Freakish moment for Scott Boland inspires hilarious 'Santa' sledge

Scott Boland's delivery of a rare sight in cricket - the ball hitting the stumps but the bails staying put - inspired a brilliant bit of sledging from Nathan Lyon on day one of the Boxing Day Test. Boland looked to have a chance to claim South African skipper Dean Elgar's wicket when he rapped him on the pads, only for the ball to gently roll into the stumps to no avail.

It was a fortunate turn of events for Elgar as the ball gently nudged the stumps, leaving the bails firmly in place, and the Aussies rueing a close chance of a wicket at the MCG. Lyon, known for his chatter in the field, was quick to let a relieved Elgar know how lucky he'd been.

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“I reckon that’s your Santa present….That’s Santa coming late I reckon,” Lyon said. Despite Elgar's quick reply asserting he had been a 'good boy' this year, Lyon simply wasn't copping it.

“Never. You’re never on the good list," Lyon shot back. The home side would get their man some time later thanks to a sharp run-out from Marnus Labuschagne - but Elgar's luck preoccupied commentators in the meantime.

Fox Cricket commentators Mark Waugh and Isa Guha couldn't believe Elgar's luck, who went on to get the middle of his bat on the next delivery, only for Labuschagne to prevent a run with some sharp fielding. While it might have been an omen of things to come for Elgar, Waugh was amazed at the Proteas skipper's good fortune.

“It’s just rolled back and did it clip the stump? It just lipped out, soft putt lipped out of the hole with the pace it rolled back,” Waugh said. Elgar earned another reprieve a short time later when Lyon was just unable to get a grip on a chance off the bowling of Cameron Green, with Guha rightly pointing out that Elgar had been rising his luck.

“Elgar is riding his luck, chop on which hit the stumps and a dropped chance," she observed, after pointing out how Labuschagne had been doing a good job of backing up his bowlers and putting pressure on the visitors. That luck would soon run out when he challenged Labuschagne for a run and lost.

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On the very next ball after Elgar's dismissal, Mitchell Starc had Temba Bavuma caught behind for just one run - placing the visitors in a hugely precarious position. Fox Cricket commentator Ian Smith was scathing in his assessment of South Africa's play leading up to the lunch break, particularly the way de Bruyne lost his wicket.

“That’s a big mistake. Just as we talk about them owning the session, they don’t. If he’s not cross with himself, he should be ... this is a very poor and tough option," he said. “South Africa have given Australia three gifts in this session, three gifts they didn’t need.”

Former Australian coach Justin Langer was also brutally honest in describing what he'd seen from the South African captain, describing it as 'dumb cricket' as he lambasted their middle-order collapse.

“The great Allan Border once told me, Test cricket is about five days of cricket. What we have seen in this first session, we have seen some pretty dumb cricket from South Africa,” Langer on commentary for Channel 7. "A poor decision by the captain to take on Marnus in the first session. A cardinal sin. Run- outs in Test cricket are a cardinal sin.

"Then what happens, Bavuma next ball. All of a sudden a run-out. We have seen some poor decisions by South Africa today. As Ricky (Ponting) said, Bavuma could have left that ball with the extra bounce here every day of the week. There’s five days of cricket. De Bruyn’s dismissal, poor decision making. This has not been great batting by South Africa all morning.”

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