Concerns for SA over Nortje injury

South Africa picked up five wickets to leave Australia reeling on 69/6 at lunch on the fourth day of the second Test.

Marco Jansen, on a high after his momentum-changing effort with the bat on Tuesday, picked up four wickets, two of those in a 15-minute period before the interval, that will lift the mood in the Proteas changeroom.

There would have been major concerns for the home team when Anrich Nortje left the field midway through his fourth over, biting into a towel, with what the Proteas management later described as “a suspected right groin injury”.

The fast bowler, who played his first Test in three years last week in Durban, will not bowl again in the Australian first innings.

Jansen got among the Australians immediately, dismissing nightwatchman Scott Boland with his first ball and giving Ryan Rickelton his first catch as wicketkeeper.

Travis Head had copped a few nasty blows on the thigh from Kagiso Rabada, who was bowling with searing pace at the start — with one delivery timed at 154.4km/h — and never looked settled.

Jansen took advantage of the softening-up done by his teammate. He slanted a delivery past Head’s bat and though the initial appeal for lbw was somewhat muted and turned down by umpire Arno Jacobs, the decision to call on the DRS proved correct, as the trajectory of the ball would have taken in onto the top of middle and leg.

A fiery period followed with Marnus Labuschagne and Jansen sharing words. The change to introduce Nortje brought immediate dividends, with Labuschagne pushing at a delivery, offering a chance to the cordon, where Simon Harmer took a sensational one-handed catch, diving low to his left from third slip.

Australia’s hero from the first Test at Kingsmead, Matt Renshaw, and their former captain Steve Smith, then held the Proteas at bay for an hour, able to relax a bit with Nortje going off and Harmer having to bowl more overs than Temba Bavuma would have wanted.

The South African captain turned back to his two frontline quicks for a burst before lunch, with Jansen delivering two enormous wickets. Renshaw was undone by one that bounced more than he anticipated and he failed to control it, edging towards gully, where Harmer claimed a third catch in the innings diving forward.

Two balls later Alex Carey wafted at another ball that bounced more than expected from Jansen to leave Australia in a deep hole at lunch.

Smith will resume on 26 in the company of Beau Webster, who is yet to score with Australia needing to make another 156 runs to avoid the follow-on.