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Nathan Lyon struck a crucial late blow by dismissing South Africa captain Temba Bavuma as Australia strengthened their position on Day 3 of the third ICC World Test Championship Test.
South Africa ended the day at 140/4 in their second innings, holding a slender 40-run lead, with Matthew Breetzke (19*) and Ryan Rickelton (8*) unbeaten at the crease. With six wickets still in hand, the Proteas will look to post a challenging target for Australia on Day 4. Australia centurion Josh Inglis believes his side remains in the driver's seat, with Lyon's late breakthrough against Bavuma proving a significant moment in the contest. The dismissal came at a crucial juncture, leaving South Africa with more work to do as they aim to extend their lead and put Australia under pressure. "I think we controlled the tempo really well in that last session," Inglis said as per the ICC website. "Although they were playing well, they weren't really getting away from us. I thought Gaz (Lyon) bowled brilliantly and looked threatening the whole time. When you work for a couple of hours and get the rewards right at the end, it's really satisfying," he added. South Africa spinner Simon Harmer thinks there is still plenty of cricket left in the series decider and his spin may still have a big say across the final two days of play. "If you look at how the wicket changed from this morning to this evening, it's been quite a dramatic change," Harmer noted. "I think Mitchell Starc does a pretty good job of churning up the wicket (with footmarks). So yeah, I definitely think that spin is probably going to come into it a lot more than it has in the first two-and-a-half days." South Africa had earlier produced an impressive bowling effort on Day 3, restricting Australia to 429 after the visitors resumed play at 330 with six wickets in hand. Josh Inglis went on to complete a fine century, while Alex Carey made a valuable contribution with 80 runs. For the hosts, Simon Harmer and Marco Jansen shared seven wickets between them. Harmer returned impressive figures of 4/104, while Jansen continued his excellent form in the series with 3/60. The left-arm pacers performance comes shortly after he climbed to the top of both the ICC Mens Test Bowling Rankings and the Test All-Rounders Rankings. Trailing by 100 runs after the first innings, South Africa got off to a shaky start in their second outing as Mitchell Starc dismissed Aiden Markram in the third over. Josh Hazlewood soon added to Australia's momentum by removing David Bedingham, leaving the hosts in early trouble. However, South Africa's first-innings top scorer, Marques Ackerman, joined captain Temba Bavuma to steady the innings. The duo put together a crucial 64-run partnership for the third wicket, with Ackerman registering his second half-century of the Test. Starc eventually broke the stand by dismissing Ackerman, bringing Australia back into the contest. Lyon then delivered another significant blow in the penultimate over of the day, removing Bavuma and leaving South Africa at 140/4 at stumps, with a lead of just 40 runs. (ANI)
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