South Africa vs Australia 2018: 4th Test, Day 5, Talking points

#3 Vernon Philander runs through the Aussies

Vernon Philander was superb as he was impeccable with his line and length.

Vernon Philander had a terrific start to 2018. He took 15 wickets in the series against India and won the Man of the Series award. However, he was a little under-par in this series. In the first three Tests, he played the holding role and picked up 7 wickets in those 3 games.

However, the Philander came back strongly in this Test. He showed his class. After taking 3/30 in the first innings, he started well very well in the second innings with figures of 5-2-9-0 yesterday. He was unfortunate not to take a wicket. But he completely turned things around as he ran through the Aussie batting line-up.

He dismissed Shaun Marsh on the first ball of the day and then got rid of Mitchell Marsh in the same over. He then dismissed Handscomb and Tim Paine before taking two wickets in two balls (Pat Cummins and Chadd Sayers) to pick up 6 wickets inside the first hour. His figures of 6/21 were his career-best.