South African seamer Anrich Nortje believes the Australian top order was “definitely” uncomfortable against his side’s short bowling and he says there’s more to come in what‘s likely to be a fiery Boxing Day clash.
The Australian side dominated the first Test at the Gabba, winning six wickets in only the second day of play as skipper Pat Cummins took seven wickets across both innings.
With only 33 runs needed by the Aussies in the final innings, South Africa’s intimidating quartet of Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen decided to make a statement of intent for coming games.
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The 29-year-old was asked if it was a conscious decision to stamp their mark with the short ball in the fourth innings and Nortje said “that’s a fair statement”.
Despite only chasing a slender total, the South Africans were able to take four wickets, with Rabada leading the charge.
“I wanted to make sure it’s not going to be easy… it’s going to be hard to get,” Nortje said.
“Just coming as hard as we can during that session, during that short little time and making it uncomfortable – it went according to what we wanted to do.
“Not even a session – probably half a session – and the game could have been different and we could have been in a winning position.
“That’s how quick things were happening, so you can’t really take too much … you can’t look at losing by six wickets and say it’s a big margin on that wicket.”
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Nortje also “it’s never nice getting a ball past your head at high speed” and said his side need to be “on it again” in what could be a fiery clash at the MCG come Boxing Day.
“I just think all-in-all, in general, giving a ball at 140-150km/h past your head is not comfortable,” he said.
“Whether you’re the best puller or best player in the world, it’s still uncomfortable.
“In a certain situation, you could possibly hit someone and just take their feet away, so that’s the goal of a bouncer.
“You never know when it’s going to come.”
The Gabba wicket came under heavy scrutiny for producing the second fastest ever completed test in Australia and curators were handed a demerit point.
Meanwhile, the MCG wicket will be using two full days of sun in the lead-up to the first ball after the touring side said the wicket was a “little bit soft” on Friday.
