5 Epic Performances For South Africa At Cape Town That Thrashed Australia

Cape Town was a funky town if you were present from March 22-26 to witness a series of events that both reduced cricket into being a sport mired by corrosion and eventually birthed some fine retribution.

It wasn’t too hard to see who was at the receiving end of a thunderous loss. Perhaps the same side that reduced cricket so low in the dumps on March 24 that it became an enormous challenge to rise and fight back. Australia are clearly the venom of what has eventually become a sad saga of events, hitherto less associated with a side that has so often taken cricket to epic heights.

In lighter vein, it could be said that everything Australia did poorly, South Africa did well. Well enough to prove that cricket wasn’t about shenanigans. That the sport ultimately rests less on theatrics and more on individual heroics, which when spun together through the element of team spirit results in great scenes. Fitting enough to serve anxious spectators around the world who watch it with hope that goodness eventually prevails over absurdity.

On March 24, 2018, Australian cricket- not impinged by anything South Africa did- succumbed low enough for their cricket board CEO to respond rather somberly, “It’s a sad day for Australian Cricket.” Social media was quick to dive into a tizzy, crunch headlines gasping viewers’ breath by suggesting, “the demise of Australian cricket.” Facts are simple. And cannot be tampered with.

You simply do not tamper the cricket ball. That is not allowed. It’s not only against the rules of the game. It’s simply acting contrary to the right conduct expected out of a sportsman. What Bancroft did, presumably under the awareness of Steve Smith might have merely been ball tampering. But it produced enough angst to push South Africa quietly to produce some fiery performances from both aspects of the game.

Which 5 South African players collectively brought about the Australian downfall:

Morne Morkel

The gentle giant, that kind spirit and that very affable cricketer we lovingly address as the ‘giraffe’. The more the mind comes close to realizing that Morkel will no longer be around after the eventual Johannesburg Test, the more it succumbs to sadness. Morkel erupted into great fire scalping 9 Australian wickets, 5 of which broke through the Aussies’ middle and lower order in the deciding innings of South Africa’s enthralling win at Cape Town.

Having had a rather sedate series thus far, Morkel quite simply proved why he is so crucial to South Africa’s success over the years: both at home and when playing abroad.

Aidan Markram

If there’s a South African batsman who lovingly plays with that defensive technique, opting for big strikes but only upon having settled then it’s Markram. He has the watchfulness that de Kock lacked early on and the attacking game that few youngsters his age possess at the highest level in the game. His top score of 84 rallied South Africa to a stage from which it was quite impossible to lose.

Kagiso Rabada

Thankfully not the man of the hour for reasons you’d rather not want him to be, Rabada struck a magnificent 4-for in Australia’s first innings to enable his side to hold great advantage over the tourists. He was menacingly quick and had great carry, the sparking signs of which have encompassed his thrilling career. Bad news for Aussies is, with great form, Rabada seems to have shut up up a bit. This means, an internal implosion could lead to more fireworks in the final Test.

AB De Villiers

Most fans that can’t imagine cricket without Cricket’s Superman see his name as De Villiers. His opponents who are unsparingly dashed to all sides of the ground spot in South Africa’s “Ever-man” a ‘Devil’ with the bat. This is exactly what AB transpired into being at the victorious Cape Town Test, firing fifties in both innings- notching up important scores of 63 and 64 respectively, striking 17 boundaries collectively.

He seems to have resumed the third Test from where he left the second, at Port Elizabeth where AB struck a hundred that quite simply, lifted everyone’s spirits.

Dean Elgar

In his impressive unbeaten 141, Dean Elgar put behind signs of scratchiness that had hindered impressive past starts and also put aside any doubts about his consistency to bat for long periods. This was an inning that held South Africa solidly with promise and obduracy, the shining beacons that make Test Criket quite simply a joy to watch. One hopes Elgar will continue his fine touch in the 5 absorbing days that lie ahead at Jo’burg.