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South Africa v Australia /
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South Africa v Australia, 1st Test, Cape Town, 1st day
A needless delay and a torrid welcome
ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the first day of the first Test between South Africa and Australia, in Cape Town
Brydon Coverdale and Firdose Moonda at Newlands
November 9, 2011
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A perfect start
Vernon Philander has faced questions over his inclusion in the squad but justified his selection in the starting XI with his very first ball. Philander opened the bowling with Dale Steyn and started with a delivery that landed on the seam and moved away from Shane Watson. An impressive first three overs ended with the scalp of Phil Hughes who Philander dismissed with a short-of-length delivery that took the edge as it seamed away. His celebration - a sprint faster than his run-up, a leap, a punch in the air, a little kick and a loud cry - said what his backers have been for weeks: 94 wickets in just over two seasons of first-class cricket is enough to merit a place in the team.
The torrid welcome
Dale Steyn, who appeared off the pace in the limited-over matches, bowled a first spell of accuracy and aggression but returned after lunch with fire in his belly. With his second ball, he had Ricky Ponting out lbw after a review and in the over after got stuck into Michael Clarke. First, he bowled a gentle length ball, then a spirited bouncer, and then a short ball which Clarke did not spot immediately. Steyn followed up with a length ball but had a few words of advice for Clarke, who was having none of it. He walked towards Steyn, two-thirds of the way down the pitch and gave it right back to him. Steyn let the ball do the talking in reply. A snorter, aimed at the helmet, had Clarke playing awkwardly and he somehow managed to avoid edging it to the slips.
Milestone of the day
Mark Boucher seems to have been around forever, and his figures are starting to look like that as well. When he caught an edge off Vernon Philander's bowling to remove Phil Hughes, Boucher became the first man in Test history to register 500 catches. It's impossible to predict how long such a record will remain but Boucher certainly has plenty of breathing space. His nearest rivals among current players are Kamran Akmal with 184 catches and MS Dhoni with 176.
The needless delay
Half an hour before the toss was due, the weather at Newlands was fine, if a little cloudy. But the rain can blow in rapidly over Table Mountain and a heavy shower pushed back the start of play by 105 minutes. Not even then could Dale Steyn run in with the new ball to get the series under way. A naming-rights sponsor for the series was only found last week and perhaps their advertising boards were rushed into place; one fell down behind the bowler and play couldn't start until it was resurrected. Another five-minute delay ensued, in perfect sunshine.
The poor advertisement for cricket
Taking a 40-minute lunch break after the start of play was delayed by nearly two hours was bad enough, but cricket continues to do itself no favours with the way bad light is handled. Forty minutes before the scheduled close of play, the umpires decided the conditions were too gloomy and the players were asked to leave the field. The floodlights had been on for some time and while it was a bit dull, it was hard to imagine that conditions were dangerous for the players. In fairness, rain arrived 20 minutes later, but surely the more cricket that can be squeezed into a day's play, the better.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo; Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent
Feeds: Brydon Coverdale
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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Brydon Coverdale
Assistant Editor Possibly the only person to win a headline-writing award for a title with the word "heifers" in it, Brydon decided agricultural journalism wasn't for him when he took up his position with ESPNcricinfo in Melbourne. His cricketing career peaked with an unbeaten 85 in the seconds for a small team in rural Victoria on a day when they could not scrounge up 11 players and Brydon, tragically, ran out of partners to help him reach his century. He is also a compulsive TV game-show contestant and has appeared on half a dozen shows in Australia.
Tour Results
South Africa v Australia at Durban
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Australia won by 3 wickets (with 15 balls remaining)
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@durhamd. Too dangerous for batsmen? It is called test cricket. Next thing you want to put a 100km/h speed limit in formula 1? Ridiculous.
Posted by satish619chandar on (November 10, 2011, 4:40 GMT)@109SHU - Dhoni playing for just 5-6 yrs now in tests(62 tests).. Boucher played 140 tests!! And, the whole world knows, getting outside edge is easier in other part of world than in India!!
Posted by rahulcricket007 on (November 10, 2011, 4:24 GMT)@PSYCLOPS222. YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT WE NEED QUICK LIKE HIM IN INDIAN TEAM TO WIN OR ATLEAST COMPETE AT OVERSEAS .
Posted byHow often we forget that Fielding is also a part of the cricket! We always look for the records for most runs scored, most wickets taken! But no one looks for the fielding records! The wicketkeeper is always neglected!! There are very few wicketkeepers who make their presence felt through their batting prowess, like Adam Gilchrist!!! And there are rare wicketkeepers who make their presence felt through their wicketkeeping abilities, like Mark Boucher!!! Cheers!!!
Posted by Patchmaster on (November 9, 2011, 22:54 GMT)Terrible advert for the so called promoting of test cricket - stupid delays, then a 40min lunch break !
Posted by AvidFanDownUnder on (November 9, 2011, 22:08 GMT)Hi Deuce03 - I'm quite surprised about MS Dhoni - I thought he'd have more dismissals by now - he has been playing for ages. Dravid may have taken more catches than Akmal or Dhoni but Dravid wasn't a keeper for most of those so that's why he probably isn't in the comparison - in contrast I think Boucher has only ever played as keeper. Cheers.
Posted by NRI- on (November 9, 2011, 22:07 GMT)With the floodlights on, another 20 minutes play with overcast conditions would have surely ended Australia's innings.
Posted byi just hope steyn does not gets injured in england they some how always injure opponents best pacer when being toured lmao
Posted by durhamd on (November 9, 2011, 19:12 GMT)How long until the ICC decide Dale Steyn is too dangerous for the opposition batsmen, and make him bowl military medium tosh that doesn't bounce above the knee roll...?
Posted byJus saw statsguru on most no of dismissals by a wicketkeeper...Was surprised 2 see Kamran Akmal's dismissals per innings on such a higher side..
Posted by pappadu on (November 9, 2011, 19:09 GMT)Kudos, Boucher! Actually it's also a real tribute to the bowlers who induce so many edges for him to pouch.
Posted by davidpk on (November 9, 2011, 19:03 GMT)sayantan theres alot of water to go under the bridge before they meet. there attack today should have removed the aussies and u be batting and 2 down in the 55 overs bowled on that wicket, i expect the aussies to win. remember if the best bowler in cricket get injuried then u will struggle. on a very similar wicket as this england bowled out the aussies for less then 100 at the mcg. so my friend u beware. we will be coming to get u. trueindian just a point re the potbelly jibe i take it u mean gould if all the world umpires were similar to him the referal system would not be required. and i will more than surprised cricinfo posted it. and it will be now, even more surprising if this is now posted. dpk
Posted by psyclops222 on (November 9, 2011, 18:37 GMT)Am another indian fan .. but a HUGE fan of Steyn.
What a bowler.. we need more quicks like him in cricket..
Posted by alismo on (November 9, 2011, 18:27 GMT)Kamran Akmal will sure beat the 500 mark. He may only have to choose from 4000 catches or so. Some of them might bounce off his gloves to slip, some stumpings/run outs may happen off his pads. You never know.
Posted byGood luck England. Steyn is on his way there next. And we shall see how good the No 1 test team is against a quality pace attack at that their own back yard.
Posted by Deuce03 on (November 9, 2011, 18:23 GMT)Hasn't Dravid taken more catches than either Akmal or Dhoni? (207 according to Statsguru)
Posted by trueindian on (November 9, 2011, 18:10 GMT)Man, this Steyn Gun! He is superb and great to watch. In this kind of form, even Bradman would have been happy to be at the other end.
Posted by JerryJose on (November 9, 2011, 18:09 GMT)Anyone now feeling that Indians alone are flat track bullies??? Aussies seem to perform only so much
Posted byPup was awesome today. The best I have seen him batting for sure. Philander looks a good prospect for South Africa.
Posted by davidpk on (November 9, 2011, 17:56 GMT)i think a fairly even day. the aussies did not bat as well as they could apart from clarke with to many indifferent shots. and the saffers did not bowl as well as they could other than steyn, they bowled to short of a length, clarke the best iv seen him play after a torid time at first. to early for tahir as the wicket did nothing for him, he should remember in test matches spinners bowling short does or should not get u wickets. good signs from philander the difference been bowled by a pace bowler short can get u wickets and he was lucky late on. aussies get upwards of 275 and its game on with them in charge of the match. dpk
Posted by trueindian on (November 9, 2011, 17:53 GMT)Who cares for cricket when u have pot-belly to care about!