The good old Pat Cummins turns up in Durban

Pat Cummins has played only four matches for Australia this year across formats, one of them an ODI he might not even have played if the team hadn’t been hit by multiple injuries. Since the ODI World Cup title win in 2023, he has played just three ODIs, and stand-in skipper Mitchell Marsh has now led the side in more ODI matches than Cummins has in his career. The workload is managed to hit one goal — to be able to burst in and bowl full tilt in Test matches like the one at Durban.

And Cummins put on a show. He shut down any hopes the hosts had of closing in on Australia’s first innings score when he came on for a third spell on day 3. Tristan Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder had batted Nathan Lyon out of the attack when Cummins turned up from the other end. There were divots on the pitch by now, despite the pristine nature of it, and Cummins had no second thoughts on what he needed to do.

He had already hit full tilt in his earlier spell, consistently clocking over 140 kph. But here, the bowlers needed to do more than just that. Conditions were still very good for batting and Stubbs and Mulder had settled down well. Cummins dished out two fuller balls at Mulder before banging one at 143 kph into one of the divots on the pitch, which got awkward extra bounce that Mulder wasn’t quite sure how to counter. He pulled out of the shot halfway through, only to send it up into the air. The partnership was broken, but Cummins wasn’t done.

Pat Cummins sends back Wiaan Mulder in SA vs AUS 1st Test — The setup of Wiaan Mulder from Pat Cummins

How Pat Cummins set up Tristan Stubbs twice

He had already set up Stubbs for what would be a very tame dismissal. The South African had shown good flair against Cummins, pulling more than a couple of balls off his ribs to the leg side. The Australian skipper sent down another short ball, clever enough to land it outside the off stump. It was the shortest delivery he had bowled to Stubbs this innings and yet again, the tennis-ball-like bounce meant Stubbs was unsure on the pull.

Pat Cummins gets Tristan Stubbs on the pull shot in SA vs AUS Durban Test — Pat Cummins gets Tristan Stubbs on the pull shot

The twin strikes were as timely as they could come for the Aussies. South Africa’s lower order would muster up valuable runs later on, but Cummins had broken what seemed like the most threatening partnership in the innings right when it was picking up, and landed a double blow to keep the Proteas down.

If the first innings showed shades of Cummins when he’s good, the second innings showed what Cummins at his peak can be. His setup of Stubbs was exceptional by itself, forcing him onto the backfoot with back of a length deliveries, before serving up a sucker ball wide and full that Stubbs fished at. Stubbs, his mindset raising multiple question marks across formats in the last couple of years, was worked over by Cummins’ shrewdness.

But it was his old ball spell, wicketless as it was, that revealed just how skilful a bowler Cummins is.

Pat Cummins sucking Tristan Stubbs into the drive in the second innings at Durban SA vs AUS 1st Test — Pat Cummins sucking Tristan Stubbs into the drive in the second innings at Durban

In the second innings, more than 85% of his deliveries landed outside off stump. He hit the good length and back of a length relentlessly, getting the odd ball to bounce extra or deviate off the seam, even in the 60th over of the innings. While Hazlewood grabbed the limelight, Cummins once again plugged away in the channel, showing remarkable skill with the old ball.

Pat Cummins pitch map fourth innings SA vs AUS 1st Test

These phenomenal performances with the ball in the Test from Cummins probably don’t stand out in the scorecard the same way Matt Renshaw’s marathon batting effort and Josh Hazlewood’s six-wicket haul do. They might even pale in comparison to Cummins’ own very different knocks in the two innings. A backs-against-the-wall 43 off 98 balls in the first and a record-breaking declaration knock in the second, in which he pummelled four sixes in 12 balls. But in terms of sheer impact, Cummins’ bowling in the Durban Test showed just why he’s as good as he is.

Data source: Darpan Jain

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