Australia have suffered a series defeat to South Africa after a calamitous day in Cape Town led to a 176-run flogging, leaving the future of the veteran Test team under threat ahead of the home summer and next year’s high-profile tours of India and England.
Starting the day chasing 288 for victory, the Aussies never recovered from Kagiso Rabada dismissing Matt Renshaw and Marnus Labuschagne in the very first over.
The Proteas star then snared Travis Head to become the fastest man to reach 350 Test wickets.
But it was spinner Simon Harmer’s 6-16 that ripped the heart out as Australia were all out for 111.
The chaos was summed up when Cameron Green defended a ball past Marques Ackerman at silly point, took off and ran Josh Inglis out in the process.
Harmer also took two wickets in one over during the collapse, getting Alex Carey reverse-sweeping before Cooper Connolly was caught behind for a duck.
Only Head (14) and Green (27) reached double figures, with Australia at least passing the low mark of 47 they were bowled out for in Cape Town in 2011.
Green, Mitchell Starc and then Pat Cummins largely gave up on attempting to score as they protected the No.4 bat from Harmer’s spin and the bowlers from pace.
Then Green couldn’t resist attacking Harmer’s first ball at him in 13 overs, dancing down the pitch only to completely miss a brilliant turner that struck the very top of off.
Harmer put South Africa on the brink of victory, and claimed a five-wicket haul, when he had Cummins out lbw after a 90-ball 11 just before tea was due.
He made it six in the innings and 10 for the match when he dismissed Josh Hazlewood to secure South Africa’s win.
Australia’s batting was badly exposed in Gqeberha last week when they were bowled out for 99 on the fourth day, and asked to follow on and lost the match.
But Saturday morning was even more disastrous, with the series on the line at Newlands.
“This is a reckoning for Australian cricket now,” Channel 7’s Tom Morris said on SEN in the middle of the collapse.
“This isn’t just a loss. This is a moment in time that could alter the future.”
Simon Katich put the Cape Town defeat on the decision to bowl first and what that meant for the “inexperienced batting line-up”.
“When you win the toss in these sorts of conditions in a massive game, you bat and you get scoreboard pressure on the opposition,” he said.
“There was absolutely no reason to bowl first whatsoever and they proved that with the way they batted in the first innings.
“This is what happens when an inexperienced batting line-up gets put in this position on day five of a Test.
“If you do not know how to handle spin with the tactics of three or four men around the bat, then you may as well not go to India, because that’s what’s awaiting.”
Renshaw was out in the first over when he tickled a ball down legside off Rabada and was caught behind.
Labuschagne then had a leading edge for four first ball, before he left his third, was hit on the pads and trapped lbw.
The Queenslander reviewed and was out on umpire’s call, before trudging off in what could be his last Test after 49 innings without a century.
Head then edged Rabada to gully while trying to drive outside off, before the Inglis run out headlined Australia’s horror show.
The first session ended with Mitchell Starc caught at bat pad off Harmer for a 25-ball duck.
The collapse came on the same pitch Australia struggled to get any life out of on day four, with the Proteas limiting Nathan Lyon’s spin to two wickets.
Australia’s last visit to Cape Town for a Test marked the side’s lowest day, with the ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
Saturday was not quite as bleak but as far as an on-field effort it was not much better.
In a tour full of twists and turns, a series loss for Australia looked near impossible when they had South Africa 6-110 on day three of a wet Gqeberha Test after winning the first in Durban.
But the Proteas fought back, rolled through Australia and won by an innings and 31 runs.
A little over a week on, the series has gone to South Africa — and Australia’s regeneration begins in earnest before the first home Test against New Zealand on December 9.
Just how deep the selectors will want to cut with the Border-Gavaskar and Ashes series to come in 2027 remains to be seen.
Labuschagne is almost certainly out and Steve Smith, absent from Cape Town with a neck injury, should be fit to return.
But the make-up of the batting order is in flux and several decisions will need to be made together.
Renshaw, an opener in his first Test stint, returned to the team in the middle order only to be moved to the top after Nic Maddinson was dropped.
Travis Head appears willing to keep opening — and might have to given the lack of trust selectors have had in their opening options since losing David Warner and Usman Khawaja to retirement.
Head, though, must wonder how much damage he could be doing at his old No.5 spot after watching Renshaw and Inglis both ton up there in the series.
Green is Australia’s No.4 into the future and could remain there if Smith fills the Labuschagne void at first drop.
There are also questions over whether wicketkeeper Alex Carey should remain at No.6 after a year in the role.
And what of the bowling attack?
Harmer outpointed Lyon, who was dropped from the second Test when Australia preferred the pace of Scott Boland and is on shakier ground than ever before.
The Aussies have continually backed the Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins trio when fit — but the latter notably suffered the longest wicketless drought of his career during the series.
The New Zealand series looks set to be Australia’s chance to experiment.
The only problem is they might have run out of time to find the right solution before the pressure rises again.
— with AAP
