Day 2 of the ongoing WTC Final was an entertaining affair, with Australia leading by 218 runs at Lord’s. After posting 212 in their first innings, Australia bowled out South Africa for 138 on Day 2, and then went on to reach 144/8 at Stumps.
After Stumps, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins appeared confident, especially as his side came up with the perfect response, despite a massive Proteas comeback.
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Also a 61-run partnership between Alex Carey (43) and Mitchell Starc stabilised the innings for the Aussies, who now lead by 218 runs with two wickets in hand, heading into Day 3.
“Well, initially … when I walked out, anything over 200 (would have been good), so it is good to get over that,” Cummins said.
“But you just want to get as many runs as you can. Hopefully we get another 20 or 30 in the morning. That’d be good. I think that would give us a few more options to bowl to, you know, a few more aggressive fields to set, those kinds of things. But (I’m) happy to have it over 200,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“But you just want to get as many runs as you can. Hopefully we get another 20 or 30 in the morning. That’d be good. I think that would give us a few more options to bowl to, you know, a few more aggressive fields to set, those kinds of things. But (I’m) happy to have it over 200,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Sending a message to his teammates ahead of Day 3, Cummins said, “Ideally we would have a few more wickets in the shed, but I think the trend of the game is that the runs are coming down.”
“It’s still pretty difficult out there. I think it is set up pretty well for a day three finish, you’d imagine, tomorrow. But I think we are going to have to bowl well, still, in the fourth innings.”
Dropping his verdict on the pitch, he added, “I think it is a mixture of the wicket still doing a little bit. Just when it feels like it is not doing anything, one ball suddenly seams quite, quite drastically. But I think both teams bowled really well, really disciplined. There haven’t been too many half-volleys. Both teams are just hanging it in that good length area on a pretty tight line. South Africa today, again, they looked pretty tricky, and the wicket has got enough in it to make it even more tricky.”