Quick hits: Smith snatches record with miracle grabs and Marnus fumes

Source : ABC NEWS

Steve Smith takes a hat-trick of spectacular slip catches, while Marnus Labuschagne is livid to see his effort chalked off.

Here are the quick hits from day three of the first Test between Australia and South Africa.

1. Smith’s stunners snatch Root’s record

We are lucky enough to bear witness to two of the greatest Test batters at the same time, but in Joe Root and Steve Smith we also have the two most prolific fielders of all time, with Smith pulling ahead on day three in Durban with three brilliant slips catches.

The first was a lovely piece of anticipation when Temba Bavuma reverse swept off spinner Nathan Lyon, and Smith saw it coming early, moved rapidly at first slip and snaffled a sharp chance right in front of his face.

That tied Root with 220 Test snares, but he surpassed England’s captain with perhaps a better catch three overs later, when he held a diving chance above his head and in front of Matt Renshaw at first slip.

Remarkably, he improved on both of them with his third, once again moving early when he saw Kyle Verreynne shaping to reverse sweep and this time forced to stick just one hand out to take a brilliant reflex catch.

Smith has taken his 222 grabs in just 126 matches compared to Root’s 220 in 169, and the Aussie has a chance to pull away further with 12 more Tests between Durban and the start of next year’s Ashes, while England has just five on the horizon.

2. Marnus livid with the third umpire

It was certainly a morning for slip catching in Durban.

In the final over before the lunch break, Marnus Labuschagne did his best Smith impression in taking a fine low grab to dismiss Wiaan Mulder off the bowling of Lyon.

Mulder’s thick edge dropped sharply and Labuschagne did exceptionally well to get both hands between ball and turf.

It appeared he had, anyway.

With Mulder already halfway to the sheds, the third umpire was asked to check if it was a fair grab.

After a significant delay and a plethora of freeze frames, it was concluded there was ball touching grass as Labuschagne took the catch.

Judging by the look on his face, it’s safe to say the Queenslander wasn’t in agreement.

3. Starc’s finds his feet after pitch maintenance

More than perhaps any Test bowler in the world, Mitch Starc likes to feel level ground under his feet.

Given the explosiveness and athleticism of his bowling action, that’s understandable — even a little divot at the bowling crease could spell disaster for the 36-year-old.

And it wasn’t long before Starc called for the mallet on day three, with a member of the Kingsmead ground staff frantically hammering the Australian’s area of concern at the top of the wicket.

At first, it looked like the adjustments had done absolutely nothing for the left-hander, with the fluent David Bedingham peeling off three consecutive boundaries straight away.

But Starc had well and truly found his feet in his very next over, nicking off the dangerous Aiden Markram to claim a vital early scalp for the Aussies.

4. Stubbs falls into the trap

With South Africa’s top order all back in the shed, the Proteas were in need of a player to stand tall in the same way Matt Renshaw had done for the Australians.

Could the precociously talented Tristan Stubbs, having made his way into the 30s, be that man?

No.

With Cummins having already sent two men out behind square on the leg side boundary for an obvious short-ball barrage, the Australian captain proceeded to put a fielder deep on the other side of the wicket as well.

Cummins drew attention to the off-side red-herring with a length ball outside off, before firing down a bouncer that Stubbs couldn’t help but take on.

Sure enough, Stubbs’s top edge was gobbled up by Josh Hazlewood at deep-backward square leg.

South Africa was 6-162 and quickly running out of candidates to play the Renshaw role.

5. Maddinson’s six ends the day

With South Africa eventually bowled out for 284 late in the day, the Australian openers faced a tricky little period as the Durban skies began to darken.

But after a historic 33-ball duck in the first innings, Nic Maddinson had just one thing on his mind: to get off the mark, and to get off the mark quickly.

He did so straight away, standing up to Marco Jansen’s opening ball and hooking it to the boundary.

Having finally scored his first Test runs in a decade, you could almost feel the weight lifting from his shoulders.

Maddinson continued the over in similarly adventurous fashion, finishing the set with another commanding boundary, this time through backward point.

And the Aussie wasn’t done there, proceeding to flick Wiaan Mulder for six on his way to reaching stumps on 17 from 19 deliveries.

That final boundary signalled another premature stumps due to bad light, with boundary fielder Ryan Rickleton completely losing the ball against the gloomy Durban skies.