Aussie hopes for 280 rest on Renshaw: O’Keeffe
Australia’s chances of a competitive first innings score will rest on the success of Matt Renshaw, according to commentator Kerry O’Keeffe.
Renshaw has held his nerve batting through 115 balls for his 46 not out before bad light stopped play on day one.
“If Renshaw gets out early, they won’t get 250,” O’Keeffe said on Kayo Sports.
“But if he plays and gets help from the bowlers, then he can get 280 plus.”
Watch: Brettig and Collins look back at day one
Overcast skies as Aussies chase runs
It’s overcast in Durban this morning, and in truth not a whole lot brighter than when play was called off yesterday.
Light will be an issue all match, given the city’s eastern location, so it is doubtful we will get to 90 overs today, and the scheduled 98 overs look optimistic indeed, especially as the start time of 9.30 is no earlier than day one.
With Matt Renshaw and Pat Cummins at the crease, Australia will be aiming for a first-innings tally as close to 300 as possible.
Civil unrest playing out kilometres from Durban Test
As Matt Renshaw and Pat Cummins led Australia’s fightback on day one in Durban, buildings a few kilometres away were burning through a second day of unrest.
That is the stark reality playing out in the background of Australia’s first Test in South Africa in eight-and-a-half years.
South Africa is a nation facing its own battles, with anti-migrant protests turning violent in both Durban and the country’s biggest city, Johannesburg.
Fourteen vehicles were torched in Durban, with riot police deployed as foreign-owned shops were looted just kilometres from Kingsmead Stadium.
Australia asked too much of Nic Maddinson. Matt Renshaw showed why
Durban: Nic Maddinson was told more than a week ago that he would be playing in the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead.
The team was still preparing in Potchefstroom outside Johannesburg, and the news was conveyed by the selectors to 34-year-old Maddinson on Thursday last week, the same day the tourists visited Marnus Labuschagne’s childhood home. Youngster Cooper Connolly, talked up by the team camp as a contender to play here, was never really in it.
Maddinson, then, had as much time as possible to get his head around the idea he would be playing his first Test match in a decade, having not taken the field in a single first-class game since his recovery from testicular cancer.
He has looked at ease around the team, comprised largely of players Maddinson already knew well, and has been staunchly defended in the media by the likes of coach Andrew McDonald and vice-captain Travis Head.
Nevertheless, he and Matt Renshaw only learnt they would be switching positions in the batting order on match eve. The shock of collision with Test cricket is always something else, and the reality of events in Durban on Friday was that neither Maddinson not Australia looked adequately equipped to put a substantial Test match total on the board.
Good evening
G’day everyone. I’m Roy Ward and welcome to day two of the first Test in Durban as Australia and South Africa take the field again.
Matt Renshaw and Pat Cummins will resume at the crease after light stopped play with more than an hour left in day one – this will likely be a trend each day as the clouds are notorious in Durban for closing in late in the afternoon and reducing the light levels.
Play is set to start at 6.30pm AEDT, but with slightly longer sessions with the aim to play 98 overs and make up for lost time last night.
Enjoy the hours to come.
Day two session times in AEDT:
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
