Australia vs South Africa 1st Test Highlights – 17th Dec 2022
Pat Cummins
Tricky wicket. I thought the way Head and Smith batted got us to this winning position. (On the pitch being difficult) I’m a bowler so you’re asking the wrong person. But it was a difficult wicket, credit to Head for the way he batted – almost scored a hundred. (On Mitch Starc) He’s a huge member of our team, shows his longevity and he keeps getting better and better. Looking forward to a few days off, spending Christmas and then ready for the Boxing Day Test, that is always a big occasion.
Dean Elgar
Another 60 runs and we would have been in the game. Still trying to wrap my head around what’s happened. Pretty spicy wicket, bowlers were licking their lips. Challenging for the batters which is okay, but on the flipside I don’t see this as a fair contest. In fairness, I don’t think we could prepare any better.
Conditions weren’t in favour for the batters, the partnership between Smith and Head made the difference. We’ve got an unplanned extra three days, that’s good. When you’ve got two quality bowling attacks, people want to watch that but they want to watch it for all five days.
Travis Head man of the match
Very difficult wicket, plenty for the bowlers. We saw that the whole game. Nice to be able to contribute and get a win. When we were batting, the conversation was to stay positive and they bowled in the right areas. We knew we had to play and miss, just hope we get a bit luck. This was one of the most challenging wickets I’ve played on. Look forward to having a few days off to recover.
Australia won the TOSS and chose bowl first
Australia vs South Africa Cricket Highlights today. 1st Test, Gabba, Brisbane , Saturday 17-12-2022, South Africa tour to Australia.
Australia
Josh Hazlewood is still out with the side strain that prevented him from playing in the Adelaide Test against West Indies. Pat Cummins also missed that match because of a quadriceps problem but has been declared fit for the Gabba.
“We’ve buried that. It’s something of the past. I don’t think either team’s going to delve into that.” – Marnus Labuschagne on Sandpapergate, which exploded seven months before he made his debut.
South Africa
Rassie van der Dussen, who missed the Oval Test in August with a broken finger, is likely to fill the gap left at No. 3 by Keegan Petersen, who is not in the squad because of a hamstring injury.
“When you come through those situations sometimes it galvanises the team. For us to open old wounds would probably bring [Australia] closer together as a unit.” – Malibongwe Maketa, South Africa’s interim coach, explains why the visitors are making forgive and forget noises about the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
Australia Playing Line-up
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
South Africa Playing Line-up
Dean Elgar(c), Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne(w), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi
