Renshaw,  Burns and Maxwell have been flown in for this Test.

They replace the suspended Smith, Warner and Bancroft.

South Africa is 6-213 at stumps. After 2 for 200 odd, Australia came back well.

Good to see a big crowd at Wanderers.

The only cause for concern for Australia is Chadd Sayers is a very slow pace bowler and quite short in height. At times his speed was only 118-9 kph. Jackson Bird, who was injured at the wrong time, bowls in the 130s.

Cummins' pace also seems down, with not as many balls reaching the mid 140s that he was bowling a while back. Markham continues to excel for South A.

I'm not sure if there is a change of culture, but Tim Paine had the team shake hands with South A before the start of play. He looked more relaxed as skipper than Smith.

bit annoyed at faf's press conference having a go at warner when he also got caught ball tampering. Bit of a plank in his eye!

We fought back well but still a tad behind i reckon

Sayers at 118-119 is slow but really there have been successful test match bowlers who have bowled in the 120s. Glenn McGath was quite often in the high 120s, Simon Doull of New Zealand was fairly successful for a while bowling in the mid 120s. Slower bowlers just have to be extremely accurate and/or be able to swing the ball a lot.  While being a lot faster is handy if a player is effective at whatever speed then I don't see why their speed should be an issue. Cummins took 3-53 on a reasonably good batting pitch, who cares how fast he bowled, he was a good bowler. 

Cummins has been our best bowler this series, best strike rate and average and managed to always look dangerous, while Hazlewood and Starc have looked poor at times. Sayers also had a decent first day and looked like he could be a decent option especially in England, his seam positioning was brilliant.

It is probably no surprise, but most of Cummins' test cricket has been played overseas. He has taken 9 wickets at the Wanderers.

Cummins and Lyon bowling really well and getting plenty from the pitch but not muct luck. It is going to be very difficult to get 400 runs.

And the test match is over

Last time I looked, Australia was 6 for about 100! The top 6 have collapsed, but I'd prefer to lose honestly than cheat.

Paine and Cummins have put on 64 and still going for the 6th wicket.

Now 6-160.

Alan Border and Mike Haysman think Paine has been one of the best Aussie batters on the tour in terms of technique.

Paine has been excellent and Cummins sadly in this current lineup is genuinely one of our better batsmen.

Border has mooted putting Paine up to number three in the batting line up.

A lot of things happen abroad that most Aussie fans don’t see. Paine looks so relaxed as a captain under pressure compared to Smith.

Paine looks our most relaxed and natural Captain since Mark Taylor.

74 run partnership now with Aus 6-170.

Maharaj us getting a lot of turn from his left arm finger spin.

A few more runs and Cummins and Paine will have a century partnership!

Morkel has gone off the field with a side strain too.

Cummins has made 50.

Century partnership!

Cummins out for 50 on replay to Maharaj - LBW.

City Sam

Even though Sayers may have excellent seam position,  I’ve seen no pace bowler in world cricket over a long time have sustained success who is as slow as him. The closest would be Philander. He is consistently 5-10kph quicker than Sayers though.

Tasmanians, Bird and Rainbird, are 15kph quicker.

I remember former Aussie Test opener,  Keith Stackpole, say that express bowlers are needed to put the wind up good batters.

Sayers just induced an edge which went through the vacant third slip in his first  over though - at 118kph. There have been no other Aussie speedsters as slow as Sayers since speed guns have been around.

Normally i'd agree but he gets a bit of zip off the pitch, it hurries the batsmen more than the 120-125kms he bowls. The speedgun only measure the speed from the point of release not the instantaneous speed and other variables.

 I agree Sayers might get zip off the pitch, but he needs more speed through the air to become a threat. 

Paine is 56 not out. He hit a big six for his 50.

Aus is 9-215.

Australia all out for 221.

Lyon is getting a lot of bounce and turn in the second dig after Elgar took a brilliant catch to get Paine out for 63.

There is no aggro and respectful behaviour has been displayed from both teams. Michael Holding gave his pal, Rabada, a huge lecture about charging players and getting in their faces. Tim Paine made the whole Oz team shake hands with South A before the start of play.

Adam Dale, the former Queensland bowler and ODI player, who I had forgotten had played 2 tests, was pretty slow, not sure whether he was quite as slow as Sayers. 
I don't think Terry Alderman was very fast by the time 1989 came around when he dominated in England with his swing bowling, but I cannot put a figure on his speed.

If I Must

Dale was slow, but I’m talking about bowlers having sustained international success.

Warne thinks Philander does more with the ball than Sayers, and, has a bouncer as well. There was no speed gun , but I’m pretty sure Alderman was about 130kph.

In the Shield at Bellerive, Sayers looked to have beautiful rhythm, but I didn't realise he was so slow. Warne is just saying Sayers can't put batters on the back foot at his slow speed of 118kph, and, he has no margin for error in terms of width and length.

Alderman struggled in the West Indies late in his career.

 I think it ended his career.

This series has been decided by South A’s superior batting.

Cause for concern is that Usman played a Test at Wanderers in 2011! He hasn’t established himself at all in 7 years!

South A are lucky to be 0-47 with Lyon, Cummins and Hazlewood inducing snicks and beating the bat , but devoid of luck in this innings.

One has to credit Markram and AB De Villiers for their excellent batting in this series.

Cummins has just dismissed Markram caught by Handscomb in slips. He has taken 19 wickets in the series.

Hazlewood has been below his best and bowled without luck.

Lyon has bowled well without luck.

Starc has been poor by his own standards.

At stumps South Africa are 3 - 134.

Cummins has taken 2 wickets, and Lyon 1.

Cummins has taken 20 wickets for the four Test series and Lyon 15.


Sayers looks innocuous, particularly as the ball ages. He doesn't have the pace to bowl short and put the batters on the back foot. It was bad luck Bird was injured at the wrong time. Isn't  West Aussie  tyro express bowler, Richardson, another fast bowler on the tour in South Africa?

i must admit this test is a bit painful for me to watch

are the boys doing us proud? The scorecard looks grim

Paine and Cummins put on a big partnership of 100, with the former batting with a  fractured finger.

It would be good for someone like you to analyse why Lyon hasn't been taking the wickets he has as regularly and often as in other recent series. ATM he has 15 in four Tests.

I've rarely seen a bowling unit in the second SA innings, particularly Cummins and Lyon, bowl so many good balls, and to a lesser extent Hazlewood, yet not take the wickets they should have. South Africa could easily have been dismissed for 150 - 200.

3-183 for SA.

Given how much bounce and turn Lyon is getting, I am surprised he hasn’t taken more wickets. I wonder if he is using his straight ball /top spinner enough to mix it up like he was on the subcontinent?

Warne and other commentators consider all of the Aussie top six to have been below par over the entire series. To them only Paine has batted well enough.

I don’t think Lyon can believe how many balls are beating the bat for no wickets!

i think we only have to survive 75 overs which is not impossible

would be a heroic draw in the circumstances

I'm not sure if enough of our batters can bat time?

There is meant to be some rain to hit day 5 of the test, we know Shaun Marsh can bat time he really needs someone to stick around with him for a good 30-40 overs and that should do it.

The bad weather could be enough to get us a draw then. I'd like to see it because the current team looks like a happier unit on the pitch.

Or we could lose 6 wickets for about 10 runs

When one looks at the Oz batting averages, only Paine averages over 50 for the SA Tests.

Warner and Bancroft are in the mid 30s, but the rest are in the 20s.

Cummins has taken 22 wickets, whilst Lyon has 16. The latter has been very unlucky, beating the bat a lot. When one looks at bowlers' performances 
 overseas, Cummins is probably our best current pace bowler. Since Paine has been captain he seems to share a lot of laughs with his skipper, whilst Hazlewood looks more serious on the pitch.

The tension and hostility out on the pitch has diminished. There seems to be a lot more camaraderie between the teams.  The sledging seems to have been reduced.

Apparently, Paine  initiated a meeting with Du Plessis before play in this test. They had a lengthy meeting  to encourage a much better spirit in the way the series should be played. 

The addition of Burns, Renshaw and Handscomb, has seen more Aussie players smiling on the pitch and enjoying their cricket. 

When I've seen Sayers bowl in the Shield at Bellerive, I've thought he has very good rhythm. However, once the speed gun is on him, I think a good Shield bowler is all he can be. He must be the slowest, specialist  fast bowler playing in First Class Australian cricket.

Philander, who is very accurate, with good control over length and who moves the ball both ways, plus who  can bowl short stuff in the mid 130s, is a completely different proposition - a formidable opponent on pitches doing a bit.

If he was English he'd have taken 200+ test wickets, who cares how fast he is as he troubles batsmen. Just look at this test even though he is slow by comparison he has still beaten the batsmen an incredible amount of times.

I would've thought he has beaten the bat far less than Lyon, Cummins and Hazlewood. However, data could show your point to be valid. Stats show he has been very successful in the Shield for a sustained period. I thought Paine kept him out of the attack for a while through lack of confidence in his ability.

 I think of this pitch as doing a bit for seamers. I'm worried about Sayers on flat pitches.

I do worry about him on flat pitches as well, but places like England he would do great.

Warne has stated that the only Aussies to have performed on this South African series with an enhanced and value added reputation, have been Cummins and Paine.

I think Lyon has bowled well without luck, given he has beaten the bat so much. Warne considers he hasn't been as consistent as against England, Bangladesh and India. There was some discussion last night about his 'Carren' ball - a ball that seems to turn the opposite way to stock finger spin and drift in from leg to off, like right arm wrist spin.

I thought he bowled more overspin in the  last three series, keeping batters guessing between the sharp turners and straight balls.

Dismal effort with the bat, I am not sure anyone in the top six can be guaranteed for the next test match line up. Paine has clearly taken the wicketkeepers position and the bowling is still very strong. Hopefully Starc will return, Cummins is high quality, Hazlewood and Lyon are very good and there is some more than decent back up around as well. 
Renshaw and Burns had it very tough flying in at short notice, jet lagged and it is really no surprise they failed, although Burns did top score in the second innings. Hopefully this match does not count too much against them, especially Renshaw who I think is a long term opening batsman. I would be looking to be picking him in the next test match, probably also select Burns to partner him. After that I don't about any of Khawaja, Handscomb, Marsh and Marsh.

Agree with all this.

I've heard there is no Test cricket for Oz until October.

I don't suppose there will be much activity in this section for some time.