The 1st Test between Australia and South Africa was played in Perth Western Australia, where the pitch has the reputation of being the fastest in Australia.
South African Captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and took the bold decision to bat first, considering Australia’s battery of four pacemen. He may well have regretted the decision when South Africa slumped to 81 for 5. However Quintin de kock along with Bavuma established a partnership of 71 runs. The feature of this partnership was the aggressive nature in which De kock batted to score 84 and the solid and steady batting of Bavuma who scored 51. The South African late order batsmen chipped in with useful contributions to the South African innings to post a respectable score total of 242.
The Australians batting late on the 1st day ended on101 for no loss with openers David Warner and Sean Marsh batting enterprisingly. On day two, the Australian openers continued in the same vein until Warner on 97 nicked a delivery from Steyn to be well caught in the slips by Amla. Sean Marsh on 63 was out in the next over L.B.W. to Duminy. This triggered an Australian batting collapse as they lost 8 wickets for 93 runs to be all out for 244. The South African’s bowled with a lot of heart and discipline to restrict the Australians to 244 despite having lost key bowler Steyn due to an injury. Philander 4 wickets and Maharaj 3 wickets were the pick of the bowlers.
South Africa in the 2nd innings batted with flair and determination to declare on a total of 540 for 8 wickets. Duminy 141, Elgar127, de Kock 64 and Philander 73 were the main contributors. The Australians batting the 2nd time were progressing well when Warner on 35 was run out to a brilliant pick up and throw from the covers for a direct hit on the stumps by an air borne Bavuma. Thereafter Australia lost wickets at regular intervals mainly due to some incisive pace bowling by Rabada who took 5 wickets. Australia was bowled out for 361 with Khawaja making a stylish 97 runs. Thus South Africa won the 1st Test by a margin of 177 runs to have a psychological advantage over the Australians going into the 2nd Test.
The 2nd Test was played in Hobart Tasmania and on a cold and cloudy morning du Plessis won the toss and chose to field. His decision was proved right when the South African pacemen ran through the Australian batting line up, restricting them to 85 runs. Philander 5 wickets and Abbott 3 wickets were the main wreckers. The Australian Captain Smith valiantly stood firm at one end to be unbeaten on 48 runs. South Africa too found the seaming and swinging conditions difficult to cope with and were 5 wickets for 132 runs at one stage. As in the 1st Test, the 6th wicket pair of de kock and Bavuma steadied the innings with a partnership of 144 runs with de kock contributing a flamboyant 104 and Bavuma a watchful 51 enabling South Africa to total326 runs. Josh Hazelwood bowled superbly to collect a haul of 6 wickets for 89 runs. He was ably supported by Starc who took 3 wickets.
Australia being in deficit of 241 runs started their 2nd innings steadily. However, with the score reading 79 for 1 wicket the now familiar batting collapse set in and they were bowled out for 161 runs, conceding an innings and 70 runs victory to South Africa and thereby loosing the 3 Test rubber. Kyle Abbott growing in stature as a good pace bowler made use of the favourable conditions to bag 6 wickets for 77 runs. Rabada’s effort of taking 4 wickets also contributed to this comprehensive win.
The comprehensive defeat in the 2nd Test and the loss of the series put the Australian team and it’s selectors under enormous pressure and the Chairman of the Australian selection committee Rod Marsh resigned his position. The new selection committee took some bold decisions making 4 changes to the side that lost the 2nd Test. Jackson Bird being the only player with previous test match experience while the other 3 were very young debutants.
The third Test which was a day night match was played with a pink cricket ball in Adelaide South Australia. South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. The Australian pacemen made early inroads into the South African batting. Faf du Plessis played a Captains innings of 117 not out and declared the Innings at 259 for 9, leaving the Australians to bat out 12 overs under lights. Khawaja had to open the Australian batting as the regular opener Warner had been off the field to receive attention to an injury. Australia survived the 12 overs without losing a wicket and scoring 14 runs. Debutant Renshaw showed a lot of character during this period. On day 2 Renshaw and Warner were out quickly and Smith joined Khawaja to post a partnership of a little over 100 runs. Just when Australia was taking control Smith was needlessly run out due to poor communication between the batsmen. Debutant Handscombe who has an unusual technique batted positively to score 54 runs. In the meantime, Khawaja batted with great determination and concentration to score an invaluable 145 runs. Starc known more for to his bowling chipped in with 53 useful runs to enable Australia to establish a lead of 124 runs.
In their 2nd innings South Africa lost wickets at regular intervals. Opener Cook batted doggedly to be the last man out for 104 runs. Starc 4 wickets and Lyon 3 wickets restricted the South African total to 250. Australia having to score 126 runs to win the match was progressing well, when Warner on 47 ran himself out once more. Renshaw once again showed character in surviving against some hostile bowling from the South African pacemen and remained unbeaten on 34 when Australia achieved victory. The Australians finally tasted victory after 5 consecutive Test defeats at the hands of Sri Lanka and south Africa. They would therefore be in a better frame of mind to play Pakistan during the rest of the Australian Summer. South Africa on the other hand has played some excellent cricket in Australia and will be full of confidence when they take on Sri Lanka in December. Sri Lanka will have to prepare well to meet the South African challenge away from home.
