Australia vs South Africa: Live and Scoreboard: Alex Carey's first ton propels Australia to a win against South Africa
As Australia approach a series win against South Africa, Alex Carey becomes the first wicketkeeper to achieve an MCG Test century since Rod Marsh in 1977
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Alex Carey was Australia's man of the moment.The hosts scored 575-8 in response to South Africa's 189 in the first innings before declaring and shifting the spotlight on the Proteas.
The decision was appropriate because South Africa's captain Dean Elgar was caught for a duck, and his team's score was 15-1 at stumps.
The game was called off early due to rain at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A premature end to Day 3 sees our Aussie men firmly in control of this match. <br><br>Join us back tomorrow for a bumper day of cricket as our boys chase a series victory against South Africa 🤞🏻 <a href="https://t.co/uscvLxTu7q">pic.twitter.com/uscvLxTu7q</a></p>— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) <a href="https://twitter.com/CricketAus/status/1607985306866970624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The tourists had another bad day, but the morning session started off well with a flurry of wickets.
Anrich Nortje, a fast bowler, first took out Travis Head for 51 runs before taking out David Warner for 200 runs. Warner had been out to the first ball he faced on day three after withdrawing on day two due to discomfort.
Pat Cummins dodged the hat-trick ball, and pacer Kagiso Rabada's delivery saw him be caught behind for four.
South Africa had grabbed three wickets for five runs, leaving Australia on 400 for six after starting the day on 386 for three.
However, Australia gained a second wind in the first inning when Nathan Lyon joined Carey at the crease. Before Cameron Green scored an unbroken 51 despite breaking his index finger on day two, Lyon scored a valiant 25.
Due to his injury, Green will be sidelined from the bowling attack for the remainder of the game and the third Test in Sydney. In South Africa's opening innings, he had figures of 5-27.
Carey, playing in his 14th Test, raced to 111 before being caught and bowled by Marco Jansen.
Carey is the first Australian wicketkeeper to score a Test century since Brad Haddin in 2013 and only the second at the MCG after Rod Marsh.
South Africa's second knock instantly put them in jeopardy. Elgar's duck off Cummins' bowling means that the tour's visiting captain has only scored 31 runs in four innings.
Warner dropped Theunis de Bruyn on three, which might have been disastrous for South Africa. Instead, he stays alive with Sarel Erwee.
The match's outcome is still in Australia's hands, though, as they lead by 371 runs and have two days to secure the nine final wickets.
After winning the first Test in Brisbane by a margin of six wickets, Australia has a 1-0 series lead over England.
Match Summary
Second Test, Day 3 - Melbourne Cricket Ground
South Africa 189, 15-1
Australia 575-8dec: Warner 200, Carey 111; Nortje 3-92
South Africa trail Australia by 371 runs with nine wickets remaining