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Australia v South Africa Test series: Plan B a triumph in Adelaide

Greg Baum

 

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Australia win third Test in Adelaide

A controlled performance from Australia's bowlers enabled two debutants to hit the winning runs and claim victory by seven wickets in the third Test against South Africa in Adelaide.

 What a difference a day-nighter makes.

The butterflies were still palpable on Sunday morning, when the begging question was not when Australia might win, but if, and there again when David Warner and Usman Khawaja fell two balls apart in mid-pursuit.

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They fluttered as South African opener Stephen Cook compiled a hundred that was a triumph of output over style - that is not meant unkindly; the cricket world is littered with stylish rejects - and in the face of more of the testing South African seam bowling that has scored this series, and - lest we forget - won it. If there was a central motif to this match, it was that to play and miss is infinitely preferable to play and nick. As man of the series Vernon Philander noted: "If the pink ball did something, it did too much."

Australia's cricketing psyche remains fragile. But in truth, this was a resounding win. Hollow, maybe, but that is not the sound it made in the Australian dressing room.

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And so the cricket world moves on another half-turn. If India sustains its lead over England and New Zealand its edge over Pakistan in contemporaneous series, Australia will lie second in the international rankings, setting a new record for Phoenixes and ashes.The rankings are a rubbery guide, a measure not so much of scale of achievement as shallowness of the pool, but they are for Cricket Australia a crucial KPI. And, let's face it, boasting rights are inalienable.

But in a way, this was the end aside from the means. Steve Smith said pre-match that the debutants had brought a reviving energy to the Australian team, and reiterated it at the end. They also brightened the public's horizon, and that was evident in ratings and gate. But it is doubtful that the material contribution of the five new or recalled players was any greater than those who did not get even a second chance, let alone a last. In tight cricket circles, that is the source of some rancour.

After all, Australia's superiority in this match is only what had appeared to be the status quo between these teams on day one of the series, not four weeks ago, before Dale Steyn went down and Wall Street collapsed.

But winning, even if only as consolation, needs no explanation. Momentarily, the Test XI is more permanent than the panel that picked it. Matt Renshaw looks like an opening batsman, which is to say the ball he hits and the ball he misses - and they were plentiful this day _ are one and the same to him, finished business, next please. It is the Mark Taylor ethic. But how fickle we followers are. On Thursday evening, Renshaw's obduracy was a cause of national celebration. On Sunday afternoon, when he was rendered scoreless for 32 balls, he prompted bronx cheers. But it is thankfully doubtful that Renshaw ever will have to excuse himself for a wild waft of a dismissal by saying: "It's the way I play."

Peter Handscomb unveiled a custom-made technique, but a classic Test cricket temperament. Nic Maddinson didn't have time to unveil anything, and thus has an alibi of a kind, and so judgment will pend. Matthew Wade and Jackson Bird played their roles without commanding them.

Now comes the hard part. On laptops all over the world, galaxies of coaches will be studying Renshaw to see whether he misses away-cutters or allows for them, and Handscomb to see if his urge to force balls from the line of off stump can be exploited, and Maddinson for ... footage, presumably. In the backrooms of Australia, they will be refining thoughts about whether Bird is worth taking to India next year, and if Wade is too much of a risk there. These are the the harsh realities of international cricket. But for now, victory is its own rich reward.

More broadly, day-night Test cricket this week installed itself a little further into the game's being and consciousness. Bat, ball and pitch seemed to be in better balance than a year ago. "I thought it was pefect," said Steve Smith. Three batsmen made hundreds, and all of them were fiercely hard-earned, with none of the discounts on offer in recent seasons. Seamers ruled, but Nathan Lyon made a vital intervention.

The contest was sustained until the last session on the fourth day, which most seem to think is long enough for Test cricket in the 20th century.

Sometimes, golfers protest tricked-up courses by saying the public have come to see birdies when it is more probable that they have come for an honest contest between player and course. Likewise, Test cricket fans like to see hundreds, but more than that, batsman and bowler on equal footing. In Adelaide, they got it.

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