Australia’s woes on their ongoing tour of South Africa continued as they lost the final Test of the series by a huge margin of 492 runs which is now the fourth biggest margin of victory by runs in Tests.
On the other hand, Australia have had a disastrous tour of the Rainbow nation, with two of their top batsmen being banned for a year: Steven Smith and David Warner.
But, the four-match Test series has been a memorable series just like AB de Villiers tweeted after the first Test that this will be a series to remember. Australia dominated the hosts in the first Test at Kingsmead which ignited a fire in the South African camp.
All the four Tests have been full of controversies, from a verbal spat between Quinton De Kock and David Warner to the ‘ball-tampering’ saga. The series had it all.
In another controversy in the series, the number one Test bowler Kagiso Rabada was also handed a two-Test ban after the second Test. Rabada was banned for a physical altercation with the banned Australian captain Steven Smith. However, the ban was overturned by the world body ICC after the fast bowler appealed.
However, Rabada was the most successful bowler in the series as he picked up 23 wickets in the four matches. He is also being adjudged the Man of the Series.
In addition, with this win, Faf Du Plessis became the first South African captain to beat Australia at home and away.
Here is what the number one ranked Test bowler had to say at the post-match presentation:
“Yeah it’s been a long summer, a lot of games and in the end, it is reflecting in my energies. Not a lot of rest coming up, but hopefully I’ll look to make the most of it. Australia is a great cricketing nation, it is never easy against them. We came back hard in PE and is nice to have taken it over the line against them. It is nice to open your mind and listen to others (Ottis Gibson). You can never stop learning, the game always finds ways of humbling you. Morne’s had an outstanding career, a fitting finale too. We are going to celebrate his career and today is going to be all about him.”
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