David Warner targeted on Newlands staircase by abusive spectator
Less than three weeks after Warner's ugly row with Quinton de Kock at Kingsmead, the vice-captain was on the end of a verbal barrage from an elderly man who shadowed him up the stairs following his exit at the hands of Kagiso Rabada.
After stopping momentarily, the Australian vice-captain appeared to exchange words with the spectator, who had risen from his seat in the Western Province Cricket Club members section.
There was a fence between the two but the Australian team's head of security, Frank Dimasi, was prompted to race down from the players' viewing area above and castigate the venue security for not protecting the player.
Warner, sitting on three demerit points and only one further indiscretion away from a one-Test suspension, would not be baited into a response he would regret, though, and a repeat of Merv Hughes' notorious clash with a fan at the Wanderers in 1994 was avoided.
Hughes was reprimanded by the then Australian Cricket Board for smashing his bat into a barrier and having a verbal altercation with the member of the Johannesburg crowd.
Following the incident on the second day of the third Test on Friday there was more security stationed on the public side of the staircase the players use to enter and leave the ground itself. The man who unloaded on Warner was also ejected.
It was the second match in a row in this series in which Warner had been in the sights of those in the stands. During the second Test in Port Elizabeth two Cricket South Africa officials had allowed fans to enter the ground with Sonny Bill Williams masks, which were being worn as a way of taunting the opener and his wife, Candice.
The two CSA executives also posed in a photo with the men in masks and have been suspended while an internal disciplinary process takes place.
On Friday, Warner had just finished second best in a spectacular, albeit brief, showdown with Rabada.
The left-hander, having been left grimacing from a nasty blow to his forearm inflicted by Rabada's second ball, had bludgeoned 22 runs from five balls from the world's No.1 fast bowler.
However, two balls after he lifted Rabada for six, the South African spearhead had his revenge, sending Warner's off stump cartwheeling more than 10 metres away after beating him for pace between bat and pad.
Wisely, given the scrutiny on his wicket celebrations, Rabada didn't issue Warner with a send-off but the spectator in the members took up the slack.
The Australian made twin centuries at Newlands in 2014 but his blink-or-you'll-miss-it cameo of 30 from 14 balls was over in 28 minutes.
An eventful second day of the third Test had also featured two world records being equalled simultaneously before it was an hour old.
Steve Smith's five catches in an innings has never been bettered and only 10 others in history share the distinction.
Dean Elgar, meanwhile, joined Desmond Haynes as the only player to have carried his bat three times as he wound unbeaten on 141 in South Africa's first innings of 311. The 30-year-old opener has already achieved the feat twice this year.
"You've always got to be focused and ready for the opportunities, particularly on a good wicket when guys are playing well," Smith told cricket.com.au when asked about his catching on Friday.
"You want to be able to make that game-changing sort of play. It was nice to hold on to a few. I dropped a few throughout the summer so it was nice to hold onto a few."
South Africa's retiring paceman Morne Morkel also claimed a milestone by reaching the 300-wicket mark and Nathan Lyon, having gone without a wicket in his first two visits to Newlands in 2011 and 2014, earlier moved to within two of that figure by wrapping up the Proteas tail.
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