The Australian pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins once again dominated during South Africa's first innings in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's. The three seamers picked up nine out of the ten wickets on offer as the Proteas got bundled out for just 138 runs on the second day.
Cummins took a sensational six-wicket haul in the WTC final
Cummins was by far the best performer during the innings, finishing with incredible figures of 6/28 while on the other hand, Starc and Hazlewood finished with 2/41 and 1/27 respectively.
Following the conclusion of the second day of the WTC final, legendary Australia cricketer Matthew Hayden claimed that the troika of Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins is the best-ever pace attack that the Baggy Greens have ever had, even calling them better the trio of former Australia seamers Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee.
“The trio of Hazlewood, Cummins, and Starc might just be Australia’s best-ever pace attack - even better than McGrath, Gillespie, and Lee - because they’ve bowled more together, in more combinations. Add Nathan Lyon to the mix, and it’s an ‘awesome foursome.’ Australia did well to pull ahead despite pressure. South Africa fought back hard, making this a seesaw contest. It’s been a fantastic Test match so far, and Day 3 promises more drama," Hayden said on JioStar.
Hayden also heaped praise on Cummins, who reached 300 Test wickets with his 6-fer in the match, stating that it is a very big milestone considering that the 32-year-old has missed out on a lot of matches throughout his career due to injuries.
“Cummins does everything right - he challenges the off stump, uses the slope, and targets the top of the stumps, making batters play constantly. He now has over 300 Test wickets despite not bowling for five and a half years due to injury. That’s extraordinary," Hayden added.
After finishing the second day on a lead of 218 runs, Australia went on to to get bundled out on 207 on the third day, setting up a target of 282 for South Africa. It was Starc's unbeaten knock of 58 and Hazlewood's decent cameo of 17 which got them to a respectable total in their second innings.
In reply, after losing Ryan Rickelton early, the duo of Aiden Markram and Wiaan Mulder formed a valuable 61-run stand which steadied South Africa's ship. However, the latter soon departed as Starc racked up his second wicket of the innings before skipper Temba Bavuma took to the crease and provided stability to the side alongside Markram. They finished the second session of the third day on 94/2, still requiring 188 runs to emerge victorious.