Australia v South Africa first Test: Day four takeaways
The Proteas need 319 runs to win on the final day of the Test, with six wickets in hand.
On the final day of the first Test between Australia and South Africa at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban, the Proteas needed 319 runs to win. As of day four, they had scored 102/4, needing 319 more runs to clinch the victory. Five of Australia's top eight batsmen contributed over 30 runs each in their second innings, led by centurion Matt Renshaw, who scored 82 runs off 99 balls.
The touring batters combined well, reaching 314/6 before declaring, setting the Proteas a target of 421 to win. Aiden Markram and Wiaan Mulder were the last two men in the Proteas' lineup, scoring 45 not out and five off 23 runs respectively. If either of them fell on day five, the Proteas would be deep in the middle-order and would need to fight hard to keep their hopes alive.
It seemed that a miracle was required to secure victory for South Africa. The ongoing debate surrounding the match continued as another full day of play was impossible due to bad light. Over the first three days, the teams had bowled a total of 65.2 overs on day one, 78.2 overs on day two, and 75 overs on day three, which was far below the required minimum of 90 overs for a standard day of Test cricket.
During day four, 84.2 overs were bowled, which was an improvement but did little to resolve the debate about playing with a pink ball, starting matches earlier in Durban, or avoiding Tests in Durban altogether.
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
