South Africa v/s Australia, 1st Test: Steve Smith & Co march towards victory, stretch lead beyond 400

Australia were reduced to 213 for nine in their second innings after a fiery spell of fast bowling by South Africa’s Morne Morkel but the tourists lead by 402 runs after bad light ended play early on day three of the first Test on Saturday.

Morkel (3-42), who has announced he will retire from all international cricket after the four-match series, produced some excellent deliveries on a slow wicket at Kingsmead as he took his tally of Test wickets to 297.

But Australia remain in control of the game with what could already be a match-winning lead and if they choose to resume batting on the fourth morning they will see bowlers Pat Cummins (17) and Josh Hazlewood (4) look to build a further advantage.

The highest previous successful fourth-innings chase in Tests in Durban was 340 for five by South Africa against Australia in 2002.

“It was a massive effort from the bowling unit to show the character we did today,” Morkel told SuperSport. “It’s going to be tough (with the bat), but with the way we batted in the first innings… there will be a lot of guys looking to stand up. It’s important that we show some fight for the …read more