Lyon and Starc tighten Australia’s grip

South Africa 6 for 194 (Cook 81*, Lyon 3-48) lead Australia 383 (Khawaja 145, Smith 59, Handscomb 54, Starc 53, Abbott 3-49, Rabada 3-84) by 70 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details

By the time Nathan Lyon took his first wicket of this Test, he had endured a 660-ball drought without a first-class breakthrough. He was lucky even to be playing, for only Steve O’Keefe’s calf injury saved Lyon from the axe, prevented the Goat from becoming the scapegoat. But on the third evening Lyon gave Australia’s selectors a reminder of why he has become Australia’s most prolific offspinning Test wicket taker, his three strikes tightening Australia’s grip on the match.

Lyon picked up three wickets, a fired-up Mitchell Starc collected two, and Josh Hazlewood removed Hashim Amla for the fifth time from five innings in this series to leave South Africa on 6 for 194 at stumps, with a lead of 70 runs. Stephen Cook was on 81 and Quinton de Kock was yet to score, and they faced the task of adding at least another hundred or more runs on the fourth day to set Australia a target that would prove challenging.

Full report to follow

Josh Hazlewood dismissed Hashim Amla for the fifth time from five innings this series as South Africa chipped away at their deficit on the third day at Adelaide Oval. Earlier in the day a half-century from Mitchell …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com