Australia take on South Africa in the second Test of the three-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which commenced on December 26, Monday. It was the hosts who won the toss and put the Proteas to bat first. The going was not easy on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test match for the visitors as Dean Elgar’s men were bundled out for 189.
Australia ended the day with 45 runs at the loss of 1 wicket. Although the day clearly belonged to the Aussies and there were not many things to worry about, a major concern has been their star fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who was taken out injured in the first innings. He suffered a blow while taking a catch, and reports suggest that he could be ruled out of the third and final Test as well.
Starc played a big role in wrapping up South Africa’s innings cheaply. Starc took two wickets in his name. Apart from him, Cameron Green took five wickets. One wicket each for Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon.
Actually, Starc has suffered a finger injury, and now Australia is worried about whether he can play in the remaining matches or not. Starc tried to catch the catch at the boundary but could not take the catch. During this, his finger got hurt. After this, he immediately went out of the boundary. He was out for 30 minutes. He returned again but his fingers were taped. Then he did not bowl.
South Africa in a spot of bother
After this Mitchell Starc was sent for the scan. However, it is not known how serious his injury is. Now it has to be seen whether Starc comes to bowl in the second innings or not. Australia will hope that Starc’s injury is not serious and he recovers soon.
Talking about the second Test match, Australia opted to bowl first after winning the toss. The Kangaroos displayed a brilliant performance with the ball as they dismissed five South African batters on the score of 67 runs. However, Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen put up a 112 runs partnership together and helped the team to achieve a respectful total of 189 runs.
Coming in to bat in the 2nd innings, Australia had a bad start as they lost Usman Khawaja got out after scoring only 1 run. Marnus Labuschagne started well but he also departed on the score of 14 runs. But David Warner and Steve Smith refused to give their wickets as they stitched a 239 runs partnership for the 3rd wicket. Warner smashed a brilliant double century. However, Smith missed his chance to hit another ton.
