Time and again, Australia Test captain Pat Cummins has expressed regret whenever Australia have to keep Scott Boland on the bench when all three of Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood are fit and available.
In the past couple of years, though, Australia have found a way to play Boland even in the presence of the ‘big three’ fast bowlers: leave Nathan Lyon out of the side and play a deadly four-man pace attack. That, of course, comes with the tough choice of benching Lyon, Australia’s all-time second-leading Test wicket-taker.
Since last year, Australia left Lyon out of the XI when he was available on two occasions, but both of those Test matches were day-night affairs played with the pink ball.
The SA vs AUS 2nd Test Gqeberha, which began on Sunday, though marred by rain, is the first instance since 2013 that Lyon has been benched for a red-ball Test match.
At the toss, Cummins went at length to explain the reasoning behind picking Boland instead of Lyon – something captains rarely do – pointing out the damp and overcast conditions with the forecast for the first two days of this Test match to be significantly rain-affected.
Cummins elected to bowl first after winning the toss on a rainy day. And once again, Boland, who had an average of 18.58 heading into this match, proved why he is such a vital asset on pitches and in conditions that aid seam movement.
SA vs AUS 2nd Test: Scott Boland Knocks Over Aiden Markram’s Middle Stumps With Unplayable Ball, VIDEO
Boland was brought into the attack in the 7th over of South Africa’s innings, replacing Mitchell Starc. He started off with a maiden and needed only a total of 10 balls to make his first strike, uprooting Aiden Markram’s middle stump with a jaffa.
It was a seriously great delivery that would have dismissed even the best of the batsmen in the world. And this was Markram, who is known to have nervous starts, his plight exacerbated by the dampness of the pitch.
With the USP of bowling the channel line and length for over after over and spell after spell, Boland sent down a delivery that pitched on the good length and well outside the off-stump.
Makram, stuck at 11 off 27 balls, saw this as an opportunity to drive past mid-off and put some pressure back on Boland, who hadn’t conceded a single run in his first nine balls.
The right-handed Protea opener played an expansive drive. However, he was completely bamboozled by the delivery as it hit the seam on the pitch and nipped in sharply.
Markram had moved his front foot very little and thus left a huge space between his bat and pad. The ball seamed in a big distance upon pitching and took a thin inside edge of Markram’s bat before crashing dead into the middle stump.
The middle pole was uprooted and lay flat on the ground as Boland jogged towards his teammates and saw the mess he’d made of the stick. Markram would do better to learn from this dismissal and not go fishing against the innocuous-looking menace of Boland.
Watch the video here:
Seemingly, just to show off his elite skillset and control over the cricket ball, Boland dismissed David Bedingham, the Protea No. 3, for a golden duck with a ball that, this time, seamed away from the right-hander, catching the outside edge of Bedingham’s blade.
One seamed in, the other seamed out – Scott Boland all over the South African top-order in a space of 12 deliveries.
At the toss, Cummins explained Boland’s inclusion and praised the 37-year-old, saying, “I think partly conditions, and Scotty Boland has been incredible whenever he’s played Test cricket, so it felt like it aligned this week, and it was the right time to insert him. (He offers) a lot of things. When there’s anything in the wicket, he gets a lot of seam movement. He’s super accurate, and even if it does flatten out, he brings that control and experience. He can bowl bulk overs, so he’s the whole package.”
Meanwhile, the majority of play in the first two sessions today was washed out, with only 12.3 overs being bowled. The umpires have called an early tea, but signs don’t look promising for the rest of the day.
South Africa vs Australia 2nd Test Playing XIs:
South Africa: Wiaan Mulder, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (C), Simon Harmer, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Matthew Breetzke, Marco Jansen, Marques Ackerman, Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram, Anrich Nortje
Australia: Pat Cummins (C), Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Alex Carey (wk), Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw, Beau Webster, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland
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