Australia captain Pat Cummins sent a timely reminder to the entire cricket fraternity as to why he is the best-ranked bowler in the ICC Test rankings. Cummins rolled back the clock and delivered a vintage spell on Day 2 to embarrass South Africa in the Gabba Test. Cummins' five-wicket haul in the second innings broke the backbone of the Proteas' batting line-up and forced them to surrender at a paltry score of 99 runs. The Aussie captain registered fantastic figures of 5/42 and he got adequate support from Mitchell Starc and Scott Bolland, both of who bagged two wickets each. As a result, Dean Elgar's side set a lowly target of 34 for Australia to chase in the fourth innings in Brisbane.
Kagiso Rabada came out to bowl as if he had a chip on his shoulder and bagged four wickets. Only if South African batters could hold their end of the bargain, Rabada might have had a chance to pull off something special. A target of 34 runs was never going to be enough. Rabada, by the way, breathed fire! En route to overhaul the 34-run target, Australia were made to work hard as they lost four wickets in quick succession before Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green did the job on the final ball of the 8th over. Meanwhile, Proteas' premier paceman Rabada (4/13) cleaned Australia's top order and took all four wickets to give the Baggy Greens a scare.
While celebrating on the Aussie wickets, Rabada accidentally hit Temba Bavuma on his face, a video which instantly went viral on social media.
Watch the video here:
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.
