Australia won by 7 wkts
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Usman Khawaja
Batter
Bowler
Du Plessis is presented with the trophy and he revels in the moment with his teammates. South Africa have now won three consecutive Test series in Australia and that is no mean feat. Nice to see some of the Aussie players getting their kids onto the park. It sure must be a bitter pill to take. But their miseries from the first two Tests can now be intertwined with the hope of a better future after their performance here. As for the Day Night Test, it got a thumbs up from Faf du Plessis. It's an experiment which has a lot of upside and we might see more and more of it in the future. That's it from this tour. It's been good fun bringing it to you guys. I am Sagar Chawla and on behalf of Bharath Ramaraj and our scorer Naga, it's a goodbye!
Faf [captain, South Africa]: It's hard to look past the fact that we played exceptional cricket to win the series. Australia is a competitive team and you just don't come here and beat them. You have to play some good cricket. I'm a satisfied captain. It's very easy to captain a bowling unit like that. They don't give scoring shots. The great thing about our team is we're quite prepared to put in the hard yards and go all the way. We're not looking for special stuff. Just want to do the basics well. That's what we've done. I'm positive about the Day-Night Test. Much more positive than I'd thought it will be. There's a real future for it going forward. Sri Lanka will be coming and then New Zealand. We'll enjoy the next week or so just to get away from the game.
Smith [captain, Australia]: I'm very pleased the way the boys stood up. Relatively new team, inexperienced team. Bowlers bowled well on Day 1 and Ussi [Khawaja] set the game up for us. It was a disappointing start to the series. We've been outplayed by South Africa. They thoroughly deserve the series win. But I'm proud of the way the boys have turned things around. Showed a bit of pride, character and resilience to get over the line. The youngsters were pretty good. It was nice to see the debutants hitting the winning runs. It's a moment they won't forget.
Philander [Man of the Series]: I'm surprised [with the award]. Great all-round show, lots of great performances. Dale Steyn has been a champion bowler for a long time. We owed it to him to step up in his place. I think we have to get used to the pink ball. We had two warm-up matches, but we didn't have sufficient time to get adjusted to it. But there is a future for pink ball.
Khawaja [Man of the Match for his 145]: Yes, it would have been nice if we had won one of the first two Tests. It was a tough series. There were runs to be scored and bowlers too had something in it. Any hundred is special. The fact that we won the game, makes it more special. When you win, there is a different feeling. It was tough work to bat against South Africa. They bowled in good areas and they are a class act.
Having hit rock-bottom at Hobart, Australia had an eye towards the future as they rung in the changes for this one. And the team responded. A really well concerted effort. Hazlewood was brilliant on Day 1, drew upon his love for the pink ball and dented South Africa's progress even as Faf du Plessis struck a phenomenal hundred. Khawaja's superlative knock set the game up beautifully and gave Australia the edge with a lead of over a 100. Lyon came up with the goods last evening, a session which all but sealed South Africa's fate as they lost 4 big wickets. Starc was his usual fiery self for the most part and even Bird chipped in with a few big wickets - most notably of de Kock this afternoon. The debutants showed some promise and it's something that Australia can certainly work with. A half-century for Handscomb in the first innings and Renshaw, despite the innumberable plays and misses, the time he spent out there should do him some good. Now onwards and upwards..
18:37 Local Time, 08:07 GMT, 13:37 IST: A nice touch with two debutants at the crease to finish the game off. What a relief for the hosts. They've been beaten, conquered and even left embarrassed at different times in this series. This win should have a soothing effect. At least the scoreline sounds a lot better. South Africa take the series 2-1.
Tabraiz Shamsi to Handscomb, 1 run, skips out and flicks it through mid-wicket. That's it. A pride salvaging win for Australia in Adelaide
Tabraiz Shamsi to Handscomb, no run, driven back to Shamsi
Tabraiz Shamsi to Handscomb, no run, a huge cry of "catch" from de Kock. Falls short of Shamsi though. He held it back nicely as Handscomb came out of the crease, forced him to defence. Handscomb tries to smother with bat and pad close and it pops up having clipped both
Tabraiz Shamsi to Handscomb, no run, flat through the air, Handscomb plays back to it and defends
Tabraiz Shamsi to Renshaw, 1 run, clips the flighted delivery to the left of mid-on
Peter Handscomb, right handed bat, comes to the crease
END OF OVER 40
6 Runs
AUS: 125 - 3
0 2 0 0 4 W
Renshaw
33 (136)
S Smith
40 (51)
Kyle Abbott
10-2-26-1
Kyle Abbott to Smith, out Caught by de Kock!! He's gone. Such an anti-climax for the crowds who were buzzing in anticipation. Smith shuffles forward trying to work Abbott through the on-side but this is a really good nut. Pitches on a good length, nips away a fraction and takes a faint outside edge to de Kock. Smith doesn't wait for the finger to go up. Smith c de Kock b Kyle Abbott 40(52) [4s-5]
Kyle Abbott to Smith, THATS OUT!! Caught!!
Kyle Abbott to Smith, FOUR, squirts it off a thick edge through the gully region. Duminy did get a hand but it wasn't a chance - the ball bounced just in front of him. A boundary away
Kyle Abbott to Smith, no run, flicked off middle and off to square leg
Kyle Abbott to Smith, no run, defended from the crease
Kyle Abbott to Smith, 2 runs, this is commendable from Rabada in the field. Still diving around to save runs. Smith clips this back of a length delivery nicely wide of mid-on but Rabada doesn't allow it all the way
Kyle Abbott to Smith, no run, short of length around off, Smith nudges to mid-wicket