This South Africa v Australia series will probably be remembered for the collapses. After the chaos of the first Test, South Africa collapsed from 241-4 to 266 all out yesterday. Today Australia went from 191-1 to 296 all out. Watson and Hughes both managed to get runs, 88 apiece. The next highest score after that was Mitchell Johnson’s 38 not out. He has done a lot more with the bat than with the ball in this series, but I don’t think that will save him from the axe. It’s true that Australia are in need of batting (and his 38 was enough to give Oz a first innings lead), but it’s far more likely that they will try to find an actual batsman to get the runs. Ponting picked up a third ball duck, once again shuffling across the line and being trapped LBW.
The game is well set up for the third day; I think South Africa are probably on top. Tahir took three of the Australian wickets and he will have a fairly helpful pitch by the time Australia’s run chase starts. Also, whilst none of the batting looks strong, South Africa’s still looks stronger. Australia’s batsmen have still not fired as a unit, and at they won’t be confident of chasing even a very low total. South Africa may struggle again, but if their batsmen get set, as they did in the fourth innings at Newlands, Australia are in danger of losing the plot. Australia will probably not want to chase more than 150-200, so they will have to keep wickets coming at fairly regular intervals. I still think South Africa are favourites to win.
Defensive Indifference 