Wiaan Mulder's Four-for Sinks Australia to 230/8 as South Africa Unleash Second New Ball on Day 2 in Durban

South Africa's seamers struck with the second new ball on Day 2 of the first Test against Australia at Kingsmead, Durban, as Wiaan Mulder ripped through the lower order to leave the tourists reeling at 230 for 8.

Mulder's Wobble-Seam Ripper Ends Starc's Stay

The defining moment of the session came at the drinks break, when Mulder produced an absolute jaffa to dismiss Mitchell Starc. After bringing the previous delivery back into the left-hander, Mulder held his length and released a wobble-seam ball that left the batter off the surface.

Starc, expecting the inswinger, closed the face of his bat as he tried to clip the ball away — only for it to deck away off the seam, square him up completely and shatter the stumps. It was wicket number four for Mulder, and it ended Australia's eighth-wicket partnership with the score on 230. As the commentary noted, the delivery was "just too good for any batter, let alone a number 9."

Just moments before the wicket, Starc had survived a scare when a swinging Mulder delivery rapped him on the front pad on a good length, though the ball was sliding too straight to threaten the stumps.

Second New Ball Taken Straight Away

With the second new ball suddenly available, South Africa wasted no time in taking it. The fourth umpire brought out the brand-new cherry, and captain Kyle Verreynne's side — with the wicketkeeper gathering sharply behind the stumps — handed it straight to Marco Jansen, who was reintroduced alongside Mulder.

Jansen opened with the new ball and immediately found a testing channel to the left-handed Matt Renshaw, angling the ball in toward off stump on a nagging length before watching it nip away with bounce past the outside edge. Renshaw, though, was equal to the challenge, covering his off stump and shouldering arms as the seamer probed his defences.

Jansen's composure was momentarily broken by a wayward, wide start down the off side, but he settled into a disciplined line, repeatedly beating Renshaw's outside edge with away movement off a good length. When he pitched one fuller on off, Renshaw resisted the urge to go hard at the drive, instead opening the face of the bat to glide the ball wide of gully for a couple of runs.

Harmer and Maharaj Turn the Screw

After the early seam burst, South Africa's spinners took over the workload. Simon Harmer, bowling for the first time on Day 2, kept Starc pinned on the front foot with fuller, stump-to-stump deliveries, before a moment of drama slipped through the fielders' fingers.

Harmer dragged his length and pushed the ball quicker through the air outside off; Starc hung back to punch it away but could only find an outside edge. Aiden Markram, at slip, bent low and got both hands up around his chest, but the ball was almost past him — it clipped his fingertips and trickled away into the fence for four. It was celebrated as a dropped chance and a lucky boundary for the Australian tail-ender.

At the other end, Keshav Maharaj kept up the pressure with clever variations in pace. He slowed one up temptingly on middle, drawing Starc into playing outside the line, and the ball spun back to take the inside edge onto the pads. On another occasion, Maharaj looped one up and Starc chipped it uppishly — but it dropped safely, well short of the bowler, with cries of "catch" dying in the throat.

Maharaj also overstepped while Renshaw reverse-swept him for a single behind point, conceding a no-ball that the spinner would have been furious about, the commentary calling it "a cardinal sin for any spinner."

Renshaw Holds Firm

Through it all, Renshaw remained Australia's most assured presence at the crease. He rotated strike steadily — tickling a full, hooping Mulder delivery down to deep fine leg, steering Jansen behind square on the off side, and later clipping Maharaj square on the leg side — while also showing the discipline to leave good deliveries alone.

Against Maharaj he used the reverse sweep to good effect, and against Harmer he pushed a fuller ball to deep point to keep the scoreboard moving. His willingness to bide his time and punish the loose ball gave Australia a platform to rebuild around, even as wickets tumbled at the opposite end.

As the second session wore on, the game remained finely balanced. South Africa's decision to take the new ball immediately had borne fruit with Mulder's fourth scalp, while Australia, anchored by Renshaw, were left fighting to drag their first innings toward a competitive total. With the tail now exposed and the pitch beginning to offer help to both the quicker men and the spinners, the afternoon session promised further twists at Kingsmead.