Scott Boland was irresistible for South Africa – and for Nathan Lyon

Gqeberha: Nathan Lyon walked up to Scott Boland about 45 minutes before the first ball and shook his hand, before the exchange turned into more of a hug.

In that instant, those watching closely knew that Lyon had been dropped and Boland recalled, the first time the spin bowler had been left out of a red ball Test when fit to play in 13 years.

On a day dominated by rain sweeping through the Eastern Cape and leading to play being abandoned after just 12.2 overs with South Africa on 2-20, Lyon’s moment with Boland was heavy with meaning. As well as he had bowled in Durban, Lyon is now only ever a grassy pitch away from losing his place, largely because Boland is so skilful.

A couple of hours later, Boland showed exactly how skilful by producing the day’s other significant juncture.

Aiden Markram, who Lyon had found impassable last week, lost his middle stump as he was tempted into driving a nip-backer. Next ball David Bedingham had reasonable cause to play a ball on a similar line, only to perish instantly when this one jagged away and took the outside edge.

Turning to look up at the screen in their viewing area, Kagiso Rabada and Proteas coach Shukri Conrad were rightly wide-eyed at their first South African glimpse of what the Australians already knew well about Boland.

During training sessions ahead of the game, Boland had made life a misery from virtually all the touring batsmen he faced, repeatedly finding edges, pads or stumps as he seamed the ball this way and that, helped by the fact that the lower bounce in offer at St George’s Park meant that the stumps were always in play.

On match eve, Boland had shaped up for another torture session for the likes of Cooper Connolly or Josh Inglis, only to be tapped on the shoulder as if to be told that he should save some of these deliveries for match day.

He was duly called upon by Pat Cummins after play’s first brief rain interruption, having watched Mitchell Starc struggle for rhythm as he grappled with damp footholds at the Park Drive End of the ground. There were no such worries for Boland, whose heavy tread has been used to landing on many a moist early season run-up at Victoria’s Junction Oval headquarters.

Debutant Marques Ackerman, a product of one of Johannesburg’s rougher neighbourhoods, was beaten twice in Boland’s opening over, once in defence and once when he leaned forward to drive. It was quickly apparent that Boland would move the ball more appreciably than Starc, Josh Hazlewood or even Pat Cummins, at least until the pitch lost a little of its initial moisture.

Markram, though, had twice driven Starc handsomely through the off side. His technique can look wonderfully correct in those interludes. But there exists a photo of the late Hansie Cronje, seemingly in perfect forward defence, apart from the fact that Devon Malcolm’s pace and angle had already blasted his stumps out at the Oval in 1994.

Boland’s dismissal of Markram had a similar tone, as the opener’s forward stroke was thoroughly beaten by a delivery that snaked back sharply enough to be hitting off stump. A thin inside edge diverted it far enough to pluck out the middle peg instead. The shot was risky in the conditions, but the delivery was champagne Boland.

Whether Bedingham watched the dismissal on TV or not, he would have been conscious of looking out for the ball seaming back into him. These deliveries are Boland’s primary threat, angling in the seaming further, while Bedingham had also been out to a Hazlewood ball moving in for an lbw in the second innings at Kingsmead.

Out of the hand, Boland’s first ball would have looked like one needing to be played as it arrowed towards the stumps, a fraction shorter than Markram’s. Many a batsman has spoken of how a wobble seam delivery moves too late to be adjusted for, and it would have taken a feat of inhuman levels of control not to do as Bedingham did, feeling for the ball and getting an edge as it darted away towards the cordon.

Unlike Jamaica last year, where Boland had also come into the team in place of Lyon, this time the hat-trick was narrowly averted by a Temba Bavuma inside edge. But from his boundary vantage point, Lyon can have had few rebuttals to the decision that has been made earlier on match morning.

Durban had been an excellent Test match pitch, creating opportunities for all disciplines. But in 2026 it is an outlier, for most contemporary surfaces have been more useful for Boland’s trade than Lyon’s.

This is not to say that Lyon needs to immediately consider his future, only that the rhythm of the past 10 Tests, of which Lyon or another full-time spinner has been missing for five, is one that he may have to get used to outside India.

The rain allowed South Africa to spend some more time pondering how to deal with Boland, but it robbed a good crowd of action, amid further debates about Test cricket and how it is best scheduled in these parts. A Sunday start seemed to have been suitably punished by this weather, after the sun had shone for each of the previous four days.

Upon missing out on selection for the Brisbane Ashes Test last year, Lyon had remarked that he was “filthy” to be out of the team. Filthy is a good word to describe the two wicket-taking deliveries that Boland summoned here, and also the weather that ensured they would remain the major talking points.

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