By Patrick Compton.
The Proteas were put under early pressure, losing three top-order wickets for 71 in 31 overs, after Australia declared their first-innings on 475 for four on the fourth afternoon of the third and final test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
After losing the entire third day to rain, play only started at 1.45pm (Australia time) after a wet outfield delayed the start of play on day four. This meant that Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, felt forced to declare on his team’s overnight total leaving opening batsman Usman Khawaja high and dry on 195, just short of what would have been his maiden double-century.
But with time so short to force a victory, Cummins’s decision was the right one, harsh though it was on the left-hander.
The Australian pace bowlers, Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, immediately looked threatening against an out of touch Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee. Elgar was fortunate to survive an edge through the slips off Hazlewood in the first over before edging the same bowler in his third over to Steve Smith in the slips. Smith did brilliantly to scoop the ball up with his right hand, but third umpire Richard Kettleborough adjudged that the ball had brushed the turf during the catching process.
It was a similar not-out decision of his that saved Marnus Labuschagne in the Australian innings and Erwee and Labuschagne exchanged wry smiles and a few words on the field after the decision was announced.
Elgar continued to look comfortable, however, and in the ninth over he gloved a sharp, rising delivery from Hazlewood down the leg side to wicketkeeper Alex Carey. It was the third time in the series that he had fallen to short balls down leg.
Erwee (18) was the next to go, the ball after square-cutting Nathan Lyon for four, leaving a delivery that just kissed his off-stump. It was a serious misjudgment just when he looked to be settling in.
Heinrich Klaasen, in the team as a stop-gap No 3, didn’t last long, falling in a similar way to Elgar as he gloved a quick, rising delivery from Cummins down the leg side to wicketkeeper Carey.
Temba Bavuma – who has looked one of South Africa’s most assured batsmen on tour – then saw the Proteas through to tea with Khaya Zondo, twice pulling short balls from Lyon for sixes to relieve the pressure. At the break he was undefeated on 28 with Zondo on five.
AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Renshaw Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
SOUTH AFRICA: Dean Elgar (capt) Sarel Erwee, Heinrich Klaasen, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.