AUS vs SA: Hosts seal series with dominating victory at MCG; Thrash Proteas by an innings and 189 runs
With South Africa having to climb a mountain of 386 runs to win on day 4, it was only a matter of time before the Aussies wrapped things up quickly after declaring their first innings at a massive 575/8.
The hosts won the match by a massive margin of an innings and 189 runs as South Africa were bowled out for 204 in their second innings. This win sealed the series for Australia with a lead of 2-0 heading into the third test match.
Another Collapse for South Africa
Temba Bavuma was the lone warrior with 65 runs from 144 balls with six fours for the Proteas. Apart from him, Kyle Verreyne and de Bruyn chipped in with 33 and 28 respectively. The rest of the South African batting order collapsed cheaply in front of a strong Australian bowling attack.
It was a collective effort from the Australian bowling attack with Nathan Lyon being the pick of the bowlers in the second innings. He finished with figures of 3/58 while Scott Boland yet again impressed everyone with figures of 2/49. Cummins and Starc shared a wicket each.
Starc and Cummins tidy things up for Australia
Huge respect for Starc who exhibited a gutsy effort. He bowled brilliantly carrying a damaged middle finger and had to continuously mop the blood coming out from his wound. Cummins kept one end tight with a tidy spell.
With Cameron Green injured, Smith too rolled his arm over and got the last South African wicket of Lungi Ngidi which sealed the victory for Australia. South Africa would be utterly disappointed with their performance and would definitely question the shot selection of their batters.
It included a plenty of soft dismissals in their innings including the two run outs of Keshav Maharaj and Khaya Zondo.
On the other hand, Australia had plenty of good performances on their side like Alex Carey scoring a record-breaking ton. But it was David Warner who was awarded the man of the match for his historic 200 runs on the occasion of his 100th test.
End of South Africa’s winning streak
With a crushing victory in the Boxing Day test, Australia defeated South Africa at home for the first time since the 2005–2006 summer and attain an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series . As a result, South Africa’s streak of three straight series wins in Australia was broken, and their dreams of competing in the World Test Championship (WTC) final is now at risk. To remain in the hunt for the final, they must win the last game which will be played in Sydney.
Australia 575 for 8 dec (Warner 200, Carey 111, Smith 85, Green 51*, Head 51) beat South Africa 189 (Jansen 59, Verreynne 52, Green 5-27) & 204 (Bavuma 65) by an innings and 182 runs
