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South Africa [488 & 344/6d] defeat Australia [221 & 119] by 492 runs to win 4th Test; Win series 3-1

Imagine India going on tour somewhere, and the whole team falls apart because of some reason and Saha ends up being captain.

That's what has happened to Australia.
 
Imagine India going on tour somewhere, and the whole team falls apart because of some reason and Saha ends up being captain.

That's what has happened to Australia.

That would be worse. Saha's batting is non existent on tours.
 
Morkel is really infuriating, last over of the day all deliveries left alone bar the rubbish leg stump half volley which was clipped for four.
:sigh
 
Morkel is really infuriating, last over of the day all deliveries left alone bar the rubbish leg stump half volley which was clipped for four.
:sigh

What will be the bowling lineup in SL according to you? I believe it is light at the moment in SC conditions.
 
TEMBA BAVUMA led the way as the Standard Bank Proteas produced the near perfect performance on day two of the final Sunfoil Test match against Australia at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Saturday. The day could be summed up in statistics as the Proteas scored 175 runs while losing their last four first innings wicket and then Australia crashed to 110/6 by the close.

The only disappointment for the Proteas was the fact that Bavuma ran out of partners after reaching 95 (194 balls, 13 fours) when he so richly deserved to go on to his second career century and his first against Australia.

In all, he was involved in three major partnerships, the first of which was on Friday when he and AB de Villiers put on 52 for the fifth wicket. He then added 85 for the seventh with Quinton de Kock and 76 for the ninth with Keshav Maharaj who managed a career best 45 off 51 balls (4 fours and 2 sixes). But the last two wickets fell in the space of two balls, leaving Bavuma stranded.

Nevertheless, the Proteas finished the day with a massive lead of 378 runs which will make the follow on an attractive option.

Once again, the Proteas continued their revival of their lower-order batting with the last four partnerships adding 189 runs

When it came to Australia’s turn to bat they were in immediate trouble as the three batsmen drafted into their side contributed only 12 runs between them as they made the worst possible start with 3 down for 38 runs after one ball of the 13th over and Vernon Philander on a hat trick.

Usman Khawaja led some spirited resistance in partnership with Shaun Marsh, putting on 52 for the fourth wicket before the former (53 off 84 balls, 9 fours) fell to a brilliant leg-side catch by De Kock, standing up to the stumps to Philander.

The Marsh brothers then fell in quick succession leaving new captain Tim Paine to rally the bowlers around him as best he can on the third morning.

Their only bright spot was the bowling of Pat Cummins who has been consistently outstanding throughout the series. The final two wickets gave him a well-deserved five-wicket return (5/83 in 28.5 overs), the second of his career, both of them coincidentally having happened at the Wanderers.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Some gold from <a href="https://twitter.com/tbavuma10?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tbavuma10</a> after he was left stranded on 95! &#55357;&#56834; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SAvAUS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SAvAUS</a> <a href="https://t.co/PzfgNkSVSn">pic.twitter.com/PzfgNkSVSn</a></p>— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) <a href="https://twitter.com/CricketAus/status/980142165597794304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
For all the heat about quota players, Saffers have uncovered some good players such as Bavuma, Rabada and Ngidi. Sure, it sucks to lose Abbott and Rossouw but it is not like you are replacing them with mannequins.

Plus, it looks like the wind has completely gone out of the Aussie sails. Terrible performance to say the least.
 
Ball-tampering scandal hurting Australia in 4th Test against South Africa: Bowling coach

Australia bowling coach David Saker said Saturday that the ball-tampering scandal had been a factor in a disastrous day for the tourists in the fourth Test against South Africa and admitted the dressing room is hurting.

Australia were reeling at 110 for six at the end of the second day in reply to South Africa s imposing first innings total of 488.

The collapse started when three replacement batsmen made only 12 runs between them following the banning of captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

Putting three guys into a Test match, two have come from Australia and one hasn t played in a game for a while, was always going to be a little bit tough, said Saker.

He paid tribute to the quality of South Africa s bowling but added: Obviously after the week we ve had there s a lot of disappointment in the room that we can t put something together.

We re not thinking too much about what s happening at home but we re thinking about people who were part of our team that we ve lost. That s hurting a lot of people in the dressing room.

That s something that s hard to get over. We re not making excuses but it s obviously a factor in the way we re playing this game.

Opening batsmen Joe Burns and Matt Renshaw were out for four and eight respectively while Peter Handscomb was out first ball for nought to leave Australia 38 for three.

We ve tried to really care for each other this week, said Saker. We re realists and we re going to go out and try and play as well as we can, to put in a performance that the Australian public and our group are proud of.

So far it hasn t happened but the effort has been there. There s no doubt in the dressing room that the guys are trying their hardest. It just hasn t worked in this game.

Saker admitted South Africa had batted better than the Australians.

That s been a little bit of the story of the series so far. We didn t leave the ball and the opposition left the ball extremely well.

Temba Bavuma made 95 not out after he and Quinton de Kock fought their way through a testing early period against a ball that was almost new in gloomy conditions.

Generally at the Wanderers in the morning it s quite hard for the batters to score, said Bavuma.

The wicket is still soft so the ball generally nips and swings a bit more. I was just moving with the belief that later on it would get easier and the bowlers would get tired and I would get opportunities to score.

Bavuma said the Australians, also missing the injured fast bowler Mitchell Starc, had bowled well.

I had to respect that. My confidence and comfort came from knowing that I d be able to score my runs later on.

South Africa, leading the series 2-1, need only to draw to beat Australia in a home series for the first time since 1969-70.

Bavuma was within sight of his second Test century, when Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins took two wickets with successive balls to finish off the innings.

Cummins was easily Australia s most impressive bowler, finishing with five for 83.

He deserved that, said Saker. He s bowled some spells this series that have been as good as any bowler has bowled for Australia.

He s backed it up now for more than 12 months and he s now trusting his body. He s got through some really good overs and bowling at good pace.

http://www.cricketcountry.com/news/...d-saker-697456/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
 
Commentators talking about Paine being able to keep and captain the side. I think he can do the job for tests and ODIs but Australia won't him to captain in T20s as well. He could play as a specialist batsmen in tests and captain as well.
 
Gutsy knock from Paine. All those months ago when he was playing for the world 11 in Pakistan, I don't think anyone saw him returning to the Australian team . Let alone capataining the test side!!!!!!
 
Already Big fan of Pat Cummins. He is only International level player in Aussie team currently.
 
Already Big fan of Pat Cummins. He is only International level player in Aussie team currently.

He will always give you imp wickets when there is no help and with contribute as much as possible with bat.
 
Cummins taking apart Mahraj and forcing Faf to over bowl Rabada and Philander.

Intelligent cricket.
 
Aussies showing the fighting spirit and never say die attitude which only they can have
 
Shane Warne talking about Cummins match awareness. [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION]
 
Well deserved wicket for Maharaj, should have had five already. Just couldn't deal with him.
 
Edges not caring (or flying over when they do) and not getting trapped playing ugly reverse sweeps. That sort of a morning.
 
Paine has proven many people wrong.

Great turnaround for him
 
Finally gets what he deserves, should have had five this morning. Australia couldn't deal with him.

Perhaps he needs to bowl a few quick ones and aim for the off stump. He bowls a bit slow at times
 
Great catch by elgar. Waiting to see if Cummins and Hazlewood can show some magic with their bowling now.
 
Very much one sided contest to watch now

The series is done and dusted for poor ausis
 
Markram has the talent, passion and hunger of runs like Virat Kohli. He has the potential to become SA's best batsmen , ahead ofJH Kallis.
 
1000 Test runs for Makram in just a season.
Took 18 innings, second fastest South African after Smith (17 innings), took AB 20.
 
480 runs at 60 this series. Has a similar strike rate to AB as well, didn't look half as violent as AB has been this series. Well played.
 
Markram has the talent, passion and hunger of runs like Virat Kohli. He has the potential to become SA's best batsmen , ahead ofJH Kallis.

The diff is kohli's batting style is its lots more risk free while watching markram get a feel that sooner or latter he will depart

This is the reason why kohli's conversion rate is pretty great and he scorers soo many daddy hundreds very often
 
Will be a nightmare facing Maharaj late on day 4/5 on this wicket. The turn and bounce...

SA must bat and bat to wear and tear this pitch. The pace and bounce is still true, I'd like to see a few deliveries keeping low.
 
Who's on top here, he's not playing any shots. It's like he is saving the Test.
I get that we want to keep the Aussies out there and the pitch to bake. But come on. Tonk them, better Faf. :six
 
THE Standard Bank Proteas had to overcome stubborn Australian resistance as they ground out a 400-run overall lead on the third day of the final Sunfoil Test match at the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.

The Proteas first ran into opposition from the overnight batting pair, captain Tim Paine and Pat Cummins, who put on 99 for the seventh wicket before the last three wickets fell relatively quickly to give the home side a huge lead of 267 runs on the first innings. Remarkably, this one major partnership was Australia’s biggest of the entire series.

Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj finished with three wickets each but there was the real concern of Morne Morkel leaving the field with a recurrence of the injury he suffered in the Bangladesh series which no doubt influenced Faf du Plessis’ decision not to enforce the follow on.

One of the highlights of the day’s play was the swallow dive catch of Dean Elgar to take the wicket of Paine, the last man out, for top score of 62 (96 balls, 7 fours and 2 sixes).

Elgar was quickly back in the picture when he and Aiden Markram shared the second 50 partnership of the match before the latter was out, having achieved the outstanding aggregate of 480 runs for the series. He also posted his 1 000th run in Test cricket in only his 10th match. There are only four players who have taken fewer matches to reach this landmark.

On a pitch on which none of the batsmen could ever have felt properly in the day’s play produced only 245 runs for the loss of 7 wickets as the Proteas extended their overall lead to 325 by the tea interval and 401 by the close of play.

The Proteas will have been pleased to see their captain back in some sort of form as he and Elgar reached the close after an unbroken partnership of 40, leaving their side in a very strong position with 7 wickets still in hand.

Cummins remains the talisman of the Australian attack with two of the three wickets to fall so far, giving him 7 in the match.

With two full day’s play still available Faf du Plessis will have one on the weather as he decides when to set the Australian a fourth innings target.

The Sunfoil Education Trust (SET) has benefited to the tune of 167 500 from the number of fours and sixes hit and wickets taken by the two sides in this Test match to date, bringing the cumulative series total to date to R900 500.
 
South Africa's conservative batting

First of all SA has a lead of 250 odd runs and you're playing against a team that is low on morale and waiting for the coup de grace, you should have taken the follow on option. Alright they decided to bat but why are they not going for it. Not going after Lyon and they finished the day at 130 after 50 odd overs. They should be rubbing the Aussies down the mat. Weak move.
 
They were overly cautious for sure. But their batting is heavily reliant on three guys. They don't want to give Aus even a remote chance. Remember SA has chased down 414 vs Aus before. They don't want to give Aus any such oppurtunity.

Truth is their are no great batting teams at the moment. India have Kohli and one or two others but they are by no means a great batting side in tests. SA are heavily reliant on AB, Markram and Elgar. The rest are hit or miss.

Aus just lost their two best batters. Pakistan are an average test batting unit at the moment. Its not just SA, most teams would be conservative in this situation though SA could have done a little better.
 
They are a bowler short. They want to wait for the pitch to deteriorate so that when it comes to their bowling, less effort is needed .
 
SA could easily bowl Aus for 200 max in the match. They are already 250 up maybe they should have pushed for 200-250 in quick time and make Aus bat again. Ideally I would have asked them to follow on if the bowlers are not tired. You are not facing Bradman, Ponting and the world class batting lineup they used to have. Even the guys who can give them trouble such as Smith and Warner are not playing.
 
They have time on their hands. They can afford to play slow and get the pitch to deteriorate.
 
They're missing Morkel so they might as well make sure the test is out of Australia's reach and therefore the series. Pretty straight-forward in my opinion.

Even if South Africa were to win this test, the last thing they want is for Rabada and Philander to be bowling 40 overs each in an innings.
 
I think the post-match presentation would have been completed two hours ago if SA enforced the follow-on and till now their mind would have been completely diverted towards IPL .

Hence, I believe that they made a mistake by opting to bat again.
 
I think the post-match presentation would have been completed two hours ago if SA enforced the follow-on and till now their mind would have been completely diverted towards IPL .

Hence, I believe that they made a mistake by opting to bat again.

Bingo. On point. Could have finished them today
 
SA are a bowler short. Why would we do something stupid when one of our veteran is retiring and the other has been out injured since 2015?
Rabada has played 10 Tests this season, Philander is coming back from injury himself. Ngidi is fragile. Running Philander and Rabada to the ground is beyond foolish it's stupid.

Who's going to bowl in Lanka? Bowling machines?

With plenty of time SA have made sure they cannot lose this match. That is the first and foremost, they don't have to force the issue and run the risk of injuries. Shut the Australian's out and mentally break them. That's what they've done, I'd bat until after lunch tomorrow and let the wicket deteriorate even further. Declare an hour after lunch.
 
Duplesis has a bleeding finger. Why is he still batting? He can retire hurt and let others bat.
 
With Morkel injured, South Africa have just 3 bowlers. How are they going to manage the workload?

Maybe thats the reason they are tuk tuking out there. They are trying to ensure Australia donot have enough overs to chase the target, rather than ensuring they have enough over to get Australia all out in the 4th innings.
 
Rabada has a slight niggle. Looks like we'll be sending bowling machines to Sri Lanka after all.
 
There's no time pressure on South Africa to declare at all!

They have Australia demoralized and on their knees, Faf has got a start for the first time on this tour and he can stick the knife in and get a lead of 600+ if he wants.
 
Elgar getting a move on :six

Best opening bat going around atm. Has been phenomenal over the last 12 months or so, scoring runs in tough conditions.
Not as talented as Kirsten, but every bit as gutsy.
 
There's no time pressure on South Africa to declare at all!

They have Australia demoralized and on their knees, Faf has got a start for the first time on this tour and he can stick the knife in and get a lead of 600+ if he wants.
What is the point of getting a lead of 600? At the rate things are going the game will be washed out and a draw. As a Saffer I wanted to see a follow on and a historic win by an innings. That would have hurt the aussies more. Watching Elgar bat at a slow rate is pathetic. Watching Faf trying to score his first century in a year is even worse (he scored 55 runs in his previous 7 innings against Australia).
 
Elgar loves grinding the opposition. He has faced 212 balls for his 50 odd runs and yes he is not playing to save the test. :sammy
 
They will set 500+ total and declare.
I'm sure you know the highest score that was ever achieved batting 4th to win a game?

This Aus side is so demoralised without their top 3 batsmen they won't reach 200. Personally I am more concerned about the weather. I live a few km's away from the Wanderers.
 
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