da brdice： Plays of the day for the fifth day of the second Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban
Brydon Coverdale in Durban10-Mar-2009
Graeme Smith warmed up just in case he had to bat © AFPGetty Images
It’s catching
Brad Haddin’s gloves haven’t been the safest place during this match.He put down a chance on the fifth morning and fluffed a sitter on thefourth day, when the Australians were convinced there had been an edgebehind. As tea approached he discovered there was perhaps a better wayto take catches. Morne Morkel inside-edged onto his pad off SimonKatich and the ball flew low to Haddin, who managed to trap it betweenhis thighs. As he threw his hands up in a successful appeal, the ballremained nestled safely between his legs.Umpire love-in
As the Australian team huddled during the drinks break in the middlesession, planning their afternoon, the umpires had a conference oftheir own. Asad Rauf has been active all Test and this time he andBilly Bowden and the fourth umpire Ian Howell had a big group huddle -or was it a hug? – before they embarked on the remainder of the game.The referral system has the ability to turn umpires against each otherif decisions are overturned but in Durban it was all about the love.Generous Harris
Paul Harris isn’t the world’s worst lower-order batsman but he appearsto have one specific flaw. When occasional bowlers come on, the skillthat he actually has and the ability that he believes he possessesdrift further apart. At the MCG in December, Harris became the firstman in Test cricket to fall to the gentle medium-pace of MichaelHussey when he tried to clear long-on and was caught in the deep.Simon Katich is a more proven bowler than Hussey but rarely trundlesat the top level these days and it took him only two balls on thefinal day to entice a similarly adventurous shot from Harris, whotried to clear mid-on and was taken by Peter Siddle running back withthe flight. For the record, Harris also became part-timer MarcusNorth’s first Test victim a week ago in Johannesburg.Just in case…
It’s not easy for the public to see what’s going on in the Kingsmeadnets, where the players are largely shielded by high walls anddiligent security guards. But it is possible to peer into the netsfrom outside the ground and before play on the fifth morning the mostnotable activity was a warm-up session for South Africa’s captainGraeme Smith. His right hand was still bandaged and he wasn’t gettingpadded up but Smith was doing some jogging up and down a vacant pitchwhile his team-mates bowled and batted. After his heroic comeback witha broken hand in Sydney nobody was prepared to write him off in Durbanand he was warming up, just in case. But as the wickets tumbled earlythe chances of him batting became slimmer and his green shirt andshorts remained in place. There was no SCG encore.