"We'd have Taken this Position" - Proteas

Don't think about the money when you're eating

David Bedingham has scored a lot of runs in his career, hundreds and double hundreds included, and he has a Test century to his credit. But he may come to view his top score of 45 in South Africa’s first innings of the World Test Championship as one of his finest innings if they win against Australia at Lord’s on Friday.

Unless, of course, he scores another 45 in the fourth innings run-chase to get his team over the line in which case both innings will rank as his favourites.

“If you’d given us this scenario after we were bowled out for 138 we would have gladly taken it. There is a lot of confidence that we can chase the target provided we take the last two wickets pretty quickly tomorrow morning,” Bedingham said after another day on which 14 wickets fell leaving Australia on 144-8 leading by 218.

“It's in the balance right now, two wickets in hand,” added Lungi Ngidi whose nine-over spell yielded a potentially crucial 3-35 starting with the prized wicket of Steve Smith. “If we can knock those over and maybe chase 225, people are going to get their money's worth,” Ngidi said.

“I guess that's what a Test Championship final should bring. A lot of guys have put their hands up. It's been really exciting and tough cricket out there. We were very disappointed not to get to Australia's total but we were up against a world-class attack. Every mistake you make is a chance for them and I give credit where credit's due. They bowled well.

“But when we started bowling (in the second innings) we realised there was enough in the wicket to bring it closer. Finding a bit of rhythm was all I was looking to do. If you told me this is the position we'd be in at the end of the day, I'd definitely have taken it.”

It might have been even closer if Marco Jansen had held a catch in the gully in the final over of the day off the bowling of Wiaan Mulder with Mitchell Starc on 14 but the mistake highlighted the quality of the Proteas collective effort in the field for two days. It was the only dropped catch and virtually the only blemish – apart from an unforgivable 19 no-balls which may yet prove to be crucial in such a low-scoring Test.

*It would be hard to find a greater contrast between the drama and patriotic fervour of Lord’s and what was happening at the Oakland Colosseum thousands of miles away where the captains press conference was taking place at the start of the MLC.

No comment or judgement is intended or even necessary but it’s hard not to form an opinion just by looking at the photograph. To be fair, apparently the weather was unseasonally cold but there isn’t an abundance of excitement on display. Faf du Plessis is well past his 40^th birthday – good on him. Heinrich Klaasen and Nicholas Pooran are the (wealthy) men sitting next to him.

*Just the one ‘joke’ about London prices in the M-o-C column since arrival in London and that’s the way it should stay. All I will say is that the punters who paid for the grub from ‘The South African Kitchen’ outlet on the Nursery Ground behind the Media Centre said it was ‘baie, baie lekker.’ One man from Wynberg added: “As long as you don’t think about the cost while you’re eating.”