AUS v SA, 1st Test Review: South Africa completes impressive win

Debutant Keshav Maharaj trapped the uncanny Nathan Lyon leg-before to hand South Africa a massive boost courtesy of a win in the first Test match at Perth. This also consummates Australia’s decline in Test cricket in recent months making this their fourth consecutive loss in Test matches, the previous three that came against Sri Lanka on their previous tour of the island of South Asia.

What was more impressive as far as South Africa is concerned was the fact that they managed to bowl out the hosts in the absence of Dale Steyn. Of course, the 33-year old is a supremely important member of the side, but, the fact of the matter was that the Proteas were a bowler short in both innings after Steyn hobbled off with a bad right shoulder half-way through the first innings. Temba Bavuma was the unlikely hero as he stepped into Steyn’s boots with good effect as he picked a wicket as well.

Kagiso Rabada was one of the impressive players as he claimed a five-wicket haul yet again in Test cricket. In spite of the fact that Rabada has not even reached the 50-wicket mark in Tests, it is quite clear that he has the pace to serve the Proteas the next few years, to say the least. Moreover, we saw him exude the Protea fire quite literally, to say the least, and that definitely was impressive.

The day began with the Australian batsmen beginning the chase of 539 runs in earnest. They had lost four wickets the previous day, but, the solidity shown by Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill was most unprecedented. Peter Nevill, in particular, was impressive as he remained unbeaten for the Aussies in the second innings.

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Prior to the start of the morning controversy, Usman Khawaja neared his ton, something that had been rather well-deserved, to say the least. The southpaw had seemingly heeded to what Matthew Hayden had advised him to do and slammed the ball to different parts. However, day 5 was a completely different story. He was trapped by the impressive JP Duminy early on the day to become the sixth wicket of the day.

The morning session was riddled with controversy after the first 15 overs of the match. Kagiso Rabada had clearly been practicing his sandshoe crushers as he delivered one to Marsh in the 62nd over. While Marsh had no answers to this delivery, Rabada was successful in appealing for the leg-before, something that was given out by umpire Nigel Llong. It clearly looked as though the ball was heading down the leg-side and Marsh would indeed extend his stay in the crease.

However, subsequent reviews saw that the ball was clipping more than 50 percent of the wickets, something that stopped the hearts of some of the players sitting in the commentary box. However, in spite of this, the Australian stall tactics was working in tandem. Wickets continued to fall, but, Peter Nevill boasted of some undisputed solidity.

While Nevill prepared to bat with the tail, he received very little support from the batsmen at the other end. Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle have dismissed soon after, although it would be rather harsh to give them flak for batting badly. One will certainly give the likes of Rabada and Philander credit for the way they bowled in spite of the fact that the latter picked up just the one wicket of Peter Siddle.

Josh Hazelwood impressed one and all with some impressive batting as he stitched an impressive 65-run partnership with Nevill. He smashed five boundaries in the 29 runs he netted and it seemed as though the Aussies had a minute chance of claiming a draw at the very least. However, the man who replaced the irresistible Steyn was Temba Bavuma who successfully broke the partnership that was brewing and the Proteas were a wicket away from claiming their well-deserved win.

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Nathan Lyon lasted the last of the 30 minutes left in the Test match, got 8 runs to his name before Keshav Maharaj dismissed him for a well-bowled leg-before. This eventually ensured the downfall of the Aussies and concede their first Test match at home since 2012. Fun fact: The last Test they lost at home was once again against South Africa where JP Duminy slammed a ton to take South Africa home on the day.

Brief Scores:

South Africa, 1st innings: 242 all out

Australia, 1st innings: 243 all out

South Africa, 2nd innings: 540/8 dec

Australia, 2nd innings: 361 all out (U Khawaja 97; K Rabada 5/92)