After restricting Australia to 212 runs in the first innings, South Africa had a perfect opportunity to bat well and take a lead in the first innings. However, their batting order faltered as the Proteas posted only 138 runs with the bat. Captain Temba Bavuma and David Bedingham showed promise, but they too failed, scoring 36 and 45, respectively.
In the second innings, South Africa had a perfect start with the ball, having reduced Australia to 73/7 at one stage. However, the partnership of Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc bothered the team heavily as they stitched a partnership of 61 runs, which might hurt South Africa heavily. They managed to extend Australia’s lead and the game now completely depends on how the Proteas batters fare in the final innings.
Meanwhile, Lungi Ngidi, who had a rough time in the first innings, bounced back strongly in the second, clinching three wickets so far. After the end of the day’s play, the pacer spoke with the broadcasters, where he sounded optimistic, stating that South Africa are still in the game and wanted to do everything with conviction.
“We were still in the game. They did bowl really well but at the end of the day we still had a job to do. The coach asked us whatever we do, to do it with conviction, and if you go out, go out on your own terms. You can also be that guy to turn the game around for the team, that was the mindset,” Ngidi said.
We want to give ourselves the best chance: Ngidi
The pacer also spoke about his turnaround in the second innings. He mentioned of not finding the rhythm in the first innings but after the tea on Day 2, he spoke to captain Bavuma and managed to find the right rhythm to pick up crucial wickets.
“It was tough in the first innings, there was no rhythm, it looked like I was fighting a lot while bowling. Couple of nerves coming back after tea, especially knowing who the guys were in the middle, but he (Bavuma) was asking me to do certain things, I just said let me get into my spell, let me get some rhythm and once I felt it was clicking I just kept running with it. We are in a good position now, two balls can wrap it up and we are focusing on that. If we are chasing anything under 230.. It won't be easy with the bowling line-up they have but we want to give ourselves the best chance,” Ngidi said.