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In the first Test match played at the historic Kingsmead ground in Durban, Australia defeated host South Africa by a huge margin of 214 runs and took an unassailable 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series. With this defeat, the historic and unmatched journey of South African Test captain Temba Bavuma also came to an end, under which he had remained unbeaten and won 12 consecutive Test matches since taking over the captaincy. This golden sequence also included the historic title win against Australia in the final of the World Test Championship last year. However, the Kangaroo team led by Pat Cummins made a strong comeback on the fast and bouncy pitch of Durban and completely stopped this invincible victory chariot of the Proteas team.
The foundation of the Australian team’s victory in this match came from the bat of 30-year-old left-handed batsman Matt Renshaw. In the first innings, when the Australian team was in deep trouble after losing four key wickets for just 84 runs and veterans like Steve Smith and Travis Head had returned to the pavilion, then Renshaw staked a stake on the field. Renshaw played the best innings of his Test career and scored 190 runs. In the lower order, captain Pat Cummins made a useful contribution of 43 runs, due to which Australia was successful in making a strong score of 390 runs in the first innings. Wiaan Mulder achieved four important successes in bowling for South Africa. After this, Renshaw maintained his rhythm in the second innings and by adding a brilliant 82 runs in the moments of pressure, completely strengthened Australia’s hold on the match.
The South African team, which came to bat in reply to Australia’s 390 runs, could not perform as per expectations in the first innings. The team needed a big innings like the one played by Renshaw, but no batsman from the Proteas camp could reach a half-century. Despite small individual contributions, the absence of any major partnership proved costly for the host team and the entire team was bundled out for 284 runs. Due to this, Australia got a very important and comfortable lead of 106 runs on the basis of first innings. For Australia, captain Pat Cummins did wonders with the ball and took three important wickets in the first innings.
Nick Maddinson, returning in the second innings, made a good start and scored 48 runs, while Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith could not stay at the crease for long. In the hour of crisis, once again Matt Renshaw played a steady inning of 82 runs. In the end, with the help of Beau Webster’s unbeaten 39 runs and captain Pat Cummins’ explosive cameo of 32 not out off just 12 balls, Australia declared their second innings at 314/6. With this announcement, South Africa was faced with a huge and challenging target of 420 runs to win in the fourth innings.
In the fourth innings, the South African team, which came to chase the target like a mountain, was seen struggling. Opener Aiden Markram played a fighting inning of 75 runs and David Bedingham tried to handle the innings by scoring 46 runs, but no batsman could get solid support from the other end. Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood displayed reverse swing and precise line-length and broke the back of South Africa’s batting order by taking six wickets in the second innings. Matt Renshaw, who performed brilliantly with the bat, also took two wickets with the ball, due to which South Africa’s second innings collapsed like a pack of cards and Australia registered a one-sided victory by 214 runs.