South Africa vs Australia 2018: 5 positives for the Proteas

Every South Africa- Australia series is a high octane, highly competitive contest. There usually will be on-field spats and issues but in the end, the sheer quality of cricket will overpower everything.

This series was a bit different because of the ball-tampering scandal which shook the world of cricket. The incident ruined the reputations of David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft causing Warner and Smith to be banned for 12 months and Bancroft for 9 months from all forms of cricket.

Despite that disgraceful incident, the quality of cricket which was on show in all the four Tests was for all to see. Australia were convincing and ruthless in Durban only to be outclassed by the hosts in the remaining three Tests.

A win margin of 492 runs against Australia in Johannesburg sums up the dominance of South Africa over Australia allowing them to register their first test series win against the Aussies at home since readmission into international cricket in the year 1992.

There were many positives for South Africa in their 3-1 series win, here’s looking at them:

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Aiden Markram shines with the bat at the top of the order

Aiden Markram- The emerging superstar

Aiden Markram was earmarked for big things. The former Under-19 captain of South Africa was highly rated when he made his Test debut and more recently his ODI debut. His performances in the ODI’s against India was disappointing as in the absence of regular skipper Faf du Plessis, he was made captain and neither could he make a mark as a batsman and captain as his team lost 1-5.

But his stint as an opener in the longest format of the game had been pretty good heading into the home series against Australia. He established himself as a good foil for the fighting Dean Elgar.

And Aiden Markram unleashed some fine performances and was fantastic against a top quality Australian bowling attack. He notched a total of 480 runs in the Test series enabling him to enter the top 10 batsmen’s list in the latest ICC ratings.

His poise, grace and the ability to play both seam and spin equally well is indeed a good sign for South Africa and Test cricket as it needs more such young talents to showcase their true worth. The Proteas can hope that Markram continues this fine run in upcoming tours in the future.

Morne Morkel bows out on a high

Morne Morkel

A fighter, a true champion- Morne Morkel, announced that he would retire from international cricket after the end of this series. Owing to the countless number of injuries he had to endure along with the continuous workload over the years, Morne Morkel had to listen to his ailing body and call it a day.

He was as usual probing, caused a lot of trouble and had a lasting impact on the way South Africa were able to bounce back from defeat in Durban only to deliver three fantastic victories. He bowled extremely well in tandem with Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada to cause a lot of problems for the Aussie batsmen.

It was only fitting that Morne Morkel could cross the 300 Test wickets milestone during the course of this series. Despite having a side strain, Morne delivered seven overs on the trot in the fourth Test causing all sorts of problems with his swing and bounce.

It is that image which is how cricket viewers would fondly remember him. A bowler who gave everything for his country no matter how bad his body is responding. It’s only fitting that Morne Morkel could contribute to the historic Test series win over Australia before bidding adieu to the international game.

Faf du Plessis’s resilient captaincy

Leading from the front- Faf Du Plessis

It’s never easy for a captain to motivate his troops when the chips are down, especially when the opposing team’s captain and vice-captain were involved in a disgraceful incident such as the ball-tampering scandal.

Faf du Plessis had to ensure that the Proteas delivered their best against Australia despite the scandals and many people writing off the series even before it finished. Full credit should go to Faf for his resilient captaincy.

Before the scandal shook world cricket in Cape Town, Australia thumped South Africa in Durban and earlier India humbled them in the third Test match at Johannesburg. There was pressure on Faf Du Plessis to deliver as a captain and batsman.

He was able to galvanize his troops and what was excellent to watch was the way in which the Proteas fought back after a disappointing loss in the Durban Test match. The team looked ready for battle and were standing with each other and supporting each other superbly.

It was a bizarre, crazy yet competitive Test series which ended with Faf Du Plessis scoring a brilliant 120 in the last innings of the Test series. That hundred would end any speculations with regards to his quality as a batsman.

With Morne Morkel unlikely to bowl too much and with a weary Vernon Philander and KG Rabada nursing a sore back, Faf Du Plessis didn’t declare the innings despite having amassed a lead of over 500 runs in the fourth Test.

But that wasn’t a defensive move, it was a smart decision taken by the captain which ensured the bowlers got more time to recover fully. And the move to declare later than expected paid full dividends when Vernon Philander ran through the Aussie batting line up and handing the hosts an emphatic 492 run victory to win the Test series 3-1.

South Africa performed really well as a team

South Africa put on a complete team performance

The emphatic 3-1 win over a strong Australian team more than anything was a complete team effort for the Proteas. It wasn’t the individual brilliance of a single player but the collective brilliance of many players which ensured that they played so well.

Dean Elgar was resilient and contributed a lot at the top of the order and he was ably supported by Aiden Markram who seems to have finally arrived on the international scene. Hashim Amla had a quite series with the bat but others like Temba Bavuma, AB De Villiers, and Faf du Plessis ensured that Amla’s poor form didn’t impact the team’s performance.

The bowling unit hunted together. Each and every bowler did his part in ensuring Australia never got away with the game. No Australian batsman scored a century in the whole series. Vernon Philander, KG Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungisani Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj were relentless and were too good for the Australians.

In times where usually the individual brilliance of a few players generally wins teams games, the Proteas were outstanding as a team and that was really pleasing to see.

The emergence of Keshav Maharaj as a match-winner

Keshav Maharaj- The match winner

The emergence of Keshav Maharaj as the frontline spinner in the side, who gets important wickets at crucial times is possibly the biggest positive for South Africa from this series.

Keshav Maharaj is generally used to hold one end up while the fast bowlers attack from the other end. He does the holding job rather well with him usually not leaking too many runs. But in this series, we got to witness Keshav Maharaj’s ability to possibly be a match-winner.

The fact that the likes of Usman Khwaja and Shaun Marsh struggle against spin is a known thing, but the excellent way in which Maharaj built the pressure through the series where he managed to get both of them out many times fending to the slips was great to see.

In conditions suiting the fast bowlers, rather than just being in the shadows, Keshav Maharaj has shown that he can be a wicket-taker and a match-winner in his own right. This is really good news for South Africa, we will have to see if the spinner can be a force to reckon with when the Proteas play in the sub-continent in the future where he will be expected to strike more often.