Experimental Australia batting line-up exposed – but their bowling attack remains supreme

Telegraph

a day ago

An evening of stellar fast bowling leaves Australia as strong favourites to retain their World Test Championship at Lord's. But Australia needed Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins at their strangling, relentless best, after their batting line-up had displayed more hints of frailty.
Last home summer, admittedly against a cocktail of spicy wickets and Jasprit Bumrah, only one Australian Test batsman averaged 35. Such struggles contributed to them reshuffling their top three dramatically for the World Test Championship final.
Marnus Labuschagne, the long-term No 3, moved up to open for the first time in a Test match. But for all his doughty defence, here Labuschagne resembled a cricketer who has long mislaid his best form. Over 56 balls, he displayed little of the proactivity that characterised the brilliant start to his Test career – or Steve Smith showed in his supreme 66 at Lord's.
Instead, Labuschagne stumbled against terrific new-ball bowling by Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen. When he pushed Jansen behind to fall for 17, it extended his slump. In Labuschagne's first 30 Tests, up to December 2022, he averaged 60.8 and scored 10 hundreds. In his past 28 Tests, he now averages just 30.5, with a solitary century. Although Labuschagne turns only 31 later this month, there is a sense that elevating him to open represents a last chance for him to save his Test career.
Yet Labuschagne was only one Australian player batting in a novel position. After returning from injury and his brilliant stint as a specialist batsman at Gloucestershire, paid for by an anonymous benefactor, Cameron Green made his first Test appearance for 17 months. Green walked out at No 3, the highest he has batted in Test cricket. Three balls later, he prodded Rabada to the slips and trudged off for four.
There is even some uncertainty about the position of the one man in the top three batting in their usual position.
Usman Khawaja has enjoyed a brilliant flourishing after his re-emergence as an opener four years ago. But he is now exhibiting growing vulnerability against high-class pace bowling. He averaged just 20.4 against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, tormented by Bumrah, though a double-century in Sri Lanka in February showed Khawaja's continued aptitude against spin.
His first ball at Lord's, which jagged off a length and beat his groping bat, set the template. Scoreless throughout his first 19 balls, showing no more relish for facing Rabada than he had for Bumrah, Khawaja edged his 20th behind.
South Africa get the breakthrough ‼️ pic.twitter.com/NveconHy5C
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 11, 2025
The vulnerabilities of Australia's top order should not obscure Rabada's magnificence. Arriving at Lord's after a brief ban for the use of recreational drugs, he saw the Test Championship final as his stage.
Rabada has often lamented South Africa 's sparse Test schedule. Nearing 10 full years in the format, during which he has been an automatic pick, this was only his 71st Test.
But Rabada's five wickets at Lord's, which took his overall haul to 332, surpassing Allan Donald, emphasised his greatness in the format. Against Australia, his 54 Test wickets have come at a rate of one every 38 balls: the best of anyone who has taken at least 50 wickets against Australia.
His method at Lord's was Rabada in excelsis: using wobble seam to move the ball off the pitch both ways at speeds approaching 90mph, with the occasional venomous bouncer thrown in. After snaring Khawaja and Green with the new ball, Rabada then returned to bowl Australia out with the old ball, clean bowling both Cummins and Starc.
Yet, not for the first time in his career, Rabada was left lamenting inadequate support from his team-mates.
Bowling Australia out for 212 fully vindicated South Africa's decision to field first. Yet captain Temba Bavuma would still feel a pang of regret at Australia's total. When Beau Webster had made eight – Rabada, naturally was the bowler – Bavuma neglected to review an lbw appeal. Had South Africa used the Decision Review System, Webster would have been out; instead, his 72 continued the fine start to his Test career.
But, in front of a full house that included thousands wearing the country's cricket or rugby shirts, South Africa's greatest regret from the opening day was predictable. The sight of all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, who has a Test average of 22, walking out at No 3 encapsulated the state of South Africa's batting.
Australia's pace trio exhibited their full range of skills – Starc swinging the new ball prodigiously, while Cummins and Hazlewood settled into bowling back of a length with the wobble seam. Facing such excellence, South Africa's struggles were understandable.
Yet batsmen could have been more proactive – for instance, taking guard a few inches further forward to force Australia to adjust their lengths. Instead, Mulder took 44 balls over his six runs; Bavuma took until his 31st delivery to get off the mark. Ironic cheers ensued from the Australian contingent in the crowd. South Africa will need to find a new approach if they are to stop more Australian celebrations over the coming days.