Class of 2016 in exclusive club, and Temba’s a hero
ZAAHIER ADAMS looks at the highs and lows of the Proteas tour Down Under
South Africa’s series victory here allows them to join an exclusive club of only two other nations that have completed a hat-trick of series wins here in Australia. Only the England teams from 1884/5 through to 1888 and the West Indies legends, who held the Frank Worrell Trophy from 1983/84 to 1992/93, have achieved this distinction.
Prior to the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval, Quinton de Kock,
had scores of 122, 99, 84, 64 and 104 in all innings on this Australian tour. “It certainly makes up for my poor World Cup down here last time,” the young wicketkeeper quipped after the Hobart series victory.
When South Africa cleaned up Australia for just 85 in only 32.5 overs in the first innings of the Hobart Test, it was the fourth lowest number of balls faced in a Test innings at home ever. The previous three were in the 19th and early 20th centuries when pitches were still uncovered.
Hobart hero Kyle Abbott was rewarded for his heroics at the Bellerive Oval with selection for the day-nighter here. It was the first time in his nine-Test career that the 29-year-old had played successive Test matches.
Temba Bavuma’s sensational runout at the Waca transformed him into an overnight social media hero here in Australia. The little man from Langa quickly became a big man Down Under.
The Australian victory at the Adelaide Oval broke a run of five consecutive Test defeats. It was perilously close to their record nine Tests without victory, their worst run since Kim Hughes’s side in 1984.
The “Lollygate” dramas surrounding Proteas captain Faf du Plessis threatened to derail the Proteas’ achievements, especially after team security chief Zunaid Wadee became the most recognisable man in Australia after the Adelaide airport fracas with a Channel 9 reporter.
The pink-ball Test was South Africa’s maiden experiment in the longest format under floodlights, after Australia and New Zealand had trialled it last year, while Pakistan and West Indies also did battle under lights in the UAE recently.