Empty stands greeted Pat Cummins and Temba Bavuma at the Kingsmead showdown on Friday. Many fans stayed away, leaving the stadium quiet. Nic Maddinson got a duck, and Australia struggled until Matt Renshaw helped them reach 187/6. Bad light stopped play early, as the teams could not use pink balls.
The whole controversy was discussed at length in the global media ahead of the Kingsmead showdown. The Aussies were expected to get hell from spectators on Friday; however, many of us watching the game on TV were left stunned when empty stands and open grass banks greeted Pat Cummins and Temba Bavuma as they walked out for the toss. That was such a downer.
Two of the best teams in international cricket — the finalists in the World Test Championship last year — were in action, and fans didn’t bother to show up. On the eve of the match, Bavuma had said that he was going to celebrate their WTC final win over Australia with his local supporters at Durban. He was really looking forward to the opening day!
Days before the opening day, Australia great Matthew Hayden had questioned Maddinson’s inclusion using very harsh words. Another former Aussie player, Mitchell Johnson, in his column for the West Australian, made his point quite clear that if Cameron Green was going to miss the first Test on account of an abdominal strain — which eventually happened — Maddinson shouldn't be preferred over Connolly or Matt Renshaw.
Against such a backdrop, Maddinson had a horror outing. He played 33 balls but all he got was a duck as he played on off a Marco Jansen delivery. After losing their openers cheaply, Australia looked to their seasoned batters Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to bail them out but after adding 60, both departed in successive overs. If not for an unbeaten 63-run stand between Renshaw and Cummins, things could have been totally disastrous for the visitors as bad light brought a premature end to the day’s play. Only 65.2 overs could be bowled as the Aussies found themselves at 187/6 at stumps. As per the new guidelines, teams can now use the pink ball in such scenarios in daytime Tests but that agreement has to be prior, not when it gets dark.
Things didn't change much on day two either in terms of the crowd presence and the weather conditions towards the end but on the field of play – from an Aussie point of view, that is – Renshaw scored his first Test ton in almost 10 years and took the visitors to 390. The Proteas, in their reply, were 27/1 at stumps.