SAvAUS 2014: Smith, Lyon and Johnson

Day two was a day of wickets.  In a day shortened by a storm, 12 wickets fell, all within the space of 192 runs (from first wicket to last).  Steyn ended up with four for the innings, a very good return for someone who was sick for much of the first day.  De Villiers also rates a mention as the only batsman to look really comfortable on a pitch where batting seemed a bit of a task.  His will be a key wicket on day 3.

However there are three Aussies who get special mention today.  First Smith lodged his fourth century in his career, all in the last seven matches, and as noted yesterday, all in the first innings.  

Second, Lyon managed another "red inks".  He has not been dismissed since the fourth test in England.  This is the seventh test since then, and Lyon's average overall is above 17.  When he bowled he got Duminy (thanks to a good catch by Johnson), which means that he has at least one wicket in each of the last 11 innings he has played.  Considering the success of Harris, Johnson and Siddle over that time, his consistency is admirable.  

Finally, Johnson has done it again.  Four wickets have cut through the South African batting.  Notable here are the continued dominance of Smith - another brutal ball dismissing him, and probably giving him flashbacks to two broken hands in 2009; the fact that three of them were at the top of the order- it has largely been Harris and Lyon opening up England for Johnson to finish off while here Johnson did most of the surgery himself; and finally he took a burst of wickets with someone other than Lyon at the other end.  So far, Johnson has been at his best, while Steyn was not.  This has been one of the major differences between the teams.  

Overall the Aussies will be very happy with the position of the match so far.  They will want to get the South Africans out as quickly as possible today, starting with De Villiers, and then bat for a day or so to put the test beyond doubt.  The South Africans on the other hand will be wanting to eek out another 100 runs or more, feeling that if they can get within 150 or so, they can turn it around in the second innings.  Survivors of the record run chase in Perth know it is not impossible.