Live: Australia battling to avoid defeat in second Test

As Australia was bundled out for under 100 in their first innings, it’s easy to forget that the Proteas were missing one of their key strike bowlers on day four.

Anrich Nortje suffered a right groin injury in his fourth over, despite taking the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne in that time.

There were fears that his extensive workload in the first Test after a lengthy absence from first class cricket – the 32-year-old bowled 40 overs in Durban after three-and-a-half years without playing first class cricket.

The Proteas didn’t miss him in the first innings but, having enforced the follow on, being a bowler light could still end up hurting the hosts.

 AccuWeather tells me that the weather for Gqeberha today is as such…

A shower in spots this morning; otherwise, partly sunny and increasingly windy. The temperature is a high of 20°C.

The wind gusts are up to 72 km/h.

The BBC, however, says there’s going to be rain…

Fox Sports had an interview with Josh Hazlewood where there was no mention of rain, indeed Mark Howard said there was “no rain, unfortunately”.

And yet, what do I see out there?

Covers on…

He may have a perpetual scowl on his face on field, but Marco Jansen had plenty to smile about during yesterday’s day’s play, as he claimed 5-33 in 11 overs.

The 26-year-old has had a good mate, scoring 85 runs on Tuesday, his second-highest Test score, before backing up with an accurate display of seam bowling yesterday.

“With the two days of rain we had to try and bowl them out as quickly as possible, and I’m just very, very happy the way it turned out and just happy that we could capitalise on the wickets and the new ball,” Jansen told reporters.

“I thought the guys bowled really, really well with a lot of intent and energy.

“But it’s one thing to bowl well, but it’s another thing to be backed up by your fielders as well. They took some stunning catches with just everything, basically, going our way.”

Jansen noted that the conditions were far better suited to bowling at St George’s Park than they were in Durban last week.

“The ball got a bit more bounce and a bit more seam, and fortunately for me, it just got the edge,” he said.

“We bowled in better areas for longer periods and stuck at what we thought was going to work at this wicket.

“Test cricket is all about resilience coupled with consistency.”

with Reuters

It has been hosing it down in the South East corner of the Sunshine State today.

Thoughts, of course, with anyone affected by the flash flooding. If you are worried, check out the ABC disaster blog here.

If you need any emergency assistance, contact the SES on 132 500.

If you’re in a life-threatening situation – call Triple Zero.

He was speaking on Fox Sports a short while ago.

He said that he was feeling a lot better and will be at full batting fitness.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that Australia will be in a great position if they need to rely on Hazlewood’s bat to save them…

A week is a long time in sport.

Or maybe, we are all too guilty of short term thinking.

After Matt Renshaw’s heroics masked the woeful batting problems at the heart of this Australian line up, the cracks were once again exposed in a Test match as Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster all failed on day four.

And there’s a suggestion that all three should all be in the firing line when the panel sits down to pick the squad ahead of next Tuesday’s start for the third Test in Cape Town.

“I’m not going to sit here and hang anyone out to dry,” coach Andrew McDonald told reporters on Wednesday when asked about possible changes, but he acknowledged his side had suffered a “significant setback”.

“It was only a week ago we were a really, really good team,” he said.

Labuschagne has now gone 46 Test innings without scoring a century, and his second dismissal on Wednesday put his approach in the spotlight, leaving his side further in the mire.

He and Head had put on 92 for the second wicket as the home bowlers tired but instead of continuing the fightback, Labuschagne took on spinner Simon Harmer in a fierce gale and was caught skying a rash shot, precipitating the fall of two more Australia wickets before stumps.

“There’s probably some shots players would like to take back,” McDonald said.

“When you do that hard work, you’ve got to cash in, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case for Marn.

“He’d be disappointed, we’re disappointed and we find ourselves in this situation.”

With Reuters

There’s a feeling perhaps that it’s a bit too late for a couple of Australia’s batters to save their personal bacon – but the game is still there to be saved, that’s for sure.

Was there a plan?

Watching Australia’s batters flounder about on a pitch that, over the previous 24 hours, had proven to be as placid as they come, makes one think that whatever plan there was, it was not being applied.

Here’s Russell Jackson’s analysis of another painful day for Australia’s Test team.

Marco Jansen was a pain in the neck for all Australia’s batters on day four, while we all know Marnus Labuschagne can cause a crick in the most sturdy of spines at the best of times – which these most definitely are not.

But it was the literal pain in the neck that felled Steve Smith on a tough day for Australia batters.

Here’s the quick hits from day four.

There’s no hiding it, but day four represented a low point in Australia’s recent Test batting history, bundled out for 99 and being asked to follow on for just the third time this century, before going on to lose four wickets in their second innings to put them on the cusp of defeat.

Here’s how it all went down.

In the history of Test cricket, just four sides have ever responded to the ignominy of being asked to follow on by coming back and winning the match.

Australia, in the 40 times they have been asked to do so, has never managed it.

They have, however, drawn 11 pf those matches and that surely is the only hope that the Aussies have on day five at St George’s Park.

Hello everyone and welcome to the final day of the second Test from Gqeberha, as Australia stares down the barrel.

My name is Simon Smale, Dean Bilton and Henry Hanson are with me and it’s safe to say that if we are to be still with you for the entirety of the next seven hours or so, we’re going to need a fightback of epic proportions from an Australian team that has wilted in the face of South Africa’s fast-bowling.

Travis Head is nearing a century but was streaky as Danish bacon at times, while Steve Smith has a literal pain in his neck and is likely to be under-strength as a result.

The Aussies still trail by 170 runs. The situation is bleak.

But stranger things than this have happened in Test cricket. I once saw Monty Panesar survive 35 balls alongside Jimmy Anderson in Cardiff save a Test.

And, with all the respect and love for Monty in the world, if he can survive that long, then Australia’s far more accomplished lower order batters can do their part too.