Australian cricket‘s day of shame ended in a crushing 322-run defeat by South Africa on the fourth day of the third Test at Newlands on Sunday.
Set an unlikely 430 to win, Australia was bowled out for a paltry 107, with fast bowler Morne Morkel taking five for 23.
It was a fittingly dismal end to the match for Australia after they were caught up in a ball-tampering scandal on Saturday which sent shockwaves through the sport.
Skipper Steve Smith was subsequently banned for one match by the ICC, just hours after he and vice-captain David Warner had stood down from their positions for the remainder of the match.
“It has been a horrible 24 hours,” admitted stand-in captain Tim Paine .
The Australians had already woken to bruising criticism from their own chief executive and prime minister, as well as condemnation from around the cricket world.
It followed the admission by Smith and young batsman Cameron Bancroft that they had deliberately tried to change the condition of the ball on Saturday.
The day seldom got any better.
Paine and his bowlers could not stop South Africa from taking their second innings total to 373.
Embattled opening batsmen Bancroft and Warner weathered a challenging 70 minutes before tea at the start of their second innings before the run-out of Bancroft sparked a collapse in which all ten wickets fell for just 50 runs in 19.3 overs and 99 minutes.
South Africa’s crushing win gave them a 2-1 lead in the four-match series, with Australia facing an internal inquiry into the ball tampering scandal and having only four days to regroup before the final Test starts in Johannesburg on Friday.
South African captain Faf du Plessis said he did not believe the scandal detracted from his team’s win.
“For me there are no buts. I look at the amazing achievement over four days, the way we applied pressure to the Australian team in all facets of the game,” said Du Plessis.
He admitted, though, that South Africa had used the controversy to their advantage.
“What we tried to do today was to make them aware there is a lot of pressure on them,” he said.
“A lot of noise that’s probably going on inside their heads. Trying to get to that space where it’s not just about just watching the ball and hitting the ball, it’s about a lot of other things, trying to get to a place where you think their brains will go even more over the top thinking about things away from the game.”
Paine admitted: “It was extremely difficult but it’s no excuse for what happened.
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