Australia vs South Africa: Key Lessons from the first Test at Brisbane

The hosts emerged on top, although the way they got the victory showed that the Gabba pitch continued to have demons even on Day two. 

Chasing 34 to win in the second innings after taking a 66-run lead and bundling South Africa out for 99, Australia still managed to lose four wickets en route to what looked like a regulation win. 

But in the end, the victory for the hosts was never in doubt – even if Kagiso Rabada did all he could to set the cat among the pigeons with some excellent back-of-a-length bowling. 

That being said, there are still things to be learned from this Test match. Here are the three key takeaways from the first Australia vs South Africa Test match. 

The margin of loss is deceptive for South Africa – Let’s face it, it’s never a good look to lose a Test match in under two days. But it is also fair to say that how they lost the Test match was not entirely reflective of their showing. 

After being bundled out for 152 in the first innings, their bowlers did well to peg things back and dismiss Australia for 218. Unfortunately, the inexperience of their batting lineup and the efficiency of Australia’s bowlers condemned them to a loss in the end. 

Yet even in the batting, there were bright spots – Khaya Zondo did well in the second innings, and Kyle Verreynne got a half-century in the first innings. Temba Bavuma also showcased his trademark grit in both innings. So there is enough to suggest that they can be competitive on a better pitch. 

But that doesn’t ignore one of the clear pre-match build-up talking points.

South Africa’s bark is louder than their bite. Ahead of the Test match, captain Dean Elgar essentially baited Australia into a sledging war with the South Africans. He made it clear that his team would respond with similar aggression if it came down to it. 

However, there is no hiding when you talk about a big game and end up losing the Test in under two days. And doubtless, there will be a lot of nitpicking on Elgar’s comments and whether or not it was necessary, to begin with. 

The short answer was – it wasn’t. Australia are a formidable side in home conditions, and South Africa are very much a side building a new Test team. It was always going to end badly. 

Questions to be raised on the pitch? 

That being said, no one expected it to end this badly. While the pitch at The Gabba is always known to be spicy, this one was tough to navigate even by Gabba standards – and it does raise the obvious issue as to what rating will be assigned to this pitch. 

Pitches in the sub-continent that offer prodigious turn from Day 1 more often than not get criticized, and it’s easy to understand why – Test match cricket is at its best when the battle between bat and ball is as equal as possible, and there’s an ebb and flow as the game goes on. 

Here the bowlers were almost always on top and there was no ebb and flow; batsmen struggled in all four innings. That is hardly conducive to good Test cricket – just as dust bowls don’t make for watchable games.