Durban: Matt Renshaw produced the innings of his life on Saturday, scoring a career-best 190 to rescue Australia from 124 for six and put the visitors in command of the first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead.
The 30-year-old's marathon knock, spanning 397 balls, dragged Australia to 390 all out and left South Africa trailing by 363 runs at 27 for one in reply.
The rescue act
When the sixth wicket fell with just 124 on the board, South Africa's pace attack, led by Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen, looked set to skittle the visitors cheaply. Renshaw, surprisingly batting at No. 5 rather than opening, instead anchored a lower-order fightback of remarkable patience.
He shared an 86-run stand with captain Pat Cummins, who made 43, and farmed the strike superbly alongside Nathan Lyon as Australia piled on the runs through the second morning. Renshaw brought up his century off 204 balls with his tenth four, and was the last man dismissed, falling 10 short of a double hundred.
A decade-long wait
The century was Renshaw's second in Test cricket, arriving almost ten years after his first, a 185 against Pakistan in Sydney in January 2017. He had scored single figures in 11 of his previous 13 Test innings before this series, and had wondered whether his chance at the top level had gone for good.
"I never thought I'd be here this long," Renshaw said after the day's play. "All the stuff that I've done in the past 10 years has probably led me to this moment. I wouldn't be where I was without all the failures."
Former Australia batter Simon Katich, commentating on SEN Radio, said the innings showed exactly what Australia's ageing top order had been crying out for: discipline, leave-awareness and the patience to wait for the bad ball.
Mulder finished with 4 for 68 and Jansen 3 for 68 for South Africa, but both will know their side faces a long road back on a pitch Renshaw expects to get slower and take more spin.
Sources:
Reuters, Dawn
The 30-year-old's marathon knock, spanning 397 balls, dragged Australia to 390 all out and left South Africa trailing by 363 runs at 27 for one in reply.
The rescue act
When the sixth wicket fell with just 124 on the board, South Africa's pace attack, led by Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen, looked set to skittle the visitors cheaply. Renshaw, surprisingly batting at No. 5 rather than opening, instead anchored a lower-order fightback of remarkable patience.
He shared an 86-run stand with captain Pat Cummins, who made 43, and farmed the strike superbly alongside Nathan Lyon as Australia piled on the runs through the second morning. Renshaw brought up his century off 204 balls with his tenth four, and was the last man dismissed, falling 10 short of a double hundred.
A decade-long wait
The century was Renshaw's second in Test cricket, arriving almost ten years after his first, a 185 against Pakistan in Sydney in January 2017. He had scored single figures in 11 of his previous 13 Test innings before this series, and had wondered whether his chance at the top level had gone for good.
"I never thought I'd be here this long," Renshaw said after the day's play. "All the stuff that I've done in the past 10 years has probably led me to this moment. I wouldn't be where I was without all the failures."
Former Australia batter Simon Katich, commentating on SEN Radio, said the innings showed exactly what Australia's ageing top order had been crying out for: discipline, leave-awareness and the patience to wait for the bad ball.
Mulder finished with 4 for 68 and Jansen 3 for 68 for South Africa, but both will know their side faces a long road back on a pitch Renshaw expects to get slower and take more spin.
Sources:
Reuters, Dawn
