South Africa will look to squeeze Australia with disciplined bowling on day three at Newlands after the travellers edged one run ahead, Proteas bowling coach Piet Botha said after day two of the second Dafabet Test match at Newlands on Tuesday.
Furthermore, control of the scoring rate has been identified as crucial to keeping the third Test within reach, Botha told the media at the end of the day’s play.
The tourists ended the second day at 330/4, having overtaken the Proteas first-innings total of 329, with Josh Inglis and Alex Carey frustrating the hosts after Marco Jansen had earlier struck twice to briefly shift momentum back their way.
Jansen's intervention was significant on several levels. His dismissal of Matt Renshaw brought up his 100th Test wicket, before he removed Cameron Green three balls later to break a 126-run partnership and drag the home side back into the contest.
It also came on a landmark day for the all-rounder, who was confirmed as the new No. 1-ranked Test bowler and all-rounder by the ICC.
He moved above Australia's Mitchell Starc in the bowling rankings and ended Ravindra Jadeja's more than four-year reign at the top of the all-rounder list.
With the visitors now holding the advantage and six wickets still in hand, however, SA's focus will be on preventing their middle and lower order from accelerating away from them.
“Basically line and length for long periods of time will be crucial,” Botha added.
The challenge will be to remain patient rather than searching for wickets at the expense of their shape.
“Hopefully the [Australian] batters get in and they feel [they’re] not scoring quickly [enough]. We might take advantage of that [and just try to] stay in the game,” he said.
That approach could be particularly important on a Newlands surface where the batsmen have been able to score with relative ease when the bowlers have not found their areas.
SA were in a similar position on the opening day after Australia fought back from 140 without loss at lunch to reduce the hosts to 221/4.
They would eventually recover to 329, but Mitchell Starc's late burst of four wickets in 16 deliveries prevented them from building a larger total.
The hosts now face the prospect of having to limit Australia's lead before trying to make the most of their second innings.
The pace attack will be central to that effort, with Gerald Coetzee offering the raw pace to trouble Australia's batsmen, despite still searching for greater consistency.
“Gerald is quick, you see the pace that he can bowl. “With his pace, he is going to put pressure on the opposition,” Botha said.
Coetzee's ability to generate bounce was viewed positively, although his control faded as the innings progressed.
“He started off well and as he went along probably lost his line and length a little bit, but I thought the pace he was bowling was good,” he said.
There was also some concern around Jansen, who experienced stiffness in his back during the day after bowling a significant workload.
“It’s a little bit stiff. Not sure what it is. So, we’ll take deeper [look] into that and see what the problem is,” he said, although he stressed there was “nothing serious at this stage”.
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