South Africa conjure comeback win despite losing two days to rain
Mulder played a key role on the final day, ending Head's century and removing nightwatcher Boland after he had survived 166 balls
Mulder played a key role on the final day, ending Head's century and removing nightwatcher Boland after he had survived 166 balls
Scorer: Harshith Gowda | Commentator: Ashish Pant
What a whirlwind of a Test match that has gone South Africa's way. The series is now locked in 1-1 and the two teams will head to Cape Town where another riveting Test match is in the offing. Thanks for tuning in. Till the next time, this is me Ashish Pant, signing off on behalf of Ekanth and Harshith. Ciao!
Temba Bavuma is the player of the match: Temba Bavuma: [How's the heart rate?] Heart rate's quite good. Yeah, no, everything's good. [Bit of drama as well out today?] There was. So the weather also wanted to play a part in the day. We were a little bit scrambling in the change-room not to sure with the weather. But, yeah, very excited as soon as we got on. They made us work hard for those wickets, those six wickets. And, yeah, obviously everyone's happy in their change-room with us. [On his ton] Yeah, I mean, like I said, definitely there at the top is one of my best. I think we saw throughout the days that batting was quite difficult, especially against the new ball. So I think to be able to perform like that, to be able to get the team in a very competitive position, I take a lot of pride in that. But also to make a play in us, you know, having a chance within the series. So, yeah, I think lots I can speak to it. A lot of confidence I'll take from it. A big part of me is still in the moment. We still have a job at hand with another match still to go. So, once that is gone, I'll kind of allow myself to swim in all of that. [On individual performances] Makes the job a lot easier. A guy like KG, just his value that he brings in, his ability to assume the responsibility and pressure from the bowling attack and kind of allow the other guys to do what they naturally can do. You saw a guy like Marco Jansen, first innings, coming through with his class. I mean, even in the second innings as well. He's of massive value. [How do you not get ahead of yourself on the day too?] I think it's just basically to try to stay in the moment, right? Like, I think when we were batting, for me, it was all about how we can extend it, how we can go another hour, another hour becomes a session, how we can make sure we keep them on their feet, because we know how that does have an effect. And then once the opportunity is there, where we've been calling on us to be a lot more ruthless is to take that. And I think in the second innings, that's exactly what we did. So, I think that's how we've been playing our cricket. I think our team, the way we go about it, we play good old Test cricket, you know, try and wear the opposition down and then take them down when the opportunity presents itself.
Australia captain, Pat Cummins: Thought there was some good fight today. Boland and Trav played their roles. But it was a fair way to come back form there and it wasn't enough. There was a lot. A long way away from our best. We didn't start off too strong. Today across the board, we didn't contribute. [Balance?] Balance is always fine. That is not a major issue. We just need more from all departments. You saw a blueprint today, how Scotty and Trav went about. They got stuck in. You need to weather the storm but when you do, there are some runs to have. [Top order] After a loss, there a few things to look at. The pitch was good, and we needed to score a few runs. We will look at it. It's a reverse of last week, isn't it. They played well.
Presentation time
4.01pm Let's go back to day 1 where South Africa were 20 for 2, or to day two when they were 97 for 5 and then 110 for 6. Not many would have thought that coming to day five, they would be winning this Test match by an innings and 31 runs. But then they made day three their own, with captain Temba Bavuma standing tall with an impeccable 179 and backed by 80s from Jansen and Harmer. Jansen then brought out his best to roll Australia over for 99 in the first innings. Australia brought about a spirited show in the second with Travis Head scoring a century, but despite the first session lost to rain, South Africa held their own. Scott Boland denied them for 166 balls, but Rabada and Mulder and then Jansen ensured South Africa romp home with an innings win.
bob cobb: "Harmer was vital with the ball. A bowler down. it was vital to have him keep bowling from one end. " Good point
MrGarreth: "Jansen played a key role but Bavuma's contribution was surely the match defining one. Held the entire innings together and killed any chance of an Aussie win. Bowlers then went out and did their job really well but Bavuma batted the Aussies out of the game."
Applin: "Amazing stuff from the Proteas. Temba and Jansen definitely the pillars for this victory, but I'll give a share of it to KG. This is what a world class bowler brings to the table, while pulling the team along with him. "
Pieter Lubbe: "Wiaan Mulder played an underrated role in this game - in the shadows of Bavuma, Jansen and Harmer. He does have a knack of getting wickets (often bowled) at crucial times - Smith in 1st innings, Boland, Head and Cummins in the 2nd innings. Not to forget his dismissal of Head in the WTC final"
JR Hazlewood c Markram b Jansen 0 (12m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0
Hazlewood to face Jansen
Will he look for a run?
His 179 in the Gqeberha Test came off the back of a simple philosophy - play it close, play it late
Australia will need to seriously consider changes to their batting line-up for the deciding Test in Cape Town
Rabada's spirit, Jansen's performance and Bavuma's own runs offered a strong response from the WTC champions after going down in Durban last week
Mulder played a key role on the final day, ending Head's century and removing nightwatcher Boland after he had survived 166 balls
The hosts rediscovered their champion spirit, turning adversity into opportunity and belief into a statement win that reshapes the series