SA vs AUS, 3rd Test, Review: Proteas complete Aussie annihilation

Cricket is arguably a physical game, however, the psychological aspect of the game can’t be ruled out by any stretch of the imagination. Australia had the skills to storm back into the contest, however, the happenings over the past twenty-four hours demolished them psychologically. Steve Smith stepped down from captaincy for the remainder of the game, which didn’t spring a surprise.

The controversies and the criticisms they were greeted with had engulfed them on the eve of the day’s play. Meanwhile, South Africa had a golden opportunity of piling on Australia’s agony and they achieved the same with disdain as they thumped a mentally disturbed Australian team. They dominated every session of the day and managed to pulverise them and comprehensively completed victory at the Newlands in Cape Town.

South Africa stretch domination

South Africa started proceedings with Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers as their overnight batsmen. The conditions were overcast and the wicket was ideal for Steve Smith’s Tim Paine’s men to make hay. However, the Proteas had other ideas as Quinton de Kock carried on in his own merry way. AB de Villiers couldn’t add many runs to his overnight score and perished to Josh Hazlewood.

Kagiso Rabada joined De Kock for the seventh wicket and the duo stitched together 55 runs. Rabada lent support to his partner, however, perished at the stroke of lunch. However, Patrick Cummins churned out de Kock’s wicket to give Australia a moment of joy. Meanwhile, the lead stretched 389 runs, which has already taken the form of a monstrous figure.

Proteas roars ahead

Vernon Philander stomped in before the lunch break and played some scorching strokes. He carried forward in the post-lunch session and decimated the Aussies by peppering the boundary ropes with sheer ease. Meanwhile, the all-rounder also notched his eighth half-century in Test cricket. From the Aussies point of view, the one momentary joy was Nathan Lyon’s 300th wicket in Test cricket when he got rid of Kagiso Rabada.

Nevertheless, the Aussies were set with a mammoth task of chasing 430 runs down. Cameron Bancroft has been at the receiving end of severe bashing after his heinous crime on the third day. However, he displayed a calm attitude and ended the session for his team without any wickets lost. He had David Warner, who stepped down from the vice-captain’s role today, at the other end who displayed grit as well.

Domination at its peak

However, the partnership was broken by Bancroft’s horrendous run-out courtesy a direct hit by skipper Faf du Plessis. The incidents that panned out following the wicket turned out to be a nightmare for the Aussies. David Warner was pinned by Kagiso Rabada for the second occasion in the game and all of a sudden Australia had two new batsmen at the crease in the form of Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja and were in disarray.

Keshav Maharaj, the left-arm spinner, snared Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh in the same over to leave the Australian innings in tatters. Steve Smith has been going through a fair amount of heat and he wasn’t spared by the Proteas as the likes of Morkel hurled in a barrage of bouncers which eventually led to his dismissal. From 57/0, the Aussies slumped to 75/5 and found themselves in all sorts of trouble.

Meanwhile, the hosts found themselves in the driver’s seat as Morne Morkel picked up Mitchell Marsh and Cummins in consecutive deliveries and was on the brink of a hat-trick. Nevertheless, Starc thumped him down the ground and denied him the accomplishment. Morkel spewed venom and finished the game with a five-wicket-haul, which also fetched him the Player of the Match award.

Meanwhile, Australia would be happy that the game got over, which will go down as one of the most shameful outings in the history of their cricket. However, Tim Paine apologized to the fans in the post-match presentation ceremony and termed the game as disappointing. With the victory, South Africa also took an unassailable lead in the series with one Test remaining in Johannesburg.

Brief Scores 

South Africa 311 in 97.5 overs; Dean Elgar 141*, AB de Villiers 64; Patrick Cummins 4/78, Nathan Lyon 2/43

Australia 255 all out in 69.5 overs; Cameron Bancroft 77, Nathan Lyon 47; Morne Morkel 4/87, Kagiso Rabada 4/91

South Africa 373 all out in 112.2 overs; Aiden Markram 84, Quinton de Kock 65; Patrick Cummins 3/67, Josh Hazlewood 3/69

Australia 107 all out in 39.4 overs; David Warner 32, Cameron Bancroft 26; Morne Morkel 5/23, Keshav Maharaj 2/32

South Africa beat Australia by 322 runs

Player of the Match: Morne Morkel

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