Australia gain the advantage

The South Africans may have underlined at Melbourne what a difficult side they are to beat, but yesterday at the SCG, they allowed their detestation of defeat against their old enemy to influence their batting far too strongly on a belter of a pitch. By the end, they had convinced a crowd of nearly 35,000 that they had no interest in trying to score quickly enough to win this second Test.

So much so that Hansie Cronje was booed when he went to a 189 ball 50 with a boundary count of just four. Perhaps Cronje, proud Afrikaner that he is, was still seething with indignation after South Africa's much cherished national anthem was mucked up not twice but thrice by the incompetent manners of the PA system before the start of the match.

Perhaps it was the shock of two wickets falling in one over from Blewett, of all people, when his side had reached a promising 70 for one. Whatever his reasons, Cronje sent out exactly the messages Australia wanted on a day that could have gone badly wrong for them with both Warne and McGrath clearly feeling the after effects of their long bowls in Melbourne.

McGrath started well enough, cutting one away from Kirsten to give Taylor a regulation catch at first slip. But he soon lost both nip and pace, not helped by having to bowl an eight over opening spell on a stinker of a day. Taylor had Warne bowling as early as the 12th over, but there was little turn or bounce for the Victorian.

He was steady enough, limiting bad balls to his usual minimum.

Gibbs was soon driving beautifully through the off side while keeping in check his natural desire to dominate. Possibly, the generous applause that greeted his 151ball 50 momentarily affected his concentration, for no sooner had he reached it than he got himself out to a one-day flash outside off stump at Bevan.

Advantage Australia.