- Alex Carey hits his first Test century for Australia.
- South Africa at 15-1, 371 runs short of making Australia bat again.
- Anrich Nortje dismisses half-centurion Travis for a quick low-full toss.
On the third day of the second match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), here on Wednesday, left-handed batsman Alex Carey blasted his first Test century to continue Australia’s dominance over South Africa.
After an hour of being delayed by persistent light rain, South Africa was struggling at 15-1, had lost captain Dean Elgar for a third-ball duck, and was still 371 runs short of making Australia bat again when stumps were called.
A brief shower that appeared to clean up the pitch helped pacers at the start of the day’s action. Anrich Nortje took advantage of this and quickly overpowered half-centurion Travis Head by slipping one through his defences.
After retiring hurt due to cramping last night, double-centurion David Warner arrived to a standing ovation. One ball later, though, Nortje delivered him a quick low-full toss that struck the base of the stumps via his pads, so he returned to the pavilion.
It appeared that the visitors would immediately put a stop to the Australian first innings when Kagiso Rabada dismissed Pat Cummins. However, it was not to be as Carey and Nathan Lyon made a strong stand. Before being removed by Lungi Ngidi, Lyon scored 25 runs for Australia during his 17-ball stint, thrilling the MCG crowd by pulling Rabada for a four and a six.
Alex Carey against South Africa in 2nd Test. #ICC #WorldTestChampionship #SAvAUS #AUSvSA #AlexCarey #cricketnews pic.twitter.com/9WFZ5wI8Kr
— CricCircle (@thecriccircle) December 28, 2022
Despite having a fractured finger, Australia sent another retired injured batsman, Cameron Green, and it turned out to be the perfect foil for Carey. Carey hit his half-century in 66 balls, and Australia had scored 93 runs to their total in the session as their lead crept closer to 300.
Following lunch, Protes captain Elgar started Keshav Maharaj’s bowling from one end while the seamers took turns trying their luck from the other, starting with Kagiso Rabada. Carey, though, who had expertly entered the pitch and faced them without difficulty.
Carey reached his first Test century thanks to the wicketkeeper’s reverse-swept, pull, upper-cut, and finally push drive through extra cover for three runs. He joined Rod Marsh as the only other Australian wicket-keeper to hit a Boxing Day Test hundred. In the end, he was out for 111 to Marco Jansen.
From that point on, Green displayed his batting prowess and scored a half-century in 170-balls despite being unable to play in the following Test due to a finger fracture suffered on Tuesday. There was a brief pause in play due to the required concussion test after No. 10 Mitchell Starc hit Anrich Nortje for a six before wearing another short ball on his head.
Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, decided he had scored enough runs and ended the first innings with 575/8. After that, he substituted his opponent Elgar for a duck, leaving South Africa to hope for a miracle to save the Test.
Short scores: Australia 575/8 decl (David Warner 200, Alex Carey 111; Anrich Nortje 3-92) leads South Africa 189 & 15/1 (Pat Cummins 1-0) by 371 runs.
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