Australia edge South Africa as bowlers dominate at WTC final

Australia pb South Africa by 218 runs aft wickets tumble again connected Day Two of World Test Championship final.

Australia took the precocious manus successful the World Test Championship last against South Africa astatine Lord’s, ending Day Two connected 144-8 successful their 2nd innings with a pb of 218 runs aft wickets tumbled freely again.

A gripping contention of fluctuating fortunes seemed to beryllium heading for a decisive 3rd time arsenic defending champions Australia looked to acceptable an imposing people for South Africa to chase.

Australia had 2 second-innings wickets successful manus astatine stumps connected Thursday, having survived a torrid spell of bowling with Alex Carey starring the complaint with a precocious flurry of runs aft South Africa had threatened to disregard them cheaply successful their 2nd innings.

Pat Cummins of Australia bowls against Kagiso Rabada of South Africa to beryllium caught by Beau Webster of Australia [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]

Fourteen wickets fell connected the 2nd day, for a full of 28 implicit the 2 days, arsenic immoderate superb bowling made for an absorbing contest.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins led the mode with six wickets, speeding done the South African batting lineup arsenic they were dismissed for 138, successful reply to Australia’s archetypal innings 212.

The time started with immoderate absorption aft South Africa were 43-4 overnight. They precocious to 121-5 astatine luncheon with Temba Bavuma and David Bedingham putting connected 64 runs for the 5th wicket.

Bavuma was the lone subordinate to autumn successful the greeting arsenic helium drove the Aussie skipper into the covers and was caught by a diving Marnus Labuschagne for 36.

Kagiso Rabada of South Africa celebrates with teammate Kyle Verreynne aft taking the wicket of Alex Carey of Australia [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]

Cummins past took power aft luncheon to instrumentality the champion bowling figures by a trial skipper astatine Lord’s, arsenic his 6-28 gave Australia a 74-run first-innings lead.

He induced a South African slump by taking 2 wickets successful 4 balls to region Kyle Verreynne limb earlier wicket for 13 and Marco Jansen without scoring.

Cummins’ 5th wicket was Bedingham, caught prodding astatine the shot to connection an borderline that went done to wicketkeeper Carey, ending an innings of 45 disconnected 111 balls. He was South Africa’s apical scorer successful the innings.

After Keshav Maharaj was tally retired for seven, Kagiso Rabada was the past South African wicket to fall, good caught successful the heavy by a forward-diving Beau Webster for Cummins’s 300th trial wicket.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies