MELBOURNE, Dec 28: A remarkable ninth-wicket partnership of 180 between Jean-Paul Duminy and Dale Steyn , the third best in Test history, saw South Africa establish an unlikely first-innings lead of 65 run on the third day of the second Test against Australia at the MCG here on Sunday.
Duminy, playing only in his second match, was the last wicket to fall for a magnificent 166 after South Africa had started day three on a worrying 198-7, still 196 behind.
The Duminy-led fightback included Paul Harris’s 39 and an extraordinary 76 from Steyn in a total of 459.
At stumps, Australia were 4-0 in the second innings.
Duminy had made his Test debut in Perth where he hit a wonderfully composed 50 not out in South Africa’s famous successful chase of 414.
The 24-year-old trumped that effort, though, with this terrific display of concentration in which he faced 340 deliveries and struck 18 boundaries. And he found a particularly adhesive partner in No 10 batsman Steyn, who himself hung around for 191 deliveries.
Their partnership, played out before a disbelieving packed crowd at the MCG, spanned nearly 64 overs from well before lunch until beyond the tea interval.
It was a sorry day for Australia’s bowlers, who desperately missed the cutting edge of Brett Lee. The experienced paceman missed the day’s play with a sore left foot.
And although Lee has been upstaged by Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson in the series, those two seemed to panic without the presence of the experienced attack leader.
Duminy allowed Steyn — dropped three times by Australia in the field — to hit most of the extravagant shots in their stand, as he mainly nudged and scampered towards three figures.
He spent half an hour in the 90s and there was relief when he cut Siddle through gully for four, raised both arms and kissed his helmet badge. His team-mates had come down to the boundary edge to applaud his terrific effort.
Steyn’s best moments came when he hit Johnson for two straight drives for four and mirrored the shot off Siddle to bring up his half-century. His personal memories will also include the towering six struck off Nathan Hauritz.
The off-spinner spent the day more as the bowler who has struggled to get into the New South Wales team in recent seasons, rather than a man with the skill to remove Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher on Saturday.
Not only did South Africa add 261 runs on the third day, but they took significant time away from Ricky Ponting’s team, who need a victory to level the three-match contest.
The tone for the day had been set by South Africa’s number nine Harris, who treated the bowling with some disdain before being dislodged by the part-time medium pace of Michael Hussey, Johnson taking a good catch running back from mid-on.
He and Duminy had put on 67 for the eighth wicket, but with the total 251-8 Australia still held a 141-run lead. Yet unbelievably, they had to wait more than five hours for their next wicket.
Steyn, who refused to be cowed after taking bruising blows on both hands, was first spared on 32 by Ponting, who dropped a fairly straightforward slip chance to his right off Johnson.
Hussey looked like an amateur when, a run later, he lost a skier at mid-on and desperately tried to shield the ball from the sun with each hand before letting it drop to the ground without even attempting a catch.
It was a moment of high farce which summed up Australia’s day, but Hauritz — who was the bowler for the Hussey chance — had no-one to blame but himself when failing to take the simplest of caught-and-bowled offerings from Steyn on 57.
Steyn had only ever had two half-centuries in 77 first-class innings prior to this. He was finally bowled by Siddle, but Duminy had time to go to his 150, a landmark reached with a sumptuous on-drive off Johnson, before sweeping Hauritz to short fine-leg.
Highlights of his innings will show an array of drives through the covers and past mid-on off the fast bowlers, and some nice pulls when the spinners dropped short.
But it was a wonderfully-constructed effort which suggested a player who could have a big future in front of him.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 394 (R.T. Ponting 101, M.J. Clarke 88 not out, S.M. Katich 54; D.W. Steyn 5-87).
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings, overnight 198-7):
G.C. Smith c Haddin b Siddle 62
N.D. McKenzie b Siddle 0
H.M. Amla c Symonds b Johnson 19
J.H. Kallis c Haddin b Hauritz 26
A.B. de Villiers b Siddle 7
J.P. Duminy c Siddle b Hauritz 166
M.V. Boucher c Hussey b Hauritz 3
M. Morkel b Johnson 21
P.L. Harris c Johnson b Hussey 39
D.W. Steyn b Siddle 76
M. Ntini not out 2
EXTRAS (B-5, LB-13, NB-15, PR-5) 38
TOTAL (all out, 153 overs) 459
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-39, 3-102, 4-126, 5-132, 6-141, 7-184, 8-251, 9-431.
BOWLING: Lee 13-2-68-0 (7nb); Siddle 34-9-81-4 (4nb); Johnson 39-6-127-2 (3nb); Hauritz 43-13-98-3 (1nb); Clarke 8-0-26-0; Hussey 5-0-22-1; Symonds 11-3-14-0.
AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings):
M.L. Hayden not out 1
S.M. Katich not out 2
EXTRAS (NB-1) 1
TOTAL (for no wkt, 3 overs) 4
BOWLING (to-date): Steyn 2-0-4-0 (1nb); Ntini 1-1-0-0.—Agencies