South Africa cricket on a high, Australia going down and under

Following a defeat by an innings and 80-runs, the hosts have lost the three-match Test series to South Africa 2-0.

The Proteas are eyeing a series clean-sweep in Adelaide while Australian selectors are left to try and field a team to stop the rampaging visitors.

LEST WE FORGET England’s cricketers wear a poppy on their shirts against India.so why can’t our footballers? “Too many times we have lost wickets in clumps, 8/32 today, 10/85 in the first innings”, Smith was quoted as saying by Sport24.

It was the fifth consecutive Test defeat for Australia, following a 3-0 hiding in Sri Lanka where the team’s batsmen were undone by the spinning ball.

Those looking down the gun are 37-year-old batsman Adam Voges, opener Joe Burns and Callum Ferguson, who both came in for the Hobart Test. Spinner Lyon is another whose place is at risk after taking just two wickets at 120.50 each in the South Africa series.

Kagiso Rabada took 4/34 in Australia’s second innings while Vernon Philander laid the platform for victory with five wickets in the first when Australia were bundled out for 85.

Smith was steadfast, holding the lower-order together for long enough to reach 48 not out when he ran out of batting partners with the total at 85, Australia’s lowest in a home test since 1984. “We want to do that very badly”, he said. “I don’t think there’s anyone really doing that at the moment, that’s really averaging 55-60, things like that”.

“There are going to be changes for the next Test and it will be a different group of players that gather for the next Test”. Are they lacking confidence because of some of the selections and things that have happened?

However, instead of playing pink ball cricket in the lead up to the third match in Adelaide that will be played under those conditions they will face the red ball that will be stark contrast to what they will face under lights.

Lehmann stated that the entire squad except Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner and Steven Smith will be sent to play the Sheffield Shield matches. Rabada took a solitude wicket in the first innings for just 20 runs.

Players are drifting in and out of the side on a whim with experienced campaigners left out (Usman Khawaja in Sri Lanka), bowlers being dropped due to their batting skills or lack of them (Jackson Bird in Hobart), and rookies plucked from Shield cricket and dropped as quick as if they are rolling a dice (take your pick).

South Africa will head to Melbourne to play a two-day game under lights at the MCG.

“Humiliated” Smith says Australia lacking pride was posted in Sports of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on November 15, 2016 and was last updated on November 15, 2016.