South Africa suffered a “hammering” on Thursday, losing the second Test by 182 runs and the series as well.
The loss capped a disappointing first two Tests for the visitors, who lost by six wickets in the first match at Brisbane in two days and still have a chance of winning the third match at Sydney to save their face. At the moment, it is not easy. Dean Elgar, captain of the Proteas, described it as “a bit of a hammering.”
In response to South Africa’s 189 in the first innings, Australia declared on Wednesday at 575-8, built on the 200 of man-of-the-match Warner and Steve Smith’s brave 85 in the scorching heat. After that, they took complete command of the ball.
Elgar scored a duck for South Africa on day four, prompting rain to halt play early on Wednesday.
However, their resistance was short-lived as they were bowled out for 204 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for just three wickets before lunch.
In an injury-plagued attack, Temba Bavuma scored the most points with 65, while Nathan Lyon scored 3-58.
“The victory ranks very high. Over the years, we’ve played South Africa in a lot of great games. “It’s really sweet, and you should be proud of it,” Australian skipper Pat Cummins said.
As a result, South Africa faces a trip to Sydney for the final Test next week with nothing but pride at stake and the possibility of making some adjustments to a batting lineup that has largely failed to perform.
“Before we move forward once more, we must conduct extensive reflection. “This Test has a few positive results, but not many,” Elgar stated.
With Green and Starc already out with finger injuries, Australia will field a new team as they race to prepare for a huge series in India in February.
After recovering from a side strain, Josh Hazlewood is expected to replace Starc, with Green’s replacement still to be chosen.
Wounded finger
The wickets fell in spite of the hosts’ assault being exhausted, with Green, who took 5-27 in their most memorable innings, not bowling because of a broken finger.
Due to the superior pace attack of Australia, Theunis de Bruyn (28), Sarel Erwee (21), and Khaya Zondo (one) all left before lunch.
Then, in the second session, they lost all hope due to Nathan Lyon’s spin and two careless runouts.
Starc also had a bloodied and bruised finger, but he played through the pain and caused a lot of problems with his speed.
As Erwee’s confidence grew, he hit a fantastic drive for four off him when he resumed on seven, but Starc quickly retaliated by trapping him lbw with a cracking yorker.
De Bruyn started at six and progressed to 28 before quickly following his teammate back to the pavilion.
This time, Scott Boland did the damage by luring an edge into the slips, where the ever-dependable Smith made his 150th catch. He is 14th on the list, behind only the great Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid, who has 210.
Bavuma tried a single from Cummins for some reason, and Khaya Zondo was easily run out by an underarm throw from Travis Head. South Africa needed to dig in because they were under pressure.
It left them wavering at 65-4 preceding Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne hunkered down.
However, shortly after lunch, Boland struck again, striking out Verreyne, one of their best batsmen this series, lbw for 33.
Lyon’s twist eliminated Marco Jansen before one more terrible run out including Bavuma, with Keshav Maharaj out after a confounding misunderstanding and Starc made an immediate hit.
The match was ended by Smith’s rare wicket and more weak Lyon dismissals.