Australia collapse to leave World Test Championship wide open

World Test Championship final, Lord's (day two of five)

Australia 212: Webster 72; Rabada 5-51 & 144-8: Carey 43; Ngidi 3-35

South Africa 138: Bedingham 45; Cummins 6-28

Australia lead by 218 runs

Scorecard

Australia suffered a dramatic second-innings batting collapse to leave the World Test Championship final hanging in the balance after another topsy-turvy day dominated by the bowlers at Lord's.

South Africa had resumed their first innings on 43-4 and managed to reach 121-5 by the lunch break with skipper Temba Bavuma, who made 36, the only wicket to fall in the morning.

But the relative serenity of those first couple of hours gave way to unbridled chaos as 13 wickets fell across the next two sessions.

Australia captain Pat Cummins claimed 6-28 to play the leading hand after lunch with the last five South African wickets costing just 12 runs.

David Bedingham top-scored for the Proteas with 45, one of four players in their side who made it into double figures in their total of 138.

Cummins' side appeared to be in the driving seat, only for South Africa's bowling attack to blow the match wide open as they ran through Australia's top order during a frenzied period after tea.

Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were the only Australian batters in the top six to make double figures as South Africa's attack turned up the heat.

Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada picked up 3-35 and 3-44 respectively while Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder also claimed one apiece.

Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey had counter-attacked with 43 off 50 balls but it felt a huge moment in the context of the match when he was trapped lbw by Rabada late on.

Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood survived a nervous couple of overs before stumps - Jansen dropped Starc at gully off Mulder - to leave Australia on 144-8 at the close and 218 runs in front.

The steward at the bottom of the steps in front of the Lord's pavilion must be in danger of suffering from repetitive strain injury.

Every time he settled back into his chair after lifting the latch to open and close the gate to allow an Australian batter out to the middle he was soon repeating it to welcome him back again not long after.

Australia had reached 28 without loss just before tea when their tormentor from the first day, Rabada, lit the blue-touch paper.

First he dismissed Usman Khawaja in a similar vein to the first innings, inducing a nick to the wicketkeeper from the left-hander with a delivery which squared him up.

Then two balls later Cameron Green departed after a defensive prod flew to Mulder at third slip.

The majority of the English 'neutrals' in the crowd are supporting South Africa, and they were whipped into a frenzy by the Australian capitulation which followed in the evening.

Labuschagne was guilty of poor shot selection when he edged a loose drive off Jansen to the diving Kyle Verreynne.

Australia were 48-4 when Ngidi lulled Smith into stepping across his stumps and was struck on the pad, the crowd erupting when Bavuma's review overturned the original decision of not out.

Webster was given out without the need for DRS after a nip-backer from Ngidi before Mulder thudded one into Head's off stump from round the wicket.

A yorker from Ngidi into Cummins' pads deflected on to the stumps and Australia were in tatters at 73-7.

Those with tickets for fourth day of this contest would be well advised to start making alternative plans if the first two days of this match are anything to go by.

Barring any interjections from the weather it would be a minor miracle if this contest now stretches through until Saturday.

Day three, however, could be a nerve-shredding humdinger.

It had looked like Cummins was going to be the talking point of the day after he had got his name on the Lord's honours board.

Australia's bowlers had initially seen their efforts thwarted by Bavuma and Bedingham.

After pulling down the shutters on day one, Bavuma showed more attacking intent before he drove Cummins on the up and Labuschagne pulled off a spectacular full-length diving catch at cover.

Nevertheless, South Africa would have been happy with their position heading into the interval only to be blown away like a house of cards in a hurricane.

Rabada had provided a template for Cummins as he etched his name on the Lord's honours board in the home dressing room with 5-51 in the first innings.

According to CricViz, the consistency of the Aussie skipper's lengths (7.21m) were almost identical to Rabada's (7.25) from the first innings which showed an acute ability to put theory into action.

Cummins had Kyle Verreynne trapped lbw attempting to work the ball to leg - given out on review - then three balls later took a simple return catch to dismiss Marco Jansen.

Bedingham was Cummins' fifth when he nicked off to delivery he had to play at before Rabada slogged him deep into the hands of Webster, who picked up the ball late but readjusted to dive forward to claim the catch.

South Africa had been polished off in the space of an hour as Cummins became the eighth Australian bowler to reach the milestone of 300 Test wickets.

He also became the first Test captain to take a five-for at Lord's since Daniel Vettori's 5-69 for New Zealand against England in 2008.

While South Africa have all the momentum, they must come up with a way to counter Cummins in their second innings to chase down whatever total they are set.

South Africa paceman Lungi Ngidi told TMS:

"It's in the balance right now. Two wickets in hand. If we can knock those over and maybe chase 225, people are going to get their money's worth.

"I guess that's what a Test Championship final should bring. A lot of guys have put their hands up. It's been really exciting and tough cricket out there.

"We were very disappointed not to get to Australia's total. We were up against a world-class attack. Every mistake you make is a chance to them and I give credit where credit's due. They bowled well.

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc told TMS:

"You bowl good balls, good spells, and you'll be rewarded with a few loose shots over the two days but we've seen some quality bowling.

"There's still enough in the wicket. In England when it's overcast, the ball seems to do a bit more. Everyone is quick to jump on the batters but you've got to notice the good bowling from both sides."