South Africa couldn’t stand mighty Australia in away conditions to lose 0-2: Player Ratings for the Proteas

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Team Proteas returns to their homeland without a single breakthrough!

The four washed-out sessions turned out to be blessings for South Africa as they avoided defeat in the Sydney Test to get away from an apparent clean-sweep. The Aussie Army led by Pat Cummins continues their fourteen-month undefeated run in the bilateral series after registering a comfortable 2-0 triumph over the Proteas.

Let’s take a look at the player ratings and detailed performances report of Team South Africa from this away series defeat against Australia.

Top Order

Dean Elgar (2/10): The South African skipper had a forgettable outing from this away Test series as a captain and individually with the willow as well. He managed to fetch only 56 runs at a minimal average of 9.33 runs from 6 innings and stood in 14th position in the standings of the highest run-scorers of the series.

Elgar who garnered high praises for his leadership skills after defeating the Indian giants is bearing heavy criticism owing to their downfall and lowered chances for the WTC Finals qualification.

Sarel Erwee (5/10): The Proteas late-bloomer who made his debut in the longest format of international cricket in February 2022 was the third-highest run-scorer for his nation in a tough away tour. However, his individual contribution with the bat was still not up to the mark as he managed to touch the 20-run mark only twice in the series. 

The 33-year-old left-handed batter scored 112 runs from six innings while his best performance came in his final batting appearance where he played an unbeaten knock of 42 runs. 

Rassie van der Dussen (1/10): The Pretoria-born batter was preferred for the prestigious number three position in the opening test but also lost his place in the very next game. 

Rassie survived only five overs of the first innings and returned to the pavilion on an individual score of 5 while did not even open his account in the second innings after being bowled out by Mitchell Starc on a duck. He was dropped from the lineup after that abominable performance as the Proteas management opted for an in-form batter Theunis de Bruyn to replace him. 

Theunis de Bruyn (3/10): A classy 88-run knock in the warm-up game strengthened the contention of de Bruyn when the SA team management decided to drop Rassie van der Dussen at number three. 

The Titans’ towering batter also could not impress much with his batting performance of 18 and 28 across two innings of the Melbourne Test. However, Theunis had to vacate the number three position after flying back to his homeland before the final test to perform his parental duties. 

Henrich Klassen (4/10): The vacant number three position was then grabbed by Henrich Klassen for the Sydney Test as he became the third batter from the SA camp in three matches to play in that place. 

The wicket-keeping batter returned to red-ball International cricket after three years after his debut test in 2019 and got dismissed quite early by the opposition skipper. In the second innings, Klassen made a solid 48-run partnership with Seral Erwee for the second wicket before falling into the LBW trap of Josh Hazlewood on 35. 

Middle Order 

Temba Bavuma (7/10): The limited-over captain of South Africa emerged as the highest scorer for them and was also the only player from the Proteas camp to make it to the Top 5 run-getters of this bilateral saga. Bavuma attained a commendable tally of 185 runs from six innings while his batting average of 37 was also the best one among the visitors. 

He contributed 50+ runs in each game for the Proteas and also struck a half-century with a fighting stand of 65 from 144 in the second innings of the Melbourne Test which eventually resulted in an innings and 182 runs defeat for them. 

Khaya Zondo (2/10): It was a golden opportunity for him to cement his place in the Mzansi red-ball side however, the Westville-born batsman failed to grab it with both hands. Zondo had a forgettable start to his career-decisive tour as he was victimized by Scott Boland through LBW dismissal on his second ball. 

Before crossing the individual double-digit mark, Zondo got out on two more occasions to finish the campaign with 81 runs from five innings under his helm. 

Kyle Verreynne (6/10): The 25-year-old first-choice wicket-keeper of South Africa has overwritten his recent failures in Whites and played up to his potential in challenging circumstances. 

On an individual note, Verreynne had a good start to the series as his stand of 64 off 96 balls helped them to reach the team score of 152 in the first innings of the opening game. He also became the only player from the Mzansi side who was able to score multiple 50+ innings after playing another striving knock of 53 in the Melbourne Test. 

All-rounders

Keshav Maharaj (2/10): When the Proteas arrived on Australian soil for a three-match bilateral battle, the 32-year-old bowling all-rounder was considered their biggest trump card and key to success. However, South Africa’s most trusted knight in Whites failed to live up to the expectations and managed to fetch only 86 runs with a bittering average of 17.20. 

Meanwhile, Maharaj’s performance with the ball was also quite similar as Steve Smith’s wicket in Australia’s final batting appearance turned out to be his only breakthrough despite bowling a whopping total of 68.5 overs. 

Simon Harmer (5/10): The spin-bowling all-rounder was included in the South African lineup for the final game to capitalize on spinning movements and provide depth to the batting unit. Harmer got the opportunity to bat and bowl only once in his eighth appearance of an eight-year-long test career. 

After going wicketless with the ball, he showcased his abilities with the bat to score 47 runs and established a crucial 88-run partnership with Maharaj for the eighth wicket which eventually helped them to draw the test. 

Fast Bowlers

Marco Jansen (6/10): The young fast-bowling all-rounder shone brightest among the Proteas on several occasions but couldn’t maintain his consistency throughout the series. The towering left-arm pacer scalped three wickets in the second innings of the Gabba Test including the dismissal of Travis Head in nervous nineties but managed to pick only a single wicket afterwards.

Jansen also emerged as the highest scorer of the Melbourne test’s first innings with his career-best batting performance of 59 runs from 136 balls. 

Kagiso Rabada (9/10): The Johannesburg-born pace sensation was the only visiting knight who scared the mighty Aussies and performed consistently well throughout the series. He finished second in the wicket-taking charts after falling short of just a single breakthrough to leading wicket-taker Pat Cummins. 

Rabada was also the only South African bowler to finish among the Top 5 highest wicket-takers having 11 breakthroughs from 3 matches along with 2 four-fers under his name. 

Anrich Nortje (7/10): Rabada got the appropriate support from the 29-year-old speedster from the other end who tried his best to capitalize on the Australian pitches but still couldn’t get the expected success. Nortje finished his international test career’s first Australian tour bagging seven wickets from three games in which he came out to bowl only in four innings. 

He picked two or more wickets in an inning three times in the series while his most instrumental individual performance came in the Melbourne Test where he staged the dismissals of double-centurion David Warner, Steve Smith and Travis Head. 

Lungi Ngidi (5/10): Captain Elgar selected Ngidi in the first two games as their third-choice option for the pace department but the 26-year-old only got limited opportunities to excel. Ngidi appeared in the two bowling innings for the Proteas and picked one wicket in each of them by dismissing the tail-enders Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. 

He was later on replaced by Simon Harmer as the management decided to change the team combination for the dead-rubber fixture.

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