Pat Cummins unleashed his beast mode as he broke South Africa's back riding on an incredible fifer to help Australia win the first Test of the three-match series by six wickets, well within two days on the dubious Gabba wicket on Sunday (December 18). The Dean Elgar's side set a lowly target of 34 for Australia to chase after being bowled out for a paltry 99 in the second innings in Brisbane, thanks to Cummins' stunning spell of 5/42. Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland claimed two wickets apiece for the winners while Nathan Lyon settled with just one. Earlier, on Saturday, Australia restricted South Africa to a measly 152 after skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bowl first. The hosts then posted 218 runs on the board, gaining a first-innings lead of 66 runs. Travis Head was their top scorer with 92 runs.
The hosts secured victory on day two in what was the second-shortest Test in the country after the same two sides played out what remains the shortest Test in history in 1932 in Melbourne.
The Proteas pacers also did their job but the target wasn't just enough. Following the shocking series-opener, former India's explosive batter Virender Sehwag lambasted Australia for their hypocrisy. He seemed livid and upset by the wild Gabba pitch for the fixture and showed his disappointment by putting out a post.
"142 overs and not even lasting 2 days and they have the audacity to lecture on what kind of pitches are needed. Had it happened in India, it would have been labelled end of test cricket, ruining test cricket and what not. The Hypocrisy is mind-boggling . #AUSvSA," Sehwag's tweet read.
After a first-innings score of only 152, South Africa limited Australia to 218, before capitulating with the bat again and posting just 99 in their second innings, setting the hosts a target of a mere 34 to win.
Even then, four Australia wickets fell as Kagiso Rabada (4/13) tore through their top order, though the target was reached in large thanks to the bounce of the pitch, with the top scorer being the 19 extras that mostly came from bouncers that flew over wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and raced to the boundary.
The Australian pacers shared 16 wickets between them in the win. For South Africa, the pacers scalped all 14 wickets. Keshav Maharaj only bowled two overs in Australia's first innings.
After the match South Africa's skipper Dean Elgar also rued the dubious Gabba pitch and said,"I did ask the umpires when [Rabada] got [Travis] Head out down leg, I said ‘how long does it go on for until it potentially is unsafe?".
“And then [Anrich] Nortje was bowling those short ones that were flying over our heads. I know the game is dead and buried, it was never to try and change or put a halt to the game. That's where the umpire's discretion comes into play, not us as players. I am definitely not going to say it was safe or unsafe,” he added.
Australia extend their lead at the top of the #WTC23 standings with a six-wicket win.
