascinating moments of the ongoing Perth Test. However, Steyn has the last laugh as Hasim Amla grabbed an outstanding catch of David Warner off the delivery of Dale Steyn. (Pakistan vs West Indies: How did West Indies register a rare Test match victory?)
Australia was looking dangerous till David Warner was at the crease, but after his departure, South African bowlers made a strong comeback. From 158 for 1, Australia lost three more wickets for just 23 runs in just one session before the lunch. Captain Steve Smith’s dismissal created a huge controversy as debutante South African spinner Keshav Maharaj trapped Steve Smith for lbw. Smith stepped out to defend Maharaj’s delivery, but it hit on his pad, Maharaj appealed to umpire Aleem Dar, who has given out. Watch the video here:
Long day? Enjoy David Warner’s highlights from day 1 of #AUSvSA Best viewed on an OLED TV. https://t.co/ZhuOkm1qPL via: /u/MLVD #cricket
— UNSW CricSoc (@unswcricsoc) November 3, 2016
Annoyed Smith has no other option, but to leave the ground. Before lunch, South Africa picked two more wickets. Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada castled left-handed batsman Usman Khawaja while Vernon Philander trapped Shaun Marsh for lbw. Dale Steyn’s absence is yet to make a void for South Africans as Rabada and Philander have done outstanding work till the lunch. (India vs England: Does Hardik Pandya deserve a place in the Indian Test team?)
Before all these happened, David Warner’s innings has taken the South Africans by surprise. He relies on hitting them hard. David Warner earlier in 2015 scored his career best 253 against New Zealand at Perth playing the same style innings. His innings made New Zealand frustrated, but New Zealand also has given a fitting reply to the Australians as Black Caps batsmen Kane Williamson scored 166 while Ross Taylor scored his career best 290. South Africa recently whitewashed Australia at their home by a 5-0 margin in ODI cricket, so this series is a good opportunity for the Aussies to take revenge. But, South Africans are confident about their prospect in this series. They have a good batting line-up and a great bowling line up so Australia will have to play South Africa with more wisdom and patience.
For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Cricket News on India.com.
