Late wickets give Aus A the upper hand

A century stand by experienced pair Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl saw South Africa A recover from some early trembles to reach 4-181 at stumps on day two against Australia A in Brisbane.

Bushrangers speedster Chris Tremain got the late breakthroughs for the home side, removing Dean Elgar (56) with a searing delivery that caught the batsman's outside edge and flew through to Sam Whiteman behind the stumps, before sending Test player Temba Bavuma on his way in the final over of the day.

Left-hander Stiaan van Zyl was the best of the Proteas batsmen, going to stumps unbeaten on 80 after playing the dominant hand in a 114-run partnership for the third wicket with Elgar, as South Africa A find themselves trailing Australia A by 215 runs with seven wicket in hand.

The tourists lost two wickets relatively early in their innings, Tremain snaring the wicket of Proteas captain Stephen Cook with his second delivery, trapped lbw for five.

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Joe Mennie (0-15) toiled tremendously without reward, finding a regular line and length from the Crosby Rd End and drying up the run-rate.

Glenn Maxwell, sparingly used as a bowler on the international scene over the past 12 months, found a willing skipper in Peter Handscomb, who rolled the dice with the off-spinner in the 17th over.

Maxwell went for a boundary from his third delivery but repaid his captain's faith with a wicket from the first ball of his second over.

And what a wicket it was.

Proteas No.3 Omphile Ramela had made a painstaking four from 53 balls before the Victorian intervened, enticing a drive that he snaffled spectacularly, diving low to his left and retrieving the ball just inches from the ground.

It left South Africa A wobbling slightly at 2-40, however the partnership between Elgar and van Zyl, two players with Test hundreds to their names, steadied the ship.

Earlier, a tail-end cameo from Joe Mennie of 50 not out helped the hosts toward 400 after overnight batsmen Sam Whiteman (40) and Marcus Stoinis (120) were out early on the second morning.

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Mennie found capable support in Queensland spinner Mitch Swepson (25), the pair striking 11 boundaries between them in an entertaining 64-run stand for the ninth wicket.

But it was South Africa Test star Vernon Philander who finished off the innings in style, removing Dan Worrall with a beautiful delivery to finish with figures of 3-52 – the best return from any South African. 

The game in Brisbane has some added spice to it, with the match to be played with a pink ball ahead of the day-night Test between Australia and South Africa in Adelaide in November.

All you need to know: Teams, schedule and more for winter series

It begins a carnival of winter cricket in Queensland over the next six weeks, with the best up-and-coming players from Australia, South Africa and India to lock horns in a combination of four-day and 50-over matches to be played in Brisbane, Townsville and Mackay.

The A sides from Australia and South Africa will be joined next month by India A and Cricket Australia's National Performance Squad in a quadrangular 50-over series with matches in Townsville and Mackay, a key component of Cricket Australia's commitment to take cricket to all parts of Australia.

Another two unofficial Tests will then be played against India A in Brisbane in September. Check out the full schedule HERE.

Cricket.com.au will have a live stream of every match of the winter series as well as exclusive video highlights and the latest news and scores as the next generation of international stars square off.