Runs and wickets, or often the lack of them, tend to dominate the narrative of Test cricket. On the third day at Kingsmead, Steven Smith put on a display of catching that warrants its own appreciation.
He took four in all, three of them superb, including two pieces of outstanding awareness at leg slip, that were a central feature of a day where Australia continued to hold the aces. When South Africa were 197 for 8 a huge lead was on the card, but they were frustrated by the lower order, who showed up the efforts of the home side's more accomplished batters. However, when Smith held his fourth catch to end the innings, they had a 106-run buffer and added handily to it before the inevitable bad light arrived.
Search on YouTube and there are various compilations of Smith taking spectacular catches in a range of positions. Australia have a rich history of great slippers: Jack Gregory, Bob Simpson, Ian Chappell, Mark Taylor, Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting among them. Where Smith stands is an interesting debate. Data by CricViz showed he has a catching percentage of 77%, well below the best: his namesake, Graeme, held 90% of his chances.
Regardless, for now let's appreciate what he did in South Africa's first innings. His first catch came when he noticed Temba Bavuma, tied down on 3 off 26 balls as Australia's bowlers applied significant pressure, was shaping to reverse Nathan Lyon and starting to move to his right. Bavuma couldn't keep the ball down, and Smith snaffled it.
His next was a dive to his left at second slip as David Bedingham drove at Pat Cummins. In truth, it looked more spectacular than it needed to be as it was heading straight to Matt Renshaw at first slip, but Smith committed and got both hands to it.
However, the best was no doubt his third. Remarkably, it came from the second South Africa batter to be dismissed reverse-sweeping in the space of 26 overs. This time it was Kyle Verreynne and he sent the ball squarer, meaning Smith had to make more ground and was able to hold onto a breathtaking one-handed catch. "Oh my god, Smudge," Marnus Labuschagne could be heard yelling in reaction.
"I've been very fortunate to have him [Smith] standing at first slip or leg slip for pretty well the majority of my career," Lyon said. "And I'm extremely grateful for that. He's an incredible thinker of the game, but the way he moves, premeditates for those type of catches, they're freakish.
"There's not many people within that changing room that will be able to pull off what he does. You look back at [Cheteshwar] Pujara a couple of years ago over in India, like a freakish catch. It's similar to today. But he genuinely practices that, the amount of catches that he does at training is incredible. You look at the likes [of], when I first came into the Test side, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, how much they caught balls and Steve's exactly the same."
Asked if even Smith was pleased with his efforts, Lyon added: "There's probably no one more impressed than Steve."
Lyon and Smith have had a profitable relationship, which is not surprising for a spinner-catcher duo who have featured in 112 matches together. They are the second-most prolific bowler-outfielder pairing in the history of Test cricket, behind Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralidaran.
Smith's second grab of the day put him back above Joe Root as the most prolific outfield catcher in Test cricket as the pair of batting superstars continue to trade the position. The way Smith is holding them means he may have created some distance from Root by the time he arrives for England's series in December.
As it happened, the one catch that didn't go Australia's way was when Smith had moved himself to leg slip shortly before lunch and Wiaan Mulder edged Lyon low to Labuschagne who had taken his pace. Initially the catch looked clean, but it was sent to the TV umpire who ruled Labuschagne's fingers were not quite underneath.
While Smith's two leg-slip catches were the eye-catching aspects of the wickets, they rewarded Lyon on what was an encouraging day for the offspinner. He is still early in his return to Test cricket after the Ashes-ending hamstring injury last year, a comeback that brought some questions given it was a second serious injury in three years and he is now 38. "I still feel like there's a lot of decent cricket ahead of me, that's for sure," Lyon said.
Bangladesh played him excellently on a slow Darwin surface, but Lyon starting to find his stride in Mackay albeit he wasn't needed much in the two-day finish. The scenario facing him in Durban is where he has so often earned his corn over a 143-match career, but which have been less frequent in the last couple of years where the pace bowlers have dominated.
Effectively part of a four-match attack (the allrounders and part-timers only sent down eight overs), Lyon came on in the 18th over and, after his first delivery was driven through the off side by Aiden Markram, quickly settled into his work. He bowled 11 balls to Bavuma for a single before the South Africa captain opted for the reverse sweep which ended in Smith's hands, and it was an artful piece of bowling from around the wicket to find the edge from Mulder that was ruled not to have carried.
"It was a nice breeze out there for me today," Lyon said. "So I felt like my shape was pretty good and I was pretty happy with it."
Lyon will likely have an even bigger role to play in the fourth innings if Australia are to force a victory, and Australia will hope that Smith maintains his 100% record if edges keep coming his way.