Cricket Highlights, 19 Dec: AUS vs SA (1st Test)

AUS vs SA (1st Test)

An aggressive bowling attack from the Aussie pacers led the hosts Australia to an impressive six-wicket win in the first of the three-match Test series against visiting South Africa at the Gabba in Brisbane.

In a five-day Test where at least 450 overs are played usually, this Test match was completed in just two days. Less than 145 overs were played. Only once before this instance, a Test has been completed in less time on Australian soil. It is the eighth shortest Test in cricket history.

A total of 34 wickets fell in two innings, 30 of which were taken by the pacers. 15 wickets fell on the first day, and 19 on the second day. The biggest thing is that the batsmen had to struggle for every run in Brisbane. The bounce on Gabba’s wicket was uneven with the green grass. The speed of the ball was also varying. That’s why even with setting up a target of 34 runs, the Protea pacers made the match very difficult for the Aussies.

Mitchell Starc became the seventh Australian bowler and the fifth pacer to reach the milestone of 300 wickets in this Test. Before this Test, Starc’s wicket number was 296. After taking 3 wickets in the first innings, Starc took 2 wickets in the second innings. Regular captain Pat Cummins returned to the team against South Africa despite missing the second Test against the West Indies due to injury.

Cummins took seven wickets in this test again. After taking two wickets in the first innings, he led the way to crush the Proteas in the second innings by snapping up five wickets. However, Travis Head was selected as the player of the match. Because his impeccable innings of 92 runs off 96 balls in the first innings basically made the difference in the whole game.

Australia won the toss and sent South Africa to bat first in Brisbane. In the first innings, the Proteas were bowled out by the Aussie bowlers for just 152 runs. Dean Elgar’s team was all out below 200 runs for the eighth time this year.

Kyle Verreynne scored the highest 64 runs for the visitors. Temba Bavuma scored 38 runs. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon took 3 wickets each for the hosts. Pat Cummins and Scott Boland took 2 wickets each.

In response, although the start was not good, Australia made the first day on their name with a great batting display by Head. Cummins’ team ended their first day with 145 for 5. But after going into bat on the second day, they were all out for 218 runs. Head scored the highest 92 runs for the team. Besides, Steven Smith scored the second-highest score of 36 runs.

Protea pacer Kagiso Rabada took the maximum number of 4 wickets. Besides, Marco Jansen took 3 wickets, Anrich Nortje 2 wickets, and Lungi Ngidi 1 wicket.

After coming down to bat trailing by 66 runs in the second innings, South Africa got all out for just 99 runs. Khaya Zondo remained unbeaten with 36 runs for the Proteas. Besides, Bavuma scored 29 runs and Keshav Maharaj scored 16 runs. None of the rest of the batters could even touch double-digit scores.

However, the Aussies lost 4 wickets chasing the target of only 34 runs. It was mainly due to Protea pacer Rabada’s bowling attack. Rabada who took 4 wickets in the first innings also took 4 wickets in the second innings. This was the feat of taking 4 wickets after setting up the least number of targets for the opposition.

The hosts scored more runs from extras (19) than Usman Khawaja (2), David Warner (3), Smith (6), and Head (0) combinedly made. In the end, Australia took a 1-0 lead in the series by winning by 6 wickets winning the match. Marnus Labuschagne remained unbeaten on 6 and Cameron Green remained unbeaten despite not scoring a run.

On December 26 (Monday), these two teams will meet at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 2nd match of the series.

AUS vs SA Scoreboard

South Africa (1st Innings) – 152/10 (48.2)

Australia (1st Innings) – 218/10 (50.3)

South Africa (2nd Innings) – 99/10 (37.4)

Australia (2nd Innings) – 35/4 (7.5)

Result – Australia won by 6 wickets

Player of the match – Travis Head

AUS vs SA Playing Xis