London: Following a strong bowling display that saw South Africa bowled out for just 138, Australia went to Tea at 32/2, enjoying a 106-run advantage on Day 2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's on Thursday.
Captain Pat Cummins was the session's standout player, delivering a spell for the ages with figures of 6/28, the best bowling performance by a captain in Test history at Lord's. Cummins' effort not only broke up the Proteas' lower order, but it also marked his 300th Test wicket, making the occasion even more memorable.
South Africa started the second session at 121/5, but the batting collapsed quickly. Cummins struck early after lunch, dismissing Kyle Verreynne LBW for 13. He then took a sharp return catch to dismiss Marco Jansen for a duck.
Cummins capped his five-wicket haul by dismissing the resilient David Bedingham, who scored 45 runs off 111 balls to lead South Africa. The Proteas had collapsed to 135/8 at that point.
Keshav Maharaj was run out for 7, and the final wicket—and fittingly so—belonged to Cummins, who bowled out Kagiso Rabada for 1 to end the innings at 138.
Mitchell Starc (2/41) and Josh Hazlewood (1/27) were other Australia's bowling contributors.
In response, the Australian second innings started carefully but faced early challenges. Kagiso Rabada, who had taken a five-wicket haul in the first innings, struck twice again in the second. He dismissed Usman Khawaja for six runs and Cameron Green for a duck, finishing the session with 2/15.
At Tea, Steve Smith, fresh off a crucial fifty in the first innings and renowned for his exceptional performance at Lord's, is not out on 4 (2). He is accompanied by Marnus Labuschagne, who remains steady at 16.
Brief scores: Australia 212 all out & 32/2 (Marnus Labuschagne 16, Usman Khawaja 0; Kagiso Rabada 2/15) against South Africa 138 all out (David Bedingham 45, Temba Bavuma 36; Pat Cummins 6/28).
