Morne Morkel finished with figures of 5-23 off 9.4 overs
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
South Africa pace bowler Morne Morkel put on a show on the fourth day in Cape Town as he carved through Australia’s batting line-up to spearhead his side’s 322-run win.
Morkel’s efforts with the ball also saw the Proteas take a 2-1 series lead heading into the fourth and final Test in Johannesburg.
Starting off the day on 238/5, South Africa lost AB de Villiers early on as he was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood for 63, which came off 136 balls and included seven boundaries and a six.
Quinton de Kock and Vernon Philander made up for the loss of De Villiers with a 55-run partnership before De Kock was caught behind off the bowling of Pat Cummins for 65, which came off 97 deliveries and included eight boundaries and a six.
Quinton de Kock scored his 13th Test fifty
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Kagiso Rabada scored 20 before he was stumped by Australia stand-in captain Tim Paine, which gave Nathan Lyon his 300th Test wicket.
Keshav Maharaj only mustered five runs before he also sent packing by Lyon.
South Africa ended up being bowled out for 373, which set Australia a target of 430 to win, when Morkel was removed by Hazlewood for six runs.
Philander was left stranded on 52 off 79 balls, which included six boundaries and a six.
Vernon Philander struck his eighth half-century in Test cricket
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Hazlewood, Lyon and Cummins picked up three wickets apiece, while Mitchell Starc chipped in with one.
Chasing 430 to win, Australia made a solid start to their innings as Cameron Bancroft and David Warner amassed a 57-run partnership before Bancroft was run out by South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis for 26.
Warner went on to score 32 before he was caught by AB de Villiers off the bowling of Rabada.
Things went from bad to worse for the tourists as Maharaj struck twice in two balls as he took out Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh.
Steve Smith failed to save his side as he was caught by Dean Elgar at gully off the bowling of Morkel for seven runs.
Four overs later, Morkel removed Mitchell Marsh and Cummins in consecutive deliveries to leave Australia in a world of trouble at 86/7.
Morkel struck again in his next over as Starc was caught by Aiden Markram at short leg for seven runs.
With Lyon and Paine falling shortly after, Australia were skittled out for 95.
Morkel was the most successful bowler with five wickets, while Maharaj took two and Rabada claimed one.
Paine was less than impressed with the team’s performance, and said: “It’s been a horrible 24 hours and I’d like to take the opportunity to apologise to our fans. From a cricket perspective, today was extremely disappointing, the way we folded in that last 45 minutes. It’s been a real challenge for us, we need to turn ourselves into the cricket team we want to be.”
Du Plessis was delighted to have won, and said: “Proper power. Our bowlers in this Test match have been amazing. To put the totals on the board in both innings and then bowl them out – Deano and AB have been fantastic. The nature of how the Tests have gone, there are periods when runs can be scored in the first 30-40 overs, but as soon as you get one wicket you can run through them.
“But a 50-run lead on that wicket was worth more. There was a good battle between bat and ball, but I’m really chuffed for Morne, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
“We are extremely motivated in this series, it was easy for us to tighten the screw on the Australians.”
Morkel was named Man of the Match, and said: “I’m a little emotional at the moment, but what an afternoon of cricket. We asked the guys to give it all. I was hoping I could deliver something special. For me, the best thing was to keep working hard on my fitness and hope to get the opportunity. I got the nod and knew I needed to put my hand up as a senior bowler.”