1st Test
Day 1
Australia 225/5 (76 ov)
South Africa
It wasn't exactly a whimper, but neither was it much of a bang. Perhaps low-key is the best way to describe the opening day of the series at Kingsmead. Durbanites didn't flock to the venue, and what the vast majority of the city missed was a couple of half-centuries from Steven Smith and David Warner, a few fifty partnerships, five wickets, and a day that was shortened by 14 overs due to bad light. It was a day without a runaway winner, though South Africa will probably go to bed slightly happier.
Play ended with Australia on 225 for 5, with Mitchell Marsh on 32 and Tim Paine on 21. Like most of the Australians before them, they had made starts, but nobody yet managed to push on to an influential score. South Africa's bowling was consistent and admirable, and there were two wickets each for Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj, and one to Kagiso Rabada. Their catching was sharp, though their reviewing was awful. Having lost the toss, they would be comfortable with their position.
Most notably for South Africa, they prevented Warner and Smith from really getting away. Smith brought up his fifth consecutive score of fifty-plus in Tests, and Warner shook off his recent struggles against the white ball to extend his run of fifty-plus Test scores in South Africa to six. But like a pair of rockabilly tragics, they both got stuck in the fifties.
Philander snared Warner for 51 with the final ball before lunch to leave Australia three-down at the long break, having already lost Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja cheaply. Warner fell to an excellent catch from AB de Villiers at second slip and it was the second brilliant take by the South Africans in the session - Quinton de Kock had dived to his left to pouch a tough chance to remove Khawaja for 14 when Rabada nibbled one away in his first over.
Although just a single wicket fell in the next session it was arguably as valuable as the three that fell before lunch, for it was that of Smith, the best Test batsman in the world and the man to whom Australia look for stability. On 56, Smith edged one off the spin of Maharaj and saw the ball ricochet off the wicketkeeper de Kock and lob up to be easily grabbed by de Villiers at slip. It left Australia at 151 for 4, and less than ten overs later Maharaj added Shaun Marsh, who limply pushed outside off and edged behind for 40.
There was no shortage of action in the opening session, with South Africa out of reviews by the 11th over. They wasted their first on the third ball of the Test, when Morne Morkel's delivery to Bancroft was shown to be both high and wide of leg stump, and the second review disappeared when Maharaj's first ball spun sharply in to Warner - too sharply, for it would have missed leg stump comfortably.
They were potentially costly errors, and South Africa later could have had Shaun Marsh lbw on 19 if they had a review left in the bank. Rabada fired one in from around the wicket and struck Marsh low but was given not out on field; ball-tracking showed the delivery cannoning into leg stump. That they picked up Marsh before he did too much further damage must have been a relief.
The only Australian who failed to reach double figures was Bancroft, whose place in the Test side becomes more tenuous with each failure. Bancroft took the strange decision to walk across his stumps against the second ball he faced from Philander and edged behind for 5, the manner of his dismissal hardly what might have been expected of a man noted for patience.
By the close of play, all of his batting colleagues had made better starts, though Australia's position was not especially strong. On an understated day of Test cricket, it was the hosts who narrowly took the honours.
Day 2
South Africa 162
Australia 351
Australia lead by 189 runs
This was the reason South Africa picked an extra batsman. Australia's attack, led by Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, systematically dismantled South Africa's batting order on the second day in Durban; such was Australia's complete dominance that it seemed an achievement for South Africa even to avoid the follow-on. Starc wrapped up the day neatly with a five-wicket haul to dismiss South Africa for 162 in reply to Australia's 351.
If the first four sessions of the Test seemed rather low-key, the octane level rose considerably after lunch on day two. Last time the teams met in Durban, in 2009, Australia did not even pick a specialist spinner, but here Lyon struck twice in his first over of the Test, removing Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla to open up South Africa's order for the fast men. Pat Cummins then broke through with a fierce bumper, before Starc began his procession through the middle and lower order.
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Only AB de Villiers looked like pushing South Africa to a competitive total, but almost inevitably he ran out of partners, left unbeaten on 71 when the final wicket fell to finish the day's play. Fittingly, it was Starc who put the icing on the cake, or to coin a more appropriate Australianism, the coconut on the lamington, by trapping Kagiso Rabada lbw and smashing the stumps of Morne Morkel. Starc finished with 5 for 34, his best work having been done against the right-handers earlier.
Mitchell Starc removed Faf du Plessis Getty Images
Like a hustler of the highest order, Starc played the angles to perfection and conned mark after mark into nibbling outside off stump. Coming around the wicket, he found the perfect line and often enough moved the ball away, beating edges not left, right and centre, but left, left and left. This method first accounted for Faf du Plessis for 15, then Theunis de Bruyn - the extra batsman not helping South Africa - for 6, and finally Vernon Philander for 8.
It was an exquisite display of left-arm pace bowling, though Starc had support from all other members of Australia's attack. Lyon was the man who sowed the first seeds of doubt in South Africa's minds. His second ball of the Test caught Elgar's leading edge and was brilliantly taken by the bowler leaping to his right, and three balls later Hashim Amla's inside edge was snapped up at short leg by Cameron Bancroft to give Lyon a double-wicket maiden.
He later returned to add a third wicket, Quinton de Kock's recent batting struggles continuing when he was bowled by Lyon's quicker delivery for 20. Josh Hazlewood chipped in by rattling the stumps of Keshav Maharaj, which meant all four of Australia's bowlers were wicket-takers. Cummins had earlier ended an enterprising innings of 32 from Aiden Markram, who could only fend an accurate short ball to Bancroft in close.
Markram was the only batsman beside de Villiers who threatened to worry the Australians. But really, de Villiers was in a league of his own. He scored all around the ground and was especially strong through the leg side, striking 11 boundaries on the way to his highest Test score since his recent return to the side. But one man making a half-century was nowhere near enough; South Africa needed a more even list of contributors, as Australia had possessed.
The day had started with Australia on 225 for 5 with Mitchell Marsh and Tim Paine at the crease. Paine edged behind off Rabada early, but Marsh compiled useful partnerships with Starc and Lyon to continue frustrating the South Africans.
Marsh seemed destined for a century, which would have been his second in consecutive Test innings, when he tried to bring up the milestone with a boundary over mid-on, where the giant Morkel hurled his hands up to clutch the chance. Had Temba Bavuma been fit and fielding there, Marsh might have had his hundred. Instead he fell for 96, but his impressively patient innings was more than enough for Australia to post a competitive total.
Starc had provided an entertaining cameo of 35 from 25 deliveries, clubbing two sixes over deep midwicket off Maharaj and striking four fours, including three in one Morkel over, before he was bowled by Maharaj. Cummins had fallen in similar fashion, bowled through the gate by Maharaj, though after an innings very different from that of Starc - Cummins occupied the crease for 38 balls for his 3 runs. His innings was just about the last quiet passage of play for the whole day.
Day 3
Australia 351 & 213/9 (71.4 ov)
South Africa 162
Australia lead by 402 runs with 1 wicket remaining
It was a long shot that South Africa could significantly improve their situation on the third day at Kingsmead, and long shots rarely get up. They fought hard, took wickets, fielded well, kept Australia to a fairly modest score - and still ended the day facing a near-record Test chase. It was always likely. The morning began with Australia 189 runs in front, and ready to start their second innings. What South Africa really needed was an all-out 47 a la Cape Town 2011. What they got was Australia on 213 for 9 at stumps.
That meant that for all South Africa's hard work, little had changed in the match situation. Australia's lead stood at 402 runs, with the possibility of adding more on the fourth morning. South Africa would need at the very least the fifth-highest successful chase in Test history to win. They would also have to better by 60-plus runs a record that has stood for 60-plus years - the highest target ever successfully chased in a Test in South Africa was 336, achieved on this ground when Neil Harvey struck an unbeaten 151 in 1950.
If South Africa want encouragement, they can look to more recent history. In 2002, also at this venue, they chased down Australia's target of 335, so the two highest-successful pursuits in South Africa have come at Kingsmead. And the second-highest successful chase in all of Test history was the 414 that South Africa achieved against Australia in Perth in 2008. If the conditions are different, at least some of the players are the same: AB de Villiers made 106 not out in that chase, and Hashim Amla contributed a fifty.
But enough nostalgia. Kingsmead 2018 is all that matters now, and on the third day of the Test, Cameron Bancroft eased some of the immediate pressure on his place in the side with a half-century; Usman Khawaja got out reverse-sweeping before he had reached double-figures; Dean Elgar made Steven Smith his bunny by dismissing him for the second time in Test cricket; Keshav Maharaj took his match tally to eight wickets; Morne Morkel took his career tally to 297; Kagiso Rabada bowled impressively and claimed 2 for 28; and perhaps significantly for the chase, Elgar hurt his hand late in the day.
Bancroft and David Warner started the innings with a solid 56-run partnership but on 28, Warner threw his start away by trying to force Rabada through leg and instead sending a catch to mid-on. Khawaja then completed a disappointing Test personally when he tried to reverse-sweep Maharaj and a catch popped up off his glove to Quinton de Kock, ending his innings on 6.
Australia's lead was already in comfortable territory but Bancroft still had much to play for, seeking to justify his retention ahead of Matt Renshaw for this tour. If he didn't fully put his stamp on the position as Warner's opening partner, he at least showed a glimpse of what he can do, striking 10 fours on his way to a 76-ball half-century, and using his feet well to the spin of Maharaj. At least, for a while. It was that same footwork that brought him undone, when on 53 he failed to reach the pitch of one and Maharaj turned it past his edge to allow an easy stumping.
Left-arm spin also accounted for Smith, but from an unlikely source. Faf du Plessis took a gamble on the part-time spin of Elgar and it immediately paid off, when on 38 Smith tried to sweep and was lbw. Remarkably, it was the second time in Tests that Elgar, who has 14 wickets from 46 Tests, had dismissed Smith, the world's best Test batsman. Four years ago almost to the day, he had bowled Smith in Cape Town with a hop so long it could have won Olympic gold in the triple jump.
Smith had already survived a close call on 30 when he was adjudged not out lbw to Maharaj, and South Africa's review found that - by the slimmest of margins - he had been struck in the umpire's call zone on off stump. In general, South Africa might have been frustrated by close calls going against them on the third day, though du Plessis was also saved from wasting reviews on two occasions when the umpire Kumar Dharmasena decided he had taken too long.
South Africa continued to pick up wickets fairly regularly. Mitchell Marsh edged to slip off Rabada for 6, Tim Paine was taken at slip off Maharaj for 14, Shaun Marsh spent 99 balls over 33 before he too edged to second slip off Morkel, and Nathan Lyon likewise sent a catch into the cordon off Morkel. The one who wasn't caught behind the wicket was Mitchell Starc, who crunched Morkel to cover, where Elgar took a sharp catch but immediately left the field for medical attention to his hand.
The day finished - early once again, due to bad light - with Pat Cummins on 17 and Josh Hazlewood on 4. And with South Africa, for all their best efforts, no better off than they were 24 hours earlier.
Day 4
Australia 351 & 227
South Africa 162 & 293/9 (89 ov, target: 417)
South Africa require another 124 runs with 1 wicket remaining
Bad light stopped them one wicket from victory, but Australia are all but assured to win the first Test on the fifth day at Kingsmead. However, South Africa found a new hero as Aiden Markram created genuine hope from what had seemed a hopeless cause. Set 417 to win, which would have been the second-highest successful chase in Test history, South Africa first collapsed to 49 for 4, and a quick finish seemed certain. Instead, Markram fought, counter-attacked, and together with Quinton de Kock took South Africa to within 134 of their target with five wickets in hand. And then it all fell apart.
Mitchell Marsh, who had not taken a Test wicket since November 2016, made the breakthrough when Markram tried to glide him past Tim Paine, only to have his thin edge brilliantly snapped up by the wicketkeeper. Thus ended a 147-run partnership between Markram and de Kock, and Australia sensed the chance to run through the tail. Mitchell Starc did just that. He had Vernon Philander caught behind, before his pace and accuracy rattled the stumps of Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada for ducks from consecutive deliveries.
But Starc was denied the chance to push for his hat-trick, for the Rabada wicket came from the final ball of an over, and in the meantime the light had deteriorated such that the umpires would only keep the players on the field if Australia bowled spin from both ends. Nathan Lyon and Steven Smith bowled in tandem for nine overs but could not find the final wicket Australia needed. When the umpires finally decided the light was insufficient even for spin bowling, South Africa were 293 for 9, with de Kock on 81, Morne Morkel yet to score, and their nominal target still 124 runs away.
For Australia, it was a shame the result could not be finalised before stumps. For South Africa, it was a shame that all the hard work put in by Markram and de Kock would come to nothing. And for the coffers of Cricket South Africa, it was a shame they would have to fork out to open the stadium on the fifth day for what could be as little as one ball. Perhaps only one man will be truly happy to come back - Starc, who at length will get the opportunity to bowl for his hat-trick.
The morning had started with Australia on 213 for 9 and the last pair, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, added 14 before Cummins chopped on to give Maharaj his ninth wicket of the match. The target of 417 was thus confirmed, just one run short of the all-time highest successful chase in Test history, the 418 achieved by West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003. More relevant to South Africa, given that AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla played key roles in it, was the 414 South Africa had chased down to beat Australia in Perth in 2008.
But with every early wicket - and there were a lot of them - South Africa's chances of pulling off another miracle dwindled. Dean Elgar was caught behind off Starc for 9, Amla was lbw to Hazlewood for 8, and Faf du Plessis was bowled through the gate by Cummins for 4. In the meantime came the wicket that rather summed up South Africa's struggle, when Markram pushed Lyon to square leg and took a couple of steps before sending back AB de Villiers, who had over-committed and was comprehensively run out for a duck at the non-striker's end.
But all along, Markram looked solid. He found allies, first Theunis de Bruyn in an 87-run partnership, and then de Kock. De Bruyn drove well and frustrated the Australians such that Starc was expending just as much energy on his verbal barrage to de Bruyn as he was his bowling. At one point, Starc was so mouthy that he risked missing the next Test through laryngitis, but de Bruyn eventually fell for 36 to a thin edge behind off Hazlewood.
Meanwhile, Markram just kept batting. Fittingly for a man whose surname is a palindrome, the results were the same whether Markram played forward or back. He drove handsomely through the covers off front and back foot, and scored runs all around the ground, striking 19 fours on the way to the third century of his short Test career. And, not to disparage the Bangladesh and Zimbabwe oppositions he scored the first two against, this was clearly the innings that will make his name as a Test cricketer.
He brought up his century from his 171st delivery with a very risky single pushed to mid-on - a direct hit would have had him run out for 99 - and he went on to finish with 143, the highest fourth-innings score by any batsman in a Test in South Africa since 1995, when Mike Atherton's unbeaten 185 helped England play out a draw at the Wanderers. Barring a day of heavy rain, which has not been forecast, there will be no such result this time for Markram.
The importance of de Kock's innings should not be forgotten, either. He walked to the crease having not passed fifty in his previous 15 Test innings, but played his natural game and took the attack up to the Australians. His partnership with Markram rattled along at more than four runs an over, and his half-century came from 68 deliveries. De Kock struck 11 fours, but trudged off in the evening gloom knowing that a century was only marginally more likely than South Africa avoiding defeat.
Day 5
Australia 351 & 227
South Africa 162 & 298 (92.4 ov, target: 417)
Australia won by 118 runs
Mitchell Starc missed out on a hat-trick but Australia had little trouble in wrapping up a 118-run win on the fifth morning in Durban, where they took a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. Bad light had halted Australia's march to victory on the fourth evening with just one wicket required, so it was possible that it could have taken just a single ball to end the game on day five. In the end, it took 22 deliveries.
Josh Hazlewood confirmed the result by trapping Quinton de Kock lbw for 83 in the fourth over of the day, as South Africa were dismissed for 298. Morne Morkel finished not out on 3. Starc had been denied the chance to bowl for a hat-trick late on day four after he bowled Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada with what became his last two balls of the day, as the umpires declared that the light was sufficient only for spin bowling. He instead bowled for his hat-trick with the first ball of the fifth day and rapped de Kock on the pads, but the ball was sliding down leg.
The result gives Australia a good start as they aim to maintain their remarkable record of having not lost a Test series in South Africa since readmission. The teams now move on to Port Elizabeth for the second Test, which begins on Friday.
2nd Test
South Africa 382 and 102 for 4 beat Australia 243 and 239 by 6 wickets
The hardest job on day four in Port Elizabeth was not chasing 101 for victory. Through the majesty of AB de Villiers, South Africa did that with ease and levelled the series 1-1. No, the most difficult task was assigned to whoever chose the Man of the Match. Would it be de Villiers, whose unbeaten 126 in the first innings was not only a game-changer but one of the most impressive knocks in recent history, and whose run-a-ball 28 in the second innings helped seal the win? Or would it be Kagiso Rabada, whose 11-wicket haul was irresistible to watch and completely blunted Australia's batting?
Certainly it was Rabada who lit up the morning session at St George's Park. South Africa began the day clearly in the stronger position, but Australia were 41 runs ahead and still had five wickets in hand. If they let Australia's lower order off the hook, South Africa could have been faced with a tricky chase of 200-plus. The key seemed to be Mitchell Marsh, the last member of Australia's top six, who was unbeaten on 39 at the start of play. Rabada didn't even let Marsh survive an over. He nipped one back in to Marsh, at speed, to find the gap and rattle his stumps.
Rabada followed by having Pat Cummins caught by Theunis de Bruyn at gully for 5, and he added Mitchell Starc, who was caught behind for 1. Rabada finished with match figures of 11 for 150, and he became just the third South African to achieve a ten-wicket Test haul on at least four occasions. For perspective, the others are Dale Steyn, whose five ten-wicket hauls have come in 86 Tests, and Makhaya Ntini, whose 101-Test career brought four ten-fors. Rabada has four in just his 28th Test. He is still only 22 years old. This is a young man who could be absolutely anything.
Perhaps a caveat is needed to the earlier statement. There was one other task on day four that might have been even harder than determining the Man of the Match. This job fell to match referee Jeff Crowe, who had to decide whether Rabada would be suspended for the remainder of the series for his shoulder bump with Steven Smith during Australia's first innings. In isolation, the incident would not be worthy of a ban, but Rabada's bank of demerit points changes that. After a hearing on day three, Crowe chose to defer his verdict for 24 hours.
Australia's innings finished with Nathan Lyon being caught behind off Lungi Ngidi for 5 and Josh Hazlewood caught at deep midwicket off Keshav Maharaj for 17. Tim Paine remained unbeaten on 28 in Australia's 239, and their lead of 100 was never likely to be truly competitive. One of the major concerns for Australia as they head to the third Test in Cape Town is that not a single Australian batsman has scored a century so far in this series. South Africa, by comparison, have had hundreds in each Test - from Aiden Markram in Durban and de Villiers in Port Elizabeth.
Australia had the chance to snap up Markram for 7 in this chase, but his edge off Hazlewood was put down at first slip by Mitchell Marsh, hardly a promising start for a team needing a miracle to avoid defeat. Wickets did fall, but not enough. Dean Elgar was caught and bowled by Lyon off a leading edge for 5, in a near carbon-copy of his dismissal in the first innings in Durban, and Markram was caught at second slip by Smith off Hazlewood for 21, but all that did was bring de Villiers to the crease.
Australia's minor sniff was snuffed out by the aggression of de Villiers, who struck four fours and one six during his 28 off 26 balls, and his 49-run stand with Hashim Amla delivered South Africa to within 20 runs of victory. Both men fell - Amla caught behind off Cummins for 27 and de Villiers caught at short-leg off Lyon - but Faf du Plessis and de Bruyn steered South Africa home with no further loss, a cover-driven boundary from de Bruyn confirming the six-wicket win.
The teams will head to Cape Town for the third Test with South Africa looking in the stronger form, but potentially without their strike bowler Rabada, who is far and away on top of the series wicket tally with 15 at 16.80. Whether they are the same threat without him remains to be seen. And, just for the record, in the race to be Man of the Match, Rabada beat de Villiers by a nose.
3rd Test
Day 1
South Africa 266/8
Australia
It wasn't the worst collapse in Test cricket today - after all, England's all-out 58 in Auckland is one of the all-time greats of the genre - but South Africa's afternoon capitulation in Cape Town was still quite a sight to see. On a day when Dean Elgar patiently compiled his 11th Test hundred and AB de Villiers coasted to a half-century, South Africa looked perfectly set at 220 for 2. Faf du Plessis had won his first toss of the series and everything was going swimmingly. Within minutes, it was all going drowningly.
By stumps, South Africa were 266 for 8. Elgar was still at the crease on 121, but a parade of partners had been bundled out for single-figure scores, and he was left with Kagiso Rabada on 6 and only Morne Morkel still to come. And it had all started with Pat Cummins, whose afternoon spell of 4 for 12 from eight overs turned the day's play in Australia's favour. South Africa still had a solid platform, but it was at risk of remaining just a platform. On a pitch offering little for the bowlers, Cummins had somehow found a way.
The key breakthrough was that of de Villiers, who had breezed to an 80-ball half-century and played some typically imperious strokes along the way. His partnership with Elgar was worth 128 when Cummins struck with the first over of his spell, a catch driven on the up to David Warner at mid-off. The dismissal was so much against the run of play, so unexpected that the Newlands crowd was stunned into silence. And the rest of the South Africa batting order never quite recovered its composure.
Du Plessis' lean run continued when he, having moved down to No.5 to allow the in-form de Villiers to push up the order, edged Cummins to Steven Smith at second slip on 5. It meant du Plessis has now gone seven innings in Test cricket without passing 20, his scores in that time being 8, 2, 15, 4, 9, 2* and 5.
Then came Temba Bavuma, and then went Temba Bavuma. Back in the side after recovering from injury, but having not played a competitive match for more than two months, Bavuma looked understandably rusty, and sent another edge to Smith in the cordon off Cummins for 1. Cummins' fourth wicket arrived when Quinton de Kock tried to pull a short delivery and only feathered a catch through to Tim Paine for 3.
The wickets kept coming. Vernon Philander tickled a catch behind off Mitchell Marsh for 8, and Keshav Maharaj continued his penchant for brainless batting with a well-set specialist still at the crease, lobbing a catch up to cover off Mitchell Starc for 3. By the close of play, Elgar was in with a serious chance of carrying his bat for the third time in Test cricket, a feat so far achieved only by Desmond Haynes.
As is his way, Elgar batted and batted and batted. No man has faced more deliveries in Test cricket in the past year than Elgar, but here he added fluency to his game, scoring all around the wicket, using his feet against the spin of Lyon, lofting him for a six down the ground and also striking 17 fours. His fifty came from 97 balls and his hundred from 178, with a boundary worked through the leg side off Mitchell Starc.
It was Elgar's first century of 2018, and once again highlighted his importance as a consistent presence in this South Africa line-up. Australia missed a couple of opportunities to send Elgar back to the dressing room, most notably on 53 when Lyon put down a straightforward chance at point off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood, and later an edge off Mitchell Marsh flew just past the fingertips of Smith at slip.
There was precious little success for Australia's bowlers in the first two sessions, with just one wicket falling before lunch and one more before tea. Hazlewood had broken through in the fourth over of the match with a textbook new-ball delivery, moving the ball away on a good length to take the edge of Aiden Markram's bat on the way through to Smith at second slip.
Markram's 11-ball duck ended the opening partnership at 6, but the ensuing partnership between Elgar and Hashim Amla was worth 86 as they steadied South Africa and took them to a good position at lunch. Amla fell soon after the break for 31, when he failed to control a hook off Hazlewood and saw his top edge taken by Cummins in the deep.
That left South Africa at 92 for 2, but Elgar and de Villiers ensured there was no further loss during the session. The final session, though, was a different story.
Day 2
South Africa 311;
Australia 245-9
Australia trail by 66 runs
Seamer Morne Morkel claimed his 300th career wicket as South Africa edged ahead in the third Test on Friday when they reduced Australia to 245 for nine at the close on the second day, still 66 runs behind their hosts’ first innings score at Newlands.
Tim Paine (33) and Josh Hazlewood (1) will resume on the third morning, seeking to reduce the deficit further on a wicket with bounce and some seam movement, and in the knowledge that Australia will have to bat last in a series that is poised at 1-1.
Morkel (4-87) reached his landmark 20 minutes before tea when Shaun Marsh (26) slashed at a wide delivery and was comfortably caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, a poor stroke from the left-hander.
The tall fast bowler, who has announced he will retire from all forms of international cricket after this series, had earlier removed Usman Khawaja (5) and claimed the key wicket of Australia captain Steve Smith (5). Khawaja was caught at fine leg by Kagiso Rabada attempting a hook, while Smith played at a rising delivery well-outside his off-stump and edged to Dean Elgar in the gully.
It continued a poor run of scores for Smith, who is averaging just 27 from five innings in the series, and he looked out of sorts having been roughed up by some fierce fast bowling from Rabada before lunch. Vernon Philander (2-26) struck either side of the tea break to remove innings top-scorer Cameron Bancroft (77), who was trapped leg before wicket, and Mitchell March (5), caught by De Kock.
Australia sunk deeper into the mire when Rabada (3-81) returned to claim the wickets of Pat Cummins (4) and Mitchell Starc (2), both caught by AB de Villiers at third slip. But Nathan Lyon (47) led a rally as he frustrated the home side with his highest score in tests, adding 66 for the ninth wicket with Paine before he skied a Morkel delivery and was well caught by Elgar.
Elgar earlier carried his bat for the third time in his test career as he finished 141 not out when South Africa were bowled out for 311 on the second morning.
His efforts helped the home side add 45 runs to their overnight score of 266-8. Elgar and Rabada (22) took their ninth wicket partnership to exactly 50 before the latter edged a Lyon (2-43) delivery to Smith at slip.
Four balls later, the spinner repeated the dismissal as Morkel (4) was caught by Smith, a fifth catch of the innings for the Australian to equal the most ever in test history, one of 11 outfield players to achieve the feat.
Day 3
South Africa 311 & 238/5 (72 ov)
Australia 255
South Africa lead by 294 runs with 5 wickets remaining
This series was already a bubbling cauldron of toil and trouble. Not surprisingly, the addition of Cameron Bancroft's underpants to an already putrid mix could have results as unpredictable as eye of newt and toe of frog. Certainly it resulted in a stink on the third day in Cape Town, where half-centuries from Aiden Markram and AB de Villiers pushed South Africa's lead towards 300 and rendered Australia's task for the remainder of this Test very difficult indeed.
The morning had started with Australia nine wickets down and 66 runs behind, hoping to close the first-innings gap as much as possible. They added only 10 before Kagiso Rabada had Josh Hazlewood caught at slip to end the innings. By stumps, South Africa had turned their 56-run advantage into a 294-run lead, with five wickets still in hand. Australia will desperately need quick wickets on the fourth morning, and first they will have to find a way through either de Villiers, still at the crease on 51, or Quinton de Kock, who had 29, with South Africa's total on 238 for 5.
But the wickets and runs of the day were somewhat overshadowed by the events of the middle session, when the TV cameras appeared to show Bancroft holding a foreign object while working on the ball, and shortly afterwards he seemed to deposit the item down his trousers. The on-field umpires spoke to Bancroft but did not appear to take any action at the time, however it is certain to become the subject of heated debate in a series already full of controversy.
South Africa's second innings had started innocuously enough, although Australia rued a missed opportunity in the first over when Markram was put down at gully by Usman Khawaja off Mitchell Starc. The only South African wicket to fall before lunch was that of Dean Elgar, who had carried his bat for 141 in the first innings but here edged Pat Cummins to slip on 14, to provide Steven Smith with his sixth catch of the match.
Markram and Hashim Amla compiled a 76-run partnership that ended when Amla chipped a catch to Bancroft at cover off Cummins for 31, but all that did for Australia was bring the in-form de Villiers to the crease. He showed few signs of needing to get his eye in, slashing his way off the mark with a remarkable six over the off side off the bowling of Cummins. By the close of play, de Villiers had a 92-ball half-century and had done much to strengthen South Africa's already excellent position.
Markram had moved to a half-century from 91 deliveries and had struck 10 fours and two sixes by the time he fell tamely for 84 in the final over before tea, when he chipped a catch to mid-on off Starc. That lapse in concentration, which was also the umpteenth dismissal on the verge of a break in play during this series, robbed Markram of the opportunity to push for his second century of the series.
Faf du Plessis continued his struggle to have an impact in this series, trapped lbw to become the 299th Test wicket of Nathan Lyon. Du Plessis was adjudged not out on field, but if Australia's review looked little more than hopeful it proved to be well-judged, for the ball-tracking suggested du Plessis was far enough back that height was not an issue, and the ball would have crashed into the top of leg stump. His 20 was the highest score he has made in his past eight Test innings.
Temba Bavuma once again failed to get himself in, during what is his first competitive match since January, and his first match at first-class level since last year. On 5, Bavuma edged Hazlewood and was well taken at second slip by the substitute fielder Peter Handscomb, on at the time for Smith.
However, any hope the Australians had of finishing the innings quickly were dashed by de Kock and de Villiers, whose partnership by stumps was worth 37. Play ended early due to bad light, and the Bancroft incident looked set to dominate all the post-play discussions. But the hurly-burly is not yet done, the battle not yet lost and won, and the teams will arrive on day four with South Africa in a dominant position.
Australia batsman Cameron Bancroft has admitted to trying to change the condition of the ball using a foreign object on the third day of the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
"I had discussions with the match officials, I've been charged with attempting to change the condition of the ball," Bancroft said after play in Cape Town. "We had a discussion during the [lunch] break and I saw an opportunity to use some tape, get some granules from the rough patches on the wickets and change the condition, it didn't work, the umpires didn't change the ball. I was cited on the screen and that resulted in me shoving it down my trousers."
A contrite Steven Smith admitted to Australia's leadership group knowing about it. "The leadership group knew about it. We spoke about it at lunch," he said. "I am not proud of what's happened. It's not within the spirit of the game. My integrity, the team's integrity and the leadership group's integrity has come into question. It wont happen again.
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Day 4
South Africa 311 & 373
Australia 255 & 107 (target: 430)
South Africa won by 322 runs
South Africa might have won the Test, but the real winner was schadenfreude. After the ball-tampering events of Saturday, nobody outside of the Australian team - and possibly not even they - could have wished for any result other than a huge South African victory. And so it came to pass, a 322-run win that even for the South Africans must have felt strange. Australia were the losers in every way: they lost not only the Test, but their captain to suspension, and their credibility.
Normally after an outcome like this, the focus would be on yet another Australian batting collapse, all out for 107 in a chase of 430. But this Test will only ever be remembered for the ball-tampering scandal. It is a shame, because Morne Morkel deserves recognition for collecting 5 for 23 to make match figures of 9 for 110, a career-best in what he has already announced is his last series. But in years to come, the defining image of this game will be Cameron Bancroft stuffing tape down his pants, not Morkel walking off with his head held high.
The day had started in somewhat stunned silence, and with Tim Paine captaining the Australians after Steven Smith and David Warner were stood down from the captaincy and vice-captaincy by Cricket Australia. From an Australian perspective the match suddenly seemed as pointless as a broken pencil, but South Africa had worked hard to gain the upper hand in this Test and they deserved to be rewarded for that.
South Africa could do nothing but carry on trying to win, and that they did by adding 135 further runs to their total for the loss of their final five wickets. AB de Villiers was caught in the cordon for 63, but Quinton de Kock and Vernon Philander both posted half-centuries to ensure a total of 373. Along the way Nathan Lyon took his 300th Test wicket, but the celebration was as subdued as any seen in Australian cricket for a long time.
Australia were set 430 to win, but even had they pulled off that record chase it would have earned them no respect whatsoever. Not that they ever got close. Bancroft's concentration is the stuff of legend in Australian domestic cricket, but even he must have had trouble focusing after the ball-tampering drama. He and Warner gamely put on 57 for the opening wicket, but the stand was broken when Warner called Bancroft through for a suicidal single and the younger man was run out. It was a fitting metaphor for the events of the previous day.
Warner himself was soon caught at gully off Kagiso Rabada for 32, and the wickets tumbled. Usman Khawaja edged Keshav Maharaj to slip, Shaun Marsh was brilliantly caught by Aiden Markram diving at short leg next ball, Smith steered a catch to gully off Morkel for 7, Mitchell Marsh lobbed a catch off an attempted hook off Morkel, Pat Cummins was caught off the glove from a fierce Morkel bouncer the very next ball, Mitchell Starc fended a catch to short leg off Morkel, Nathan Lyon was run out by Temba Bavuma and Josh Hazlewood was the last man out, caught off Morkel to complete the five-wicket haul.
Paine remained not out on 9, the last man standing in an Australian line-up that had embarrassed itself again. Another fitting metaphor for the man who could soon become the country's 46th Test captain.
4th Test
Day 1
South Africa 313/6
Opener Aiden Markram led the way with a career-best 152 as South Africa had the better of the opening day of the fourth Test against a much-changed Australia, reaching the close at 313 for six on Friday.
The tourists, reeling from their ball-tampering scandal and led by new captain Tim Paine, had to endure chants of “where is Warner?” and “where is your captain?” from sections of the 17,023 home support as a reminder of the bans handed to captain Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.
Needing a win to grab a share of the series, the tourists kept themselves in the game as the excellent Pat Cummins (3-53) claimed the wickets of Markram and home skipper Faf du Plessis first ball.
Debutant Chadd Sayers (2-64) removed AB de Villiers (69) with the new ball and two deliveries later had nightwatchman Kagiso Rabada caught without scoring.
Temba Bavuma (25) and Quinton de Kock (7) will resume on the second morning, looking for a sizeable total on a wicket already taking turn and showing widening cracks as they seek a first home series win over Australia in almost 50 years.
After losing the toss, Australia’s bowlers have found enough in the wicket to dispel the notion of a flat pitch. But it did not come in the form of reverse swing, which was noticeably absent having been a feature of the first three Tests, only becoming apparent with the very old ball.
The excellent Markram was the anchor for the innings, hitting 17 fours and a six on his way to a fourth career century to go with three fifties in 17 Test innings as he scored all around the ground. His 216-ball vigil ended when he steered Cummins to Mitchell Marsh in the gully, having brought up his 150 the delivery before with a sumptuous drive. It was the fourth century for the home side in the series, and second for Markram, with Australia’s batsmen yet to break their duck, a major difference between the two sides.
South Africa were teetering on the brink of another middle-order collapse when Du Plessis misjudged Cummins’s next delivery, leaving the ball as it crashed into his pads for a plumb lbw decision. But De Villiers and Bavuma steadied the innings again with a fifth-wicket partnership of 52, before two late dismissals lifted Australia at the Wanderers.
The other batsmen out were opener Dean Elgar (19), caught off the leading edge from a Lyon delivery for the third time in the series, and Hashim Amla (27), who edged Cummins to Peter Handscombe at second slip.
Australia made four changes from the previous Test, replacing the banned trio with Joe Burns, Matt Renshaw and Handscombe. Fast bowler Mitchell Starc has a stress fracture in his leg and was replaced by Sayers. South Africa, 2-1 up in the series, were unchanged with fast bowler Morne Morkel playing his final Test before he retires from international cricket.
Day 2
South Africa 488;
Australia 110-6
South Africa moved closer to a first home Test series win over Australia since 1970 as the depleted tourists slipped to 110 for six on day two in Johannesburg.
Australia, missing the suspended Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft following the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town, saw their makeshift top order collapse in response to the hosts’ 488 all out.
The new openers Matthew Renshaw and Joe Burns, as well as Peter Handscomb who batted at Smith’s usual position of four, combined for only 12 runs.
Burns made only four before edging to slip off Kagiso Rabada, while Vernon Philander, who finished the day with figures of three for 17, had Renshaw caught by the wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
Handscomb, batting in Smith’s usual position at No 4, was bowled for nought by Philander.
Australia briefly recovered with a 52-run stand for the fourth wicket, but after Usman Khawaja (53) edged to De Kock, the Marsh brothers fell in successive overs to leave them six down. The new captain, Tim Paine, reached stumps unscathed but his side need another 179 just to avoid the follow-on.
South Africa had earlier taken their overnight 313 for six to 488, the sixth highest Test score at the Wanderers.
Temba Bavuma produced a brilliant innings but fell five runs short of a second Test century when he ran out of partners. Pat Cummins ended with five for 83, including the wickets of Keshav Maharaj (45) and Morne Morkel with successive deliveries to leave Bavuma stuck on 95.
Day 3
South Africa 488 & 134/3
Australia
221 all out
SA lead by 401 runs
The South Africa opener Dean Elgar dropped anchor to steer his side to 134 for three at the close of the third day of the fourth and final Test against Australia, giving the hosts a daunting lead of 401 runs. Elgar scored 39 from 158 balls in South Africa’s second innings, as his side look to build an unassailable lead with two full days remaining at the Wanderers.
Australia need victory to avoid a first series defeat in South Africa since 1970, but have been rocked by the ball-tampering scandal in which Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were sent home and given hefty bans after the third Test in Cape Town.
Elgar will resume on the fourth morning, with his captain, Faf du Plessis, on 34, as the pair look to increase the lead towards 500 runs. With so much time left in the Test, a declaration at that point would make South Africa heavy favourites.
The wicket is beginning to misbehave with variable bounce and there is sideways movement to assist the bowlers, which has brought Australia some success.
Pat Cummins removed the in-form Aiden Markram when he edged to Peter Handscomb at second slip, but not before the opener, playing just his 18th Test innings, went past 1,000 runs in the five-day game – the second fastest player to reach that mark for South Africa behind Graeme Smith.
Hashim Amla was caught at backward short leg by Mitchell March from a Nathan Lyon delivery, while AB de Villiers gloved a rising Cummins ball to the wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
South Africa had earlier bowled Australia out for 221 in their first innings with a rush of wickets after lunch, having been frustrated in the morning session by Paine and Cummins, who put on 99 for the seventh wicket.
Paine, the new Australia captain, batted bravely with a stress fracture on his thumb to score a valuable half-century, his fourth in Test cricket, but was the last man out as Elgar took a brilliant running catch at mid-off from a delivery by Kagiso Rabada.
Cummins was the only wicket to fall in the morning session when he was trapped lbw by the spinner Keshav Maharaj, but South Africa ran through the tail after lunch.
The home side also ended the day with a fitness worry as the seamer Morné Morkel, playing in his final Test before retirement from international cricket, was forced from the field with a muscle strain, though he did return to the pitch after the interval.
Day 4
South Africa 488 & 344/6d
Australia 221 & 88/3 (target: 612)
Australia require another 524 runs with 7 wickets remaining
This was a magical day of Test cricket - and not in the mere figurative sense of the word. What sorcery was behind South Africa's amazing, never-ending innings, which kept going and going and going, defying all rational attempts at explanation? And how, from an attack crippled by injury, did South Africa conjure three dangerous fast bowlers by the close of play? Surely the average muggle will never understand the mysteries of day four in Johannesburg.
It was a day on which South Africa started with an advantage of 401 and batted on, and on, and on, past a lead of 450, and 500, and 550, and 600. The accepted explanation was that Faf du Plessis would have a limited attack at his disposal: Morne Morkel had a side strain, Kagiso Rabada was suffering from a stiff back, and Vernon Philander had strapping on his leg. By stumps, Morkel had 2 for 18, Rabada had caused new-ball jitters, and a catch had been dropped off Philander's bowling.
Du Plessis had finally declared at tea, setting Australia an ostensible target of 612 for victory. For context, only once in Test history has a team scored more than 500 in the fourth innings: in the famous timeless Durban Test of 1939, England made 654 for 5, a draw declared on day 10 only because England, who were just 42 runs from victory, had to board a train to catch up with their ship home, which had already left Durban without them and was now in Cape Town.
Whatever the reason for du Plessis' conservatism, he knew that only defeat in this Test could prevent South Africa from a historic series win at home against Australia, which they had not achieved since 1970. By the time du Plessis declared, that possibility had not only been killed off, it had been mummified and sealed inside a sarcophagus inside a booby-trapped mausoleum, never again to be seen by human eyes.
But if victory seemed a secondary consideration for South Africa for much of the day, by stumps they were nevertheless in a strong position to achieve a 3-1 series result. Australia finished the day on 88 for 3, with Peter Handscomb on 23 and Shaun Marsh on 7. And the most impressive thing was that the retiring Morkel, in his final Test, had insisted on bowling through the pain of his injury to claim two of the three wickets.
Australia's innings had started with what South Africa thought was a wicket - Matt Renshaw was given out caught-behind first ball off Rabada, but had the decision overturned on review. A few overs later, Renshaw was put down at gully by Temba Bavuma off the bowling of Philander, but his luck ran out on 5, when Morkel angled one from around the wicket to strike the pad and trap him lbw.
It was inspirational stuff from Morkel, who by stumps, had added a second wicket, that of Joe Burns, who was lbw for 42, walking across his stumps and trying to work a yorker through the leg side. Australia had also lost Usman Khawaja lbw for 7, when he was adjudged not to have played a shot against Keshav Maharaj, and was struck outside the line of off stump. Khawaja's review was in vain; if he had played a shot it had been a truly woeful one, for he missed the ball by several miles.
Batting had looked much easier for the South Africans, and particularly for du Plessis, who scored his first Test century since October 2017, and ended a poor run of form in which he had not passed 20 for the past nine innings. He scored all around the ground, often adventurously, as when he lifted Pat Cummins over cover point for six, and brought up his century from his 163rd delivery with an outside edge for four off Josh Hazlewood.
He struck 18 fours and two sixes, and his effort was all the more impressive, given that he had earlier received a painful blow to the finger by a rising ball from Cummins. Eventually, du Plessis was caught at slip off the bowling of Cummins for 120, by which stage, his partnership with Dean Elgar was worth 170 runs.
The holding pattern of the game was never more obvious than when Elgar was batting. He did not score a single run until the 65th ball of the day's play, and by the time he lifted Chadd Sayers over the infield for those two runs, Elgar had seen a full 91 deliveries bowled in the match since his last run on the previous afternoon.
Incongruously, he brought up his fifty with a six clubbed over long-on off the bowling of Mitchell Marsh, the landmark coming in 199 deliveries and 305 minutes. Just as incongruously, Elgar later fell to a slog across the line, when he miscued one off Nathan Lyon and was well-caught by Shaun Marsh running back from extra cover. Elgar's 81 had taken 250 deliveries and 337 minutes.
Soon afterwards, Australia claimed another wicket when Quinton de Kock was lbw for 4 to Cummins, who took his tally for the match to nine wickets, to add to the half-century he scored in Australia's first innings. Still, there was no declaration. At least not until tea, by which time Temba Bavuma had 35, Philander had 33, and South Africa had 344 for 6. The magic of the amazing never-ending innings had finally worn off, but the enchantment of Morkel's recovery was still to come.
Day 5
South Africa 344-6, Australia 221 & 119 all outSouth Africa win by 492 runs
