Australia beat South Africa by six wickets after less than six sessions of play on a controversially spicy Gabba pitch in Brisbane on Sunday.
On a day when 19 wickets fell in two and a half sessions – to go with the 15 that fell on Saturday – Australia completed their first innings, scoring 218, before dismissing South Africa for 99 in their second innings, leaving themselves a victory target of 34.
The home team may have expected a facile win, but instead, they faced some ferocious fast bowling from Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, with Rabada once again picking up the wicket of beleaguered opener David Warner, superbly caught by a diving Sarel Erwee at third slip.
South Africa’s premier fast bowler, who didn’t always perform with the greatest intensity in the match, nevertheless is a great wicket-taker and he took all four wickets to fall with Usman Khawaja (caught in the gully), Steve Smith and Travis Head (both caught behind) all falling victim to his bombs. He finished with the extravagant figures of 4-13 in four overs.
Ironically, the top scorer in the innings was extras (19), including three five-wides deliveries that flew over the batsman and the wicketkeeper to the boundary.
If anything, the pitch was quicker, bouncier and more volatile on the second day than it had been on the first, with even typically one-eyed Australian pundits saying the surface had been overcooked.
Batsmen needed a great deal of luck to survive, particularly against the hard new ball. If South Africa had managed to get even 100 runs ahead, the result could conceivably have been different.
Indeed, before the match had even begun, veteran Australia captain and TV commentator Allan Border said it was the “greenest test pitch I’ve ever seen at the Gabba”.
EARLY RUNS
Earlier, Australia resumed on their overnight total of 145 for five in their first innings, but South Africa started slackly with Rabada failing to set the right tone with a notable lack of aggression and a series of half-volleys that Cameron Green crashed down the ground.
Green and Travis Head progressed at a rate of a run a ball with Green striking four boundaries in his first 18 runs while Head reached 2000 runs in tests.
After a surge of early runs, Elgar then removed Rabada from the attack and Marco Jansen, for the second time in the innings, struck in the opening over of his spell. On this occasion, he doubled up with two scalps to get his team right back in the match. First, he induced Green to drive at a half-volley slanting across him: Keshav Maharaj at third slip could only knock the ball up in the air but Sarel Erwee next to him was able to complete the catch.
Jansen’s next victim was the valuable one of Head who gloved a ball down the leg side for wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne to complete the catch after a slight fumble. The left-hander played superbly for his 92 in 96 balls, featuring in a key century partnership with Smith on Saturday. In all, he struck 13 fours and a six in his innings.
The remaining wickets fell quickly with Lungi Ngidi doing well to take a low caught and bowled chance to remove Starc while Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon fell for ducks to a rejuvenated Rabada in his second mini-spell leaving wicketkeeper Alex Carey unbeaten on 22.
Rabada, although expensive, finished with 4-76, while Jansen took 3-32 and Nortje – full of honest endeavour – claimed 2/52.
TRADEMARK STARC
The excitement certainly didn’t stop there, with batsmen's blood continuing to flow as the Australian pacemen tightened up on their discipline and intensity after some uneven bowling in the South African first innings.
With 20 minutes to go before lunch, Proteas’ skipper Dean Elgar was trapped leg before by Cummins in the second over, playing around a straight delivery. He reviewed the decision but the ball was shown to be clipping the bails so it remained 'umpire’s call'. Van der Dussen was then unfortunate to receive Mitchell Starc’s trademark delivery: full, fast and swinging and seaming back into the right-hander to crash into his middle-and-off stumps.
With that magnificent dismissal, arguably the ball of the match, Starc became the seventh Australian to join the 300 club, a well-attested admission of bowling greatness.
The shell-shocked Proteas resumed on their lunchtime score of three for two wickets, but the first hour of the afternoon session provided some comfort for them due to the defiant efforts of Temba Bavuma and Khaya Zondo who added 42 in 100 balls for the fourth wicket after Sarel Erwee had fallen to Pat Cummins. Erwee attempted to leave a delivery slanting across him outside his outside stump but the ball nevertheless caught his flailing edge and flew to Cameron Green at gully who leapt high to claim it.
The two diminutive South African batsmen dug in against Starc, Cummins and Scot Boland, mixing watchful defence with some brisk running between the wickets and the occasional boundary, with both men playing some elegant cover drives.
Luck was an essential element of survival because a number of deliveries were essentially unplayable, but Bavuma and Zondo calmly put those behind them as they chipped away at Australia’s lead.
CULT HERO
But then, just when it seemed the pair might wipe out the deficit themselves, Bavuma fell to offspinner Nathan Lyon when he went back – rather than forward – to defend a delivery that turned sharply and kept a little low. His review of the decision showed that the ball would have hit the outside of his leg stump, so it remained 'umpire’s call'.
As has happened so often in this match, one wicket brought another, or in this case, a further two, as Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen also departed with the total of 48, the latter two, both for ducks, taken care of by cult hero Scott Boland who had the former caught by Steve Smith at third slip and the latter bowled neck and crop after he played tentatively forward.
Keshav Maharaj, in his usual positive way, struck 16 in 18 balls before he fell to Starc, caught behind, and the tea break saw Zondo undefeated on 14 in 63 balls.
The South African innings subsided after tea with the exception of Zondo who struck a valiant unbeaten 36, including six fours. Altogether he batted for two hours and 25 minutes and faced 85 balls. His performance was certainly one of the high points of the match for the tourists.
Cummins, after looking out of rhythm in the Proteas' first innings, was back to his best in the second. Australia's skipper was good value for his five-wicket haul, claiming 5-42 in 12.4 overs.
Speaking after the game, Elgar said: “Another 60 runs might have seen a different result. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around what's happened.” Describing the pitch he said: “It was pretty spicy. If you're a bowler, you'd be licking your lips by how everything unfolded. It was challenging for the batters, and that is okay if there is a good contest between bat and ball.”
Elgar described the difference between the two teams as the century partnership in the Australian first innings between Smith and (player of the match) Head.
He concluded: “If you have quality bowling attacks people will want to watch (the game). But they will want to watch for five days, which obviously did not happen today.”
Australia’s captain Pat Cummins said it was “a great couple of days and a great way to start the series on a tricky wicket.” Asked about the pitch he said with a smile: “You’ve asked the wrong person, I’m a bowler.”
AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
AUSTRALIA: Dean Elgar (capt), Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi