South Africa vs Australia, Durban, 1st Test Live Streaming
South Africa will look to put behind their poor form in limited overs cricket and get back to winning ways in the first Test versus Australia © AFP
Big breakthrough for South Africa, and one that comes completely against the run of play. Warner nicks Philander and is caught sharply at second slip by AB de Villiers.
FIFTY FOR WARNER
Gets to his 28th Test fifty with a powerful cut shot against Philander. It's his sixth successful Test fifty in South Africa. That golden run continues!
Australia sitting pretty
Both Warner and Smith have found their groove. The runs are coming at a good clip as well. With the pitch not offering much, this could be a long haul for South Africa.
Rabada vs Smith. Now!
WICKET: Rabada strikes!
He strikes in his first over. Has Khawaja pushing out and nicking behind where de Kock takes a stunning one-handed catch to his left. Extra pace, great angle and Rabada is making his presence felt early.
South Africa lose their 2nd review!
Maharaj has a great start to his spell. Strikes Warner on the pad with a big turner in. It looked a very close shout on first sight but the ball-tracker shows that this was turning past the leg stump!
WICKET: Philander gets Bancroft
Well, well! Bancroft walks down the track in a bid to intimidate Philander but the latter corrects his length and line, going a touch wider. Bancroft is still left poking and edges through to the 'keeper.
Where's the green?
Against India, green tops were the norm in South Africa. The Durban here for Australia looks close to a sub-continent one. No pace, not much bounce and zero lateral movement.
South Africa lose a review
Morne Morkel pushes for a LBW review against Cameron Bancroft but South Africa lose it. Full, angling in and hitting Bancroft on the knee roll. The ball is projected to be going over leg stump. A review lost in the first over!
"You get two winds here in Durban: one that blows up the coast and can bring cloud and rain, and the other that blows down the coastline and brings good weather. We're scheduled to have the latter here for most of the Test. After a cloudy morning we now have some pleasant sunshine, although it's always muggy here so there should be some swing for the bowlers up front," says Tristan Holme.
Warner vs South Africa's quicks is a mouth-watering battle first up. Coming soon!
Toss: Australia opt to bat
South Africa have left out Lungi Ngidi from the team that played their last Test. Theunis de Bruyn comes in his place.
South Africa (Playing XI): Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Theunis de Bruyn, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Morne Morkel
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith(c), Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine(w), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Build up
Any contest between arch-rivals - South Africa and Australia - evokes passion among fans. The two sides have a storied rivalry marked by intense contests.The traces of the fierce rivalry can be found even if you jog your memory down the lane to 1950s as an inexperienced South African side - without the services of Eric and Athol Rowan, Dudley Nourse and Tufty Mann - drew a five-match series versus Australia 2-2 under Cheetham's leadership in 1952-53.
Even in the recent past, the two sides have been a part of a few thrilling series. In 2013-14, Ryan Harris, despite suffering from a knee injury, helped Australia to eke out a memorable win in Cape Town by dismissing Steyn and Morkel as the visitors won the rubber 2-1. South Africa returned the favour by defeating Australia 2-1 in 2016-17.
Fast-forward to the present day. The two teams will again go head-to-head in the first Test of the four-match series in Durban on March 1. Both teams have imposing pace attacks on paper. In addition to it, with the likes of AB de Villiers, Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla and David Warner playing for their respective sides, there are enough world class batsmen in the fray.
South Africa slipped to series defeats in both T20s and ODIs versus India. But, it has to be remembered they won the Test series versus the same opponent. On the other hand, Australia thumped their traditional rivals, England, by a 4-0 margin, in the Ashes. So who has the upper hand? South Africa? Australia?
On a side note, it is interesting to observe that South Africa haven't beaten Australia in a Test series at home since their readmission to international cricket in 1991. On the other hand, South Africa haven't lost a Test series in Australia since 2008-09.
Toss and teams in a while...
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