South Africa struggles yet again to post a good score

South Africa has failed to score over 190 in their last seven test match innings. Again, a very disappointing batting performance has put the whole team under pressure on the first day of boxing day test. Clearly, the day belonged to million dollar boy Cameron Green who picked his first five wickets haul on a great occasion.

Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to field first. His bowlers proved the decision favourable right way, troubling South Africa top batting order.  At one stage, South Africa were 55 for 1 then out of nowhere they began to lose wickets in clusters and went 68 for 5.

Verreynne, playing in his 13th Test, and Jansen, playing in his ninth, both endured the full might of Australia’s bowling, with Jansen taking a beating from Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins’ brutal short deliveries before reaching his first Test half-century. To achieve that milestone, Jansen lifted Nathan Lyon to long-on for a boundary.

When Starc hurt his middle finger while attempting to execute a diving catch with his left (bowling) hand, he was forced to spend 30 minutes off the field, which made Green even more crucial to Australia’s bowling strategy.

To stop the loss of wickets and frustrate the Australians, South African wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and all-rounder Marco Jansen put together a century partnership for the sixth wicket.

But South Africa couldn’t find any momentum otherwise, they losing 5 wickets in the first session then in the third session, they lost 4 wickets within brief score line of 8 runs.

Losing too many wickets in clusters

Late in the first session, with South Africa’s score at 1-56, skipper Dean Elgar had seen off the new ball, and No. 3 Theunis de Bruyn had hit two straight boundaries.

De Bruyn was defeated by a baffling pull stroke off of Cameron Green’s bowling before Starc was called back into the assault. And very effectively.

Starc’s first four-over session, which had a score of 0-11, was uneven. Several unsuccessful LBW challenges were made, and a few deliveries went past the outside edge, but overall, the opening pair of Elgar and Sarel Erwee left plenty of deliveries wide of the off-stump.

In the first game of the series at the Gabba, South Africa took a chance by giving up a specialised batsman to bolster its already impressive bowling attack.

Kyle Verreynne, a Proteas wicketkeeper, batted at No. 6, while bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen, who averaged 18.36 in Tests, was placed at No. 7.

The wager failed. Despite being on a track that was favourable to bowlers, the Proteas were rolled for virtually nothing in both innings of the series opener, making their inexperienced and brittle batting assault susceptible.

It was the sixth time in a row that South Africa’s team score was under 300.