South Africa lose important points in the race for the WTC final after their 2-0 loss against Australia

Australia have taken an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the 3-match Test series after they outplayed South Africa for the second time in the series

South Africa test cricket team (in file image)
By Omar | Dec 29, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Australia have taken an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the 3-match Test series after they outplayed South Africa for the second time in the series. The first match was won by the Aussies by 6 wickets and the hosts won the 2nd match by an innings and 182 runs. The Proteas have lost important points in the race to play the WTC final, they were on the 3rd position before the start of the series and now have dropped to the 4th position below Sri Lanka. Australia are sitting on top of the points table with 132 points and have lost only 1 test out of the 10 played. They have won 10 and drawn 3 games out of the 14 played.

Australia won the toss and elected to field first. The Aussie bowlers made life difficult for the batters at the very beginning and had them reeling very soon at 67 for 5. Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen stitched a 112 runs partnership to take the total to a respectable one. But the lower order once again collapsed, losing five wickets for just 10 runs. The visitors were bundled out for 189 runs in the 1st innings. Cameron Green was the pick of the bowlers for the team, picking up five wickets for 27 runs in the innings.

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In reply, Australia lost an early wicket but David Warner played an aggressive knock and kept the South African bowlers under pressure. Warner was ably supported by Smith, who scored 85 runs to put Australia in a position of strength. The duo stitched a stellar 239 runs partnership for the 3rd wicket. Warner kept on going from strength to strength and brought up his double hundred. Carey scored his maiden century and took the total to 575 runs when they decided to declare. 

South Africa was trailing by 386 runs in the second innings. Once again, the Aussie bowlers dominated the course of the play and kept picking away wickets. There was no resilience from the visitors barring Temba Bavuma’s gritty knock of 65 off 144. But the Australian bowling unit managed to bundle out South Africa 10 wickets for just 204 runs and Australia won the match by 182 runs.

Updated WTC Table

PositionTEAMPCT (%)PointsMatches WonMatches LostMatches Drawn
1AUSTRALIA78.751321013
2INDIA58.9399842
3SRI LANKA53.3364541
4SOUTH AFRICA5072660
5ENGLAND46.971241084
6WEST INDIES40.9154452
7PAKISTAN38.8956462
8NEW ZEALAND25.9328261
9BANGLADESH11.11161101




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