Johannesburg - Eighteen wickets and 243 runs in 83 overs. The start to the 2016-17 Sunfoil Series was anything but dull at the Wanderers on Wednesday.
Indeed, there was plenty to keep the seamers interested... the pitch had a good covering of grass, it’s not lacking for pace and in typical Wanderers fashion, there’s also lots of bounce.
Highveld Lions' Sean Jamison nipped the new ball around in the morning, as did Cape Cobras' Vernon Philander later on, but it's not a 102 all out pitch. Many batsmen would have reflected on some loose strokeplay, gifting their wickets away. If there was an example to be followed, it came in the form of Temba Bavuma.
He stood tall amidst the carnage of day one. His was an innings not without problems, but it showed that with proper application this surface wasn’t a minefield.
Bavuma is in a rich vein of form. His feet are moving well and he’s very well-balanced at the crease. He has two hundreds in limited-overs cricket already this season - one in the eKasi Challenge and another on his ODI debut against Ireland.
On Wednesday, he left the ball well outside off-stump and when he chose to drive, he did so with panache. No one came close to displaying the ease with which Bavuma performed and he must hope - along with the Proteas - that he can maintain this form in Australia next month.
He ended on 63 not out on Wednesday; the next best score was 29 from Cobras No 4 Zubayr Hamza, and he should have been out for two with Yasser Cook grassing a catch at gully off debutant Wiaan Mulder.
Putting aside a 20-ball duck later on, it was a good start to his professional career for 18-year-old Mulder.
He picked up 3/10 in seven overs, having conceded eight runs to Jason Smith in his first over.
Jamison was impressive in his first spell and claimed 3/37, while Nono Pongolo and Hardus Viljoen picked up two wickets apiece.
Trying to maintain his rhythm ahead of the Proteas tour Down Under, Philander found the pitch much to his liking and won a key early battle with national teammate Stephen Cook, trapping him lbw for just five.
A highly-regarded, young all-rounder, Smith bowled a good spell from the Golf Course End to register impressive figures of 4/24, though the scalps of Mulder and Bjorn Fortuin were gifts.
The Lions ended on Wednesday 39 runs in front, thanks largely to Bavuma but Pongolo deserves credit too.
He stuck around and played some delightful drives in the last hour as the pair put on an unbeaten ninth-wicket partnership of 42. It puts the Lions within sight of a batting bonus point, following a day that belonged comprehensively to the bowlers.
The Star