At the start of the fifth day in Cape Town, the contest was set up beautifully: 288 for Australia to chase, a day in which to do it, on a surface that had been sporting but allowed batters to flourish when set. A kettle and a cup of tea later, Australia were ripped open by Kagiso Rabada and gobbled up by Simon Harmer, losing two wickets in the first over, four in the first hour and seven by lunch. Two putrid batting displays back to back, their 99 all out in what should have been an easy draw in Gqeberha, then 111 all out here to lose the match, the series and the world No 1 ranking.
During one of Australia’s great former humiliations, the 47 all out on this same ground in 2011, one of the piquant notes was that a young Nathan Lyon top scored from No 11. Fifteen years later, having worked his way up one spot in the batting order, he did so again with 33 not out. That bravery through the second session, taking over from Cameron Green to join captain Pat Cummins, who defended for nearly 30 overs, underlines how dire the rest of the side was. The third-highest score was extras with 16.
Some credit goes to the opening bowling menace of Rabada for the way things started, but there was scarcely a wound on the day that was not self-inflicted. Don’t get sucked into the idea that Matt Renshaw was unlucky – a nick past the leg stump is no less an error than a nick outside off, and stepping across to the off side before glancing increases the likelihood that your shot finds the keeper.
That was ball three of the innings. Ball six was poor, doomed Marnus Labuschagne, in what must be his last Test innings for at least the foreseeable. Barely a delivery has moved off the seam in this match, but Rabada created one while Labuschagne left a ball that he would once have had the confidence to play. Being hit outside the line didn’t dissuade umpire Richard Kettleborough, in his 100th Test, from unholstering one finger, and one last Labuschagne review for old time’s sake showed a yellow umpire’s call light on the timber.
Two in an over might have influenced Travis Head to at least temper a game built on playing Russian roulette with a populated catching cordon, but no. Three overs later, having come close to being caught multiple times, he fulfilled his own prophecy by slicing Rabada to Marco Jansen in the gully. Then came Green’s call for a run, though his defensive prod from Harmer had twirled just a few yards past short leg. Josh Inglis is fast, but Marques Ackerman was right there, getting back and twirling to throw: the first-innings century maker, run out for 4.
Welcome to the numerology of Test cricket. In Gqeberha, South Africa were 40 for 4 on the first morning before their captain, Temba Bavuma, turned the game. In Cape Town, South Africa were in effect 40 for 4 in the third innings, from which point Australia’s bowlers coughed up two more centuries. Now, Australia themselves were 40 for 4. But fightbacks were the province of the other team.
Alex Carey, with premeditated daftness, hit a reverse sweep off Harmer straight to Jansen behind point for 2. Cooper Connolly, a player in this side without a job to do, thought the best move against an off-spinner ragging it away from the left-hander was a big cover drive second ball. Caught behind. Revise that score to 42 for 6. Mitchell Starc hung in, but was caught at bat pad just before the break, and the match was all but over.
A strange sequence followed, with Green soaking up bowling from Rabada, and Cummins from Harmer, turning down singles to retain their configuration. Green had looked so uncomfortable against the spinner that it was not clear who was shielding who. When Bavuma got wise and swung Harmer around to the far end, he got Green first ball, the overthinking batter charging down to defend but totally missing one that ragged back from the footmarks to hit off stump. He lasted 110 balls for 27.
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Harmer had to toil after that, as Cummins was resolute in facing 90 balls and Lyon enterprising in facing 57, but a move around the wicket trapped Cummins on 11 with a beauty that drifted in to pitch in line and hit the back leg, then Josh Hazlewood was no match for a similar piece of sorcery that bowled the left-hander. A shift of 21.1 overs yielded 6 for 16, highlighting the mystery of why Cummins chose at the toss to give Harmer last use of the pitch, rather than hand that to Lyon, who had been brought into the side, and who got far less reward for his work in the third innings.
Meanwhile, 3 for 39 took Rabada to 350 wickets, the fastest by almost a thousand deliveries. His astonishing strike rate of 39.6 balls per wicket is in its own stratosphere: most of the game’s prolific bowlers are in the 50s or 60s. The most wickets at a lower strike rate is 112 from George Lohmann, and that guy debuted in 1886. South Africa are already the reigning world champions, but they’ve spent the last month proving how many champions are in their team.
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