SA vs AUS

3:55 PM local time (7:25 PM IST): South Africa were precariously placed in the 1st innings with the bat at St. George's Park when skipper Temba Bavuma and Marco Jansen decided to flip the script. And of course, with only 40 runs ahead and 6 wickets in hand, they came out on Day 4, here at Newlands, to try and make a match out of it. Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder were up for the challenge and how! Finally, today, the bowling of Kagiso Rabada and Simon Harmer showed everyone what this South African attack is made of! Congratulations to the Proteas for pulling off this magnificent series win! As for Australia, it is about going back to the drawing board and thinking long and hard about their batting in particular. But, the World Test Championship cycle has taken the kind of turn that will excite quite a few teams! Suddenly, New Zealand are on top, with India in with a shout as well of reaching the final. The next five four months or so will determine everything when it comes to our finalists! For now, this is the pair of Sourabh and Bidipto taking your leave. Keep following Sportskeeda for more cricketing action! 

Temba Bavuma (South Africa captain): "We were on the edge of our seats on all five days! The conversations we've had through the game, and most importantly, in the last couple of days, those got put to use and we got the job done. Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder batting the way they did and then today, Kagiso Rabada taking early wickets to open the game up for Simon Harmer. Super happy for a guy like Simon! He tried hard in the 2nd game, but here, he bounced back and showed his champion-like mentality! Two quality sides came up against each other, played hard. But we played a lot better when we were behind in the game, don't know if that's a good thing or a bad one, but we were excellent in those moments. This Test win is definitely up there! Every time you come up against Australia, you want to up your game. I don't think I've been part of a more competitive Test series. We'll have to give the emotions time to settle in before the next series, but you can be rest assured that we will be up and running for the next assignment to remain on top!" 

Pat Cummins (Australia captain): "It really ebbed a flowed, didn't it? After a hot start, we were able to take 10 wickets on Day 1. Then, we were on top. After Day 3, we had them effectively 40/4, but we let it slip from there. We've done it really well when it comes to adjusting to injuries, in this Test too, Josh Inglis coming back and scoring the runs he did, was really good. The trend of this game was to get in and get going. We didn't give ourselves that chance today, and that cost us. We're a pretty good side, we should have done better in this series as well as this game. We'll obviously review this one, look forward to the series coming up at home, the conditions we know pretty well. We're in a good space, I'll say that. Great to be here and play!" 

Marco Jansen is the Player of the Series, 198 runs and 13 wickets in 3 Tests: Lot of pressure, lots of ups and down but standing here is quite awesome. It takes a lot of you but really produ of the boys. Every ground had a different aspect to it, you had to adapt to a certain degree and you had to adjust according the conditions which is the harder bit and everyone did it really well. KG running in and doing his thing with that flow, Harmy (Harmer) turning the ball square, it puts a bit of good pressure on you and you want to do well seeing the boys around you. Just good to see the hard work paying off, for me it is just about putting the team in a winning position even if it is 1 wicket, 4 or 7 or even with the bat if it is 15-20 runs it does not matter as long as I am putting the team in a winning position.

More than a couple of men put their hands up but the Player of the Match is Simon Harmer for his maiden 10 wicket haul: It was just dealing with the expectations. Putting that to one side and putting the ball in the right areas. As soon as a partnership started to grow, played with my pace and a bit of nuances that I have learned. Thankfully it worked out well. The way that KG bowled in the morning today, they would have had a look at the total but that is a like a dream come true for a spinner on a pitch like that. It makes my job easy, been a tough few weeks. The wickets have not offered a lot, I have tried a bit too hard but really nice to come in on the last day, really nice to just bowl freely and enjoy. (message to younger Simon?) I don't think I would change my journey for anything, chuffed (tears eyes).

3:15 PM local time (6:45 PM IST): South Africa win by 176 runs, and subsequently, the 3-match Test series, 2-1! 

Marques Ackerman  95 (94) | Simon Harmer - 4/104 (37) || Wiaan Mulder 115 (221) | Simon Harmer - 6/16 (21.1)
Josh Inglis 102 (135) | Mitchell Starc - 6/72 (16.3) || Nathan Lyon 33* (57) | Mitchell Starc - 3/65 (24) 

Before start of play on Day 4, we were talking about how convincing an Australian victory will be. Before start of play on Day 5, we were talking about how mouth-watering a day's play it will be, perhaps going right down to the wire. But as it stands in the end, the Test match comes to an end, with South Africa wrapping it up with a full session left! 

Australia's batting frailties were exposed, big time, today. No Steven Smith meant that they had to bat out of their skins to either win or save this game. But they came nowhere close, succumbing at the hands of the pressure put on them by the Protea bowlers! 

In this, the 2nd session, Australia came out with the strangest of tactics! Both Cameron Green and skipper Pat Cummins had decided that it was time to shut shop and go for a draw. For a long period, there was no run scored. Green was facing the quicks, Cummins was facing Simon Harmer. 

Then came a change. Harmer was brought on to bowl at Green and it worked instantly! The all-rounder gave the off-spinner the charge to go through the covers against the turn, and then, got beaten on the inside edge of the bat. The ball castled him and gave the hosts their first wicket of the session. 

Australia however, kept plugging away with their defensive pushes and prods. Nathan Lyon and Cummins hung in there, with the former deciding to score as well! The partnership between them was worth 45 runs off 104 deliveries and it seemed like we would see the 3rd session. 

But a round-the-wicket delivery to the Australian skipper sealed his fate, is it trapped him in front and ended his resistance! That also gave Harmer is five-wicket haul. 

Harmer needed one more wicket to finish with 10 for the match, and he got it, when Josh Hazlewood tried to defend, but the ball turned past him to take the top of off! 

The crowd went into a frenzy, the players from the South African team ran helter-skelter and the joy of winning such a hard-fought series was clearly evident! The World Test Champions, proving everyone once again, as to why they should be called so! 

57.1 Simon Harmer to Josh Hazlewood, KNOCKED HIM OVER! Cape Town erupts with the home side showing why they are the World Test Champions, they take a big step towards defending their WTC title. A series of the highest quality with the momentum swinging to and fro right from the first day in Durban to this last day in Cape Town and in the end it is quite fitting that Simon Harmer completes his maiden 10-wicket haul to seal the deal for the Proteas who complete a stunning comeback from behind 2-1 series win and also now are the number 1 Test side in the ICC rankings. A peach of a delivery, dips in around the middle stump and then rips past the outside edge to knock the off pole and Harmer is off on his celebratory run. He has spun a web around the Aussies tonight who will have plenty of questions to answer now having lost this match and the series after being in positions to close it off multiple times. Bavuma and his team engulf Harmer and congratulate him, South Africa win this final test in Cape Town by a massive 176 runs in front of their home crowd.

How about a fast bowler from the other end now? We know that Simon Harmer has a wicket left to take for 10 in the match, but, just to make sure that it gets more and more tough for the batters out in the middle, Bavuma can think of a quick. 

56.6 Aiden Markram to Nathan Lyon, very full, very wide, there for the taking, Lyon drives to the left of Harmer at cover point who makes sure he will bowl at Hazlewood as he dives and makes a good stop.

56.3 Aiden Markram to Nathan Lyon, dropped short at the stumps, Lyon goes back and pulls it away to the fine leg fence to collect another boundary for himself