Australia Resumes Batting Against South Africa on Day Two of First Test

Veteran Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne knows he is under pressure to remain in the side, but says he is focused on improving his form and finding a way back to making big scores.

Labuschagne went out on 37 in the last ball before lunch on day one, adding to a run without a Test century that stretches back to a 100 against England at Old Trafford in 2023.

“I think you’ve just got to embrace it,” Labuschagne told Kayo Sports pregame today.

“You’ve got to embrace the facts, and then work out how you’re going to deal with it, and putting some things around you to make sure that you can come out here and perform and be really clear-minded.

“But yeah, it is what it is. You know, there’s no one else to blame really. I’ve got myself in the situation where I’m in now, and I’ve got to get myself out.”

Nortje is sending down balls at 145 per hour or more and he made a short ball go right at Cummins’ head.

Cummins stood tall and knocked it down safely, but it drew an “ooohhhh” from the home crowd.

The towering Jansen made a bouncer hiss up at Renshaw too but he also handled it well.

Expect things to get a little hostile to the Aussies, South Africa know they desperately need to break this partnership.

It came from a low nick through the slips for four but Renshaw has made his 50, his last half-century from Australia came in 2017.

Renshaw had a lovely smile on his face as he raised the bat.

He’s been great so far but will know he has a big job ahead.

Australia are 6-192 from 65.5 overs.

Pat Cummins and Matt Renshaw are back out on the park.

Andrich Nortje has four balls left from his over last night.

He was super fast yesterday; watch out for him.

A good shipping line doesn’t send veteran steamers into the worst of winter and hope for the best. It builds the next generation of ships while the old captains are still on the bridge. Anything else is sailing on hope and trusting the weather to hold.

By recalling NSW veteran Nic Maddinson into Australia’s Test side to open the batting against South Africa, selectors have made that gamble.

Australia has South Africa and India away, and an Ashes tour of England next year. So we can’t afford to lean on hope.

Even if Maddinson makes runs, his selection plugs a gap and builds nothing. The batting is vulnerable, and the bowling again rests on Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon staying fit. One injury and we’d be exposed.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a great fan of Nic’s and always thought he should have played more Tests. But that window closed a decade ago. He was one of the most gifted players to emerge from Australia’s 2010 under-19 World Cup winners in New Zealand, alongside Mitch Marsh, Hazlewood, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson. He struck the ball beautifully, bowled clever left-arm spin and had one of the best arms I’ve seen in youth cricket. His future looked secure.

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Australia’s chances of a competitive first innings score will rest on the success of Matt Renshaw, according to commentator Kerry O’Keeffe.

Renshaw has held his nerve batting through 115 balls for his 46 not out before bad light stopped play on day one.

“If Renshaw gets out early, they won’t get 250,” O’Keeffe said on Kayo Sports.

“But if he plays and gets help from the bowlers, then they can get 280 plus.”

It’s overcast in Durban this morning, and in truth not a whole lot brighter than when play was called off yesterday.

Light will be an issue all match, given the city’s eastern location, so it is doubtful we will get to 90 overs today, and the scheduled 98 overs look optimistic indeed, especially as the start time of 9.30 is no earlier than day one.

With Matt Renshaw and Pat Cummins at the crease, Australia will be aiming for a first-innings tally as close to 300 as possible.

As Matt Renshaw and Pat Cummins led Australia’s fightback on day one in Durban, buildings a few kilometres away were burning through a second day of unrest.

That is the stark reality playing out in the background of Australia’s first Test in South Africa in eight-and-a-half years.

South Africa is a nation facing its own battles, with anti-migrant protests turning violent in both Durban and the country’s biggest city, Johannesburg.

Fourteen vehicles were torched in Durban, with riot police deployed as foreign-owned shops were looted just kilometres from Kingsmead Stadium.

Durban: Nic Maddinson was told more than a week ago that he would be playing in the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead.

The team was still preparing in Potchefstroom outside Johannesburg, and the news was conveyed by the selectors to 34-year-old Maddinson on Thursday last week, the same day the tourists visited Marnus Labuschagne’s childhood home. Youngster Cooper Connolly, talked up by the team camp as a contender to play here, was never really in it.

Maddinson, then, had as much time as possible to get his head around the idea he would be playing his first Test match in a decade, having not taken the field in a single first-class game since his recovery from testicular cancer.

He has looked at ease around the team, comprised largely of players Maddinson already knew well, and has been staunchly defended in the media by the likes of coach Andrew McDonald and vice-captain Travis Head.

Nevertheless, he and Matt Renshaw only learnt they would be switching positions in the batting order on match eve. The shock of collision with Test cricket is always something else, and the reality of events in Durban on Friday was that neither Maddinson not Australia looked adequately equipped to put a substantial Test match total on the board.