De Kock-Warner row taints first Test
A spat between wicketkeeper and opening batsman overshadows Australia’s 118-run victory
When all eyes should have been on Mitchell Starc pursuing a first Test hat-trick after dismembering the lower order late on day four on Sunday, the unsavoury verbal fracas between David Warner and Quinton de Kock overshadowed Australia’s 118-run victory in the first Test. Light may have denied Australia the opportunity of wrapping up the game late on the fourth evening but 22 balls sufficed to administer the last rites on Monday morning. Josh Hazlewood was the grim reaper and denied Starc a well-earned 10-wicket haul. Starc was the deserved man-of-the-match, but the day four tea interval incident in which Australia’s opener engaged in a verbal missive contest with SA’s wicketkeeper marred the Test. Decorum, it seemed, was flushed down the toilet as tempers on a hot Sunday afternoon bubbled over and captain Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja had to restrain Warner. The unseemly incident took the gloss of routinely excellent Australian performance on South African shores when it comes to ...
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