Australia have finally ended their 17-year wait to beat South Africa at home after sealing their ongoing series 2-0 at the MCG on Thursday, December 29.
The hosts thumped the Proteas by an innings and 182 runs in the second Test of what has been a pretty series overall so far.
With both sides having quality bowling attacks, it was always going to come down to the gulf of quality between their batting. Australia delivered the knockout punch in both games to pick up two resounding victories.
David Warner's double hundred ensured that the hosts didn't need to bat again as South Africa's weak batting line-up capitulated quite easily for just 204. Fans on Twitter trolled and slammed the visitors for their horrible batting display. One of them wrote:
"South African cricket is in the dumps lol. Oh well, series win"
Here are some of the reactions:
South Africa have crossed 200 just once in four innings against Australia
The 204 all-out that the Proteas mustered in the second innings of the second Test was their highest team total in the series against Australia so far. It just speaks volumes about how disappointing their batting has been against a quality Aussie attack.
They could have been given the benefit of doubt in the first Test as the pitch was a bit too green. The visitors had a great opportunity to put up a strong performance batting first at the MCG and treat the first game as an aberration. However, loose technique coupled with poor shot selection has led to their downfall once again.
Except for Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreyne, none of their batters have looked comfortable in the series so far. They have been exposed far too easily on Australian soil.
Despite losing the series, the Proteas will want to win the next Test to get some crucial World Test Championship points.
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc.
South Africa XI: Dean Elgar (c), Sarel Erwee, Theunis De Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.
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