da mrbet： Brydon Coverdale presents the plays of the day from the fifth day of the first Test between South Africa and Australia
Brydon Coverdale at the Wanderers02-Mar-2009
Jacques Kallis’ lbw decision was overturned after being referred to the third umpire © Getty Images
Song sung in unity
Australia’s team song was given a rare public airing after theirseries-opening win. Following January’s Sydney victory there wascontroversy when Michael Clarke gave the song’s custodian MichaelHussey the hurry-up and it led to a scuffle between Clarke and SimonKatich. This time there was team unity as the players and supportstaff made their way out onto the Wanderers in semi-darkness at 6.45pm- three hours after the game finished – and gathered next to thepitch. After some jovial beer-spraying of the team’s new members, thecircle tightened and Hussey led the squad in . “Second verse, same as the first,” Hussey roared out,before the loud rendition was given a second go. After the squaddispersed the touring selector and a former custodian of the song,David Boon, made his way off the ground with a beer in hand, clearlyhappy with the continuation of the tradition.Playing the percentages #1
When Jacques Kallis was given out lbw to Mitchell Johnson and referredthe decision, it raised an interesting point. The ball was clearlygoing to hit the stumps but Hawkeye showed it pitched partiallyoutside leg. It raised the question of what percentage of the ballmust pitch in line to be eligible for an lbw. The answer is 50% – ifHawkeye shows more than half the ball outside leg when it pitches,then it can’t be lbw. That was clearly the case for Kallis, who hadhis decision overturned and was allowed to stay at the crease. For therecord, when it comes to striking the batsman in line with the stumpsthere is no such 50% rule – if any part of the ball strikes thebatsman in line it is deemed to be acceptable.Playing the percentages #2
The other figure that was attracting attention on the final day wasthe chance of rain. On Sunday the weather bureau predicted a 50%chance of wet weather for the fifth day but by the time Monday morningrolled around the number had dropped to 30%. After the violentthunderstorms that struck during the first three days, it wasespecially pleasing that during the first session on the final day allthree results were still entirely possible.Turning their attention to Durban
Australia decided they didn’t need a specialist spinner for thismatch, although there was some turn for South Africa’s Paul Harris andthe part-timers. During the lunch break Bryce McGain and NathanHauritz took to the field and sent down 30 minutes’ worth ofdeliveries on one of the practice pitches. There was some spin therefor both men, who are keen to push for a place in this week’s secondTest in Durban. While McGain and Hauritz bowled to a solitary stumpwith the bowling coach Troy Cooley as the backstop, they weresurrounded by hundreds of fans as the Wanderers tradition of allowingspectators onto the field at lunch continued.Short of support
Ticket prices were reduced and there was a gripping finale on thecards but the Wanderers still struggled to be even half-full on thefifth day. Yes, it was a Monday but given the match situation anattendance of about 10,000 was disappointing. Earlier in the matchthere was an announcement that more than 95,000 tickets had been soldfor the five days but clearly plenty of those buyers had better thingsto do. The final crowd figure for the whole Test came in at 73,091.