Australia have to nullify de Villiers – Marsh

Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh says his side must find a way to combat AB de Villiers, after the South African's unbeaten knock of 74 from 81 deliveries gave the hosts a 20-run lead on day two in Port Elizabeth.

After Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla's stubborn resistance was broken after tea the visitors smelt blood. Marsh trapped Faf du Plessis and Theunis de Bruyn lbw in quick succession as 155/2 turned into 183/6. Australia, who had posted 243 in their first innings, would have fancied taking a lead, but de Villiers was thinking very differently.

The Proteas had scored very slowly throughout the day, with Elgar and Amla scoring 88 together in 46 overs, but de Villiers looked to be batting in different conditions. The experienced batsman scored freely from the off, scoring all around the wicket through conventional and inventive shots, reversing the pressure expertly.

Marsh took 2/26 from his nine overs, backing up his fellow fast bowlers well, but could not find a way through de Villiers' defences.

“As a bowler you block out who you’re bowling to, but he’s obviously an amazing player,” Marsh said.

“He’s done it for so long and we need to find a way to nullify him as quickly as possible [tomorrow]. That’s going to be a great challenge for us. Hopefully we can keep the lead under 50 – that’d be great.”

Although de Villiers' innings gave South Africa the edge at stumps, Australia generally kept the scoring rate under control throughout, with no other batsman scoring freely. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins found reverse-swing and captain Steve Smith persevered with the old ball late on, making scoring difficult.

Elgar and Amla dug in, and although no wickets were lost, the duo scored just 43 runs between them in the afternoon session.

"We didn't let them get away (in the second session), they must have gone at one or two an over," Marsh said. "We got our rewards late in the day and hopefully we can get three wickets early tomorrow."

Marsh himself was impressive, especially considering he'd been struggling with illness on day one.

"My role was to bowl at the top of the stumps and try to hit the stumps or hit the pads as it was reverse swinging," Marsh said. "Luckily, I was able to contribute with a few wickets.

"I was disappointed I wasn't fit to perform yesterday. I really wanted to bounce back today. I wasn't 100 per cent but felt a lot better.

"It certainly took a while for me to get into rhythm, I was quite impatient when I came back because I had done a lot of hard work. I have stuck at it and I thought the last six weeks I am back to being able to contribute and take wickets, which is really important as an all-rounder."

South Africa will begin day three on 263/7, with de Villiers and Vernon Philander at the crease and the game in the balance. Knowing they will have to bat last on a slow St George's Park wicket they will be looking to extend their lead to as great as possible.