Australia’s innings concluded at 207, a result of the Proteas’ strong bowling performance at Lord’s. Despite Australia’s first innings being wrapped up at 212, their bowlers, particularly the pacers, showcased their potential, restricting South Africa to 138 runs. In the second innings, South Africa’s bowlers once again dismantled the top and middle order of the Australian team, securing consecutive wickets. However, Mitchell Starc emerged as the innings builder, surprisingly, smashing a half-century that brought the score to a respectable 207, extending Australia’s lead to 281 runs. South Africa now faces a target of 282 to defeat the reigning world champions.
Notably, this wasn’t Starc’s first time taking charge and constructing a significant innings while batting at number 9. He has achieved this feat seven times in Test cricket. Stuart Broad of England, who also works in a consultancy role with South Africa, has done so six times. Only two batters have scored five or more 50-plus scores from number 9 or lower in Tests within a single country – Stuart Broad and Mitchell Starc, both in England.
The match highlights the dominance of pacers at Lord’s. In all 30 wickets taken (including the two Australian innings and one South African innings), only one wicket was claimed by a spinner (South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj). The remaining 29 wickets were taken by fast bowlers from both sides, with Australia’s captain Pat Cummins taking the most, 6 wickets in an innings.
