Melbourne Test, day 2, Close
Thursday, December 27

I never thought 277 was going to be enough on this wicket. Just as in the first Test, South Africa have let Australia score too quickly - and not scored quickly enough themselves.

The pitch looks like a concrete one, and Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer played that way. The South African bowlers haven't swung the ball at all, they don't seem to have had a plan - or if they have they haven't stuck to it. All of them have been driven down the ground and looked pretty ordinary.

I said Langer and Hayden would both go after Allan Donald, and they certainly did. Donald needed to be right at his peak from the first ball, but he wasn't. He made it easy for them.

The South Africans didn't bowl with any confidence. Shaun Pollock was impatient with his bowling changes, which doesn't instill confidence in the bowlers.

That seems to be part of the problem at the moment - they just don't have any confidence to feed off. Rather than impatiently trying to get wickets every ball they should be trying to bore Australia out.

Hayden and Langer have been solid again. They got each other through a slowish patch at the end, but there have been scoring opportunities all over the place.

They will continue to attack tomorrow, and the pressure is all going to be on Pollock and Donald. They need to take their chances when they come. They can't worry about what's happened - they've been almost sleepy, waiting around for the openers to get out. The type of pressure they're able to put on tomorrow will have a big say in the outcome of the match.

Australia would love to bat all day tomorrow. They can't be too reckless, otherwise they will lose wickets and, all of a sudden, there's a lot of work for the lower order to do. South Africa can use that. They know the Australian middle order has been a bit vulnerable this summer.

Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia. His comments will be appearing exclusively on Wisden.com after each session in this series. He was talking to Tim Stoney.

More Ian Healy
Day 2, Tea: Donald's day of reckoning
Day 2, Lunch: South Africa didn't make the most of their luck

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