Dean Elgar of South Africa is run out by Marnus Labuschagne. Photo: EPA/JOEL CARRETT

189 all out: Proteas top order, brittle batting exposed again!

Massive questions will continue to be asked of the Proteas’ batting lineup after another woeful collapse against Australia.

by Craig Lewis

26-12-2022 07:58

in SA Cricket

Dean Elgar of South Africa is run out by Marnus Labuschagne. Photo: EPA/JOEL CARRETT

Coming into the Boxing Day Test against Australia, the Proteas batsmen were under real pressure after battling to impose themselves in the opening match at The Gabba, albeit in bowler-friendly conditions.

The struggles of the batsmen has been an ongoing issue for some time as South Africa have consistently failed to go beyond 200 runs in their last few innings.

On Monday, the rot for the Proteas was once again perhaps best epitomised by captain Dean Elgar needlessly running himself out for 26.

South Africa had managed to progress to 56-1 – having made a fairly decent start – but an all-too-familiar batting collapse then followed as this flow of wickets went down: 56-2 (Theunis de Bruyn, 19.6 overs), 58-3 (Dean Elgar, 22.5 ov), 58-4 (Temba Bavuma, 22.6 ov), 67-5 (Khaya Zondo, 28.3 ov).

Kyle Verreyne (52) and Marco Jansen (59) did combine for a superb century partnership, but they were fighting a losing battle after once again having to try and paper over the cracks caused by a top-order batting collapse.

Notably, it was Australia’s Cameron Green – largely seen as their least threatening bowler – who did most of the damage as he recorded figures of 5-27.

Ultimately the Proteas were once again left to rue what could have been after recovering to 179-5 at one point in the innings before another massive batting collapse saw them rolled over, finishing 189 all out.

You can check out the full scoreboard here

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TEAMS:

Australia

David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

South Africa

Dean Elgar (captain), Sarel Erwee, Theunis de Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG), Paul Reiffel (AUS)

TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL)

Match referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)

South Africa Test Tour to Australia Itinerary

Four-day Tour Match

09 – 12 December

Cricket Australia XI drew with South Africa – The Allan Border Field, Brisbane

Tests

17 – 21 December

Australia beat South Africa by six wickets – The Gabba, Brisbane

26 – 30 December

Australia vs South Africa – MCG, Melbourne