South Africa won by 6 wkts
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Kagiso Rabada
Batter
Bowler
On that note, I take leave on behalf of my colleagues - the darling of Bhubaneswar, the fast learner from Lucknow, the don of Kathriguppe - figure out yourselves who is who! and our very own Tristan Holme at PE who has been terrific throughout, have all played a massive part in bringing this coverage to you all over the world. It wouldn't be nice on my part if I don't recognise their contributions. The next Test starts on the 22nd of March - nice break till then for everyone. But the cricket continues here on our site. It never stops, does it? Do catch up on all the coverage as it happens and don't forget to read whatever is served up. Till next time it's goodbye from here. Be well!
KG as well - a champion. And at just 22. Has the best strike-rate of all time for bowlers who have taken 120 wickets or more. Woah. Serious, serious talent. If only he could channel his aggression and control his on-the-spot outbursts. If only! But one should talk about his bowling in the game - came back to life on day 1 after an ordinary spell and just was consistenly awesome bowling long spells in the heat and humidity of PE. Ran in all the time and whenever a wicket was needed, he put his hand up. Undoubtedly the leader of the attack now. Steyn can breathe easy. His successor has been found. Donald--> Pollock--> Ntini-->Steyn--> KG - the baton has passed on seamlessly. South Africa are lucky to have him. Test cricket needs him. And let's hope and pray that he gets to play in the remainder of the series - for it won't be the same without him.
So it is KG who wins the MoM. As they say batsmen set up Test matches it is bowlers who win it. And it wouldn't have mattered much if the award went to AB. What an out-worldly talent he is with the bat. In all formats. When he puts his mind and soul to it, in my opinion there's no-one better in the world across formats. You may have the Kohlis, Roots, Williamsons and others. But there's only one AB. This Test match proved how insanely talented he is. When the ball was reversing around corners, he dealt with Starc with utmost ease. Then on day 3, completely changed the complexion of the game. A pity that his Test record doesn't match up to his unbelievable skill. Just 22 tons to his name is what the stats will show currently, but stats will never paint a true picture of the champion.
Deepu's corner:
Most 100s for SA against Aus in Tests:
6 AB de Villiers
5 E Barlow/ G Pollock/ J Kallis/ H Amla
3 A Faulkner/ G Smith/ JP Duminy
Most 10-fers for SA:
5 D Steyn (86 Tests)
4 K RABADA (28*)
4 M Ntini (101)
3 A Donald (72)
Batsman dismissed in the last over of a session this series:
1st Test -
Day 1, Ses 1: D Warner
Day 2, Ses 1: M Starc
Day 2, Ses 2: A Markram
Day 2, Ses 3: M Morkel
Day 3, Ses 1: C Bancroft
Day 3, Ses 2: T Paine
Day 3, Ses 3: N Lyon
2nd Test -
Day 1, Ses 1: C Bancroft
Day 1, Ses 2: Shaun & Mitchell Marsh
Day 3, Ses 1: L Ngidi
Day 4, Ses 1: D Elgar
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Gurdeep Singh: First innings lead proved to be decisive here.
Shiv Ram: Rabada was the difference in bowling and ABD in batting between the both sides.
Aditya: Only if every team had an AB. Only if every team had a KG. Only if..
Faf: "Serious character. My mind goes back to Dean and Hashim's partnership where it was tough, the ball was reversing and if you have got a player like AB de Villiers in your side, you can then transfer that pressure back onto the opposition. Pretty much for us the whole four days we have played, we have been in a position of strength. The first hour was brilliant - we bowled really well on day 1, but then went to the beach for 45 minutes or an hour or so but came back again brilliantly. Absolute champion of a bowler Kagiso Rabada, really proud of him. They were in a different level this game [KG and AB]. AB looked like he was batting on a different wicket to all the other batters. Really good to see him in top form again, really really hungry. Looking forward to him playing a huge part in the upcoming games. As I said before this game, there are two bowlers - Starc and Rabada who would get excessive reverse swing, exceptional bowlers. As a bowling unit we went for 2.8rpo, we knew if we keep this Australian batting quiet - that's half the battle. It's disappointing for the series. We would want the best players to play in the series, we will still challenge that to make sure he [Rabada] can still play a part in the series. Couple of days to get away from the game a little mind. Refresh our mind - 10 days of tough Test cricket, back to back. We will come back and practice hard and look forward to the next Test match."
Rabada: "I'm glad. Put in the preparation and things happened for me in this Test match. Always nice bowling with a hard new rock. No, I don't think so. I will stick to being nightwatchman. One to David Warner was quite special [on the dismissal he enjoyed the most]. Australia were never going to give in easily, they are not gonna roll over so had to go into the reserve tank and do your best. I could've bowled one or two more spells today but it was tough work."
KG is the Man of the Match for his 11-fer
Smith: "They outplayed us in every aspect of the game. AB was unbelievable and probably a big difference between the sides with his hundred in the first innings. We weren't too far away though. Probably 75 runs in the first innings and 50 in the second, might have been a different ball-game but we were certainly outplayed. Could've gone either way, it was a tough decision (at the toss) but we battled through the tough period. When the ball started reversing, we let ourselves down, Rabada bowled exceptionally well and opened our middle-order up in both innings. Unfortunately a target of 100 was a little bit too short. Yesterday morning was a tough one, we were hoping to get the three wickets quickly and maybe them have a lead of around 50-odd, that's when the game got away from us. A lead of 140 was a lot. Got AB out conventionally for the first time this series which is nice. Gives someone like Gazza [Lyon] a bit of confidence. 1-1 at the halfway point - makes for an exciting rest of the series. We've got a bit of break - three or four full days off for the boys to do what they like. Couple of days of good training, Cape Town is a tremendous city and we are excited to get there for the Test match."
Time for the presentations!
This time Rabada set the tone with the new ball. From ball one yesterday after lunch, he showed his immense talent. Knocked over Warner and then came back late in the day to get the doughty Khawaja out. And then today morning nipped out three quick wickets to grab another ten-fer. He ended with 11 in the game. A target of 101 was never going to test the hosts and despite them losing four wickets - more to end the game quickly rather than through good bowling - they cantered to the target to level the series.
Before that let's wrap up this game briefly. Australia started strongly in their first innings after opting to bat under cloudy and bowling-friendly conditions. Rabada who was poor with the new ball on day 1 then bowled a sensational spell sandwiched either side of tea to take a five-fer which broke the back of the innings. 243 was an under par score on this wicket. But Australia fought back with the ball to have the hosts at 183/6 before that man - AB conjured up a masterly hundred - his first in 3 years in Tests. Along with the lower order he piloted his side to a 139-run lead.
13:53 Local Time, 11:53 GMT, 17:23 IST: 1-1 now after PE. The customary handshakes from everyone. Lots of happy faces in the South African camp. The series now is beautifully set up. South Africa have stormed back to win in style here. The heroes of the win were KG and AB. Will be a tough choice for the Man of the Match adjudicator. Why not give it to both? Has happened before and interestingly it was Steyn and Morkel who were the last recipients of the award in 2010. Let's wait and see what happens at the presentation which will be up shortly.
Pat Cummins to Theunis de Bruyn, FOUR, Theunis de Bruyn finishes it off. South Africa level the series. Overpitched outside off, Theunis de Bruyn gets forward and drives through the vacant cover region. It slowly rolls into the cushions
Pat Cummins to Theunis de Bruyn, no run, good short delivery at pace, Theunis de Bruyn half-sits and weaves his head away to let it go
Pat Cummins to du Plessis, 1 run, full on middle, wristily flicked to deep square leg, just the single
Pat Cummins to du Plessis, no run, hits a good length on off, pushed to mid-off