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Smith hopeful of fourth-innings heist

Australia's captain Steven Smith has not given up hope of a redemptive fourth-innings chase against South Africa at the WACA, particularly as South Africa have been shorn of Dale Steyn's speed by a shoulder injury

Steven Smith was confident of Adam Voges being ready to bat despite a hamstring strain  •  Getty Images

Steven Smith was confident of Adam Voges being ready to bat despite a hamstring strain  •  Getty Images

Australia's captain Steven Smith has not given up hope of a redemptive fourth-innings chase at the WACA, particularly as South Africa have been shorn of Dale Steyn's speed by a shoulder injury.
The hosts were sustained by thoughts of putting pressure back onto South Africa's bowlers, even as JP Duminy and Dean Elgar made Smith's side pay for their latest shuddering batting collapse on the second day. Smith conceded that his bowlers had been placed under undue pressure by the fact the batsmen "didn't do the job", but looked to day four for better tidings.
"We let ourselves down yesterday, to only get two runs in front of their score wasn't good enough," Smith said. "After the start we got with Davey (David Warner) and Shaun (Marsh) we got a great opportunity to post a big first innings score and we weren't good enough. Credit to the South Africa bowlers at the same time, they came out yesterday morning and bowled really well, but the batters didn't do the job.
"[No Steyn] is certainly going to help us, he's a quality bowler, and this isn't the traditional sort of WACA wicket. It's been pretty slow, the ball's got soft very quickly. We've got to get the wickets in the morning, then if we an keep them out there, tie their two fast bowlers down and be a little more positive against the spin, there's no reason why we can't chase down a total on that. So far the balls that have misbehaved have been quite wide, so it's still a pretty good wicket."
Smith, speaking at the end of a difficult day that has piled further pressure on his team after their failures in Sri Lanka, spoke also about his first innings dismissal, an LBW well down the wicket to Keshav Maharaj that resulted in a stunned response from the captain - something the ICC match referee Andy Pycroft may yet pursue further.
"I was a bit disappointed at the time," Smith. "When you come down the wicket like that you kind of think you're going to be okay, but Aleem (Dar) made the decision and it was backed up by the Hawk-Eye. Not much I can do about it, just going to have to use my bat in future."
There had also been suggestions that the umpires had spoken to South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis about the way the ball was being "looked after" on day two, and Smith said reverse swing had played an unusually large role in this match so far. That was his primary reason for ignoring Nathan Lyon until after lunch on day three.
"It started to go pretty quick and the umpires handled it or whatever was going on out there," Smith said of day two. "I think [reverse swing] has been a pretty big player during this game for both sides, very uncharacteristic of the WACA.
"But when the ball's reversing it's a tough one, you want to bowl spin but the way he holds the ball can soften that side and stop the ball reversing. You've got to use the quicks as long as you can and make the most of the ball while it's going."
Adam Voges appeared to suffer a hamstring strain midway through the day's play, but Smith said he moved far more freely in the middle after going off the field briefly for strapping. "I'm sure the medical staff will be all over him," Smith said, "and be able to get him okay."

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @danbrettig