Australia were superb throughout the series against South Africa and were unlucky not to get a result in Sydney that would have secured a 3-0 sweep.
There were strong individual performances by many of the players in the third Test.
Here are my player ratings for the match, which wasn’t short of controversy, even after being shortened due to rain.
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Usman Khawaja: 10/10
A tremendous innings of 195 not out. As he did in Sydney last year, he judged the pace of the pitch very well and just timed his innings very nicely. Set Australia up for a big first-innings score and to dominate the match.
David Warner: 3/10
Only managed 10 runs in the first innings and didn’t get another chance in the middle. Great to see him bounce back in the previous Test in Melbourne.
Marnus Labuschagne: 8/10
Played well on day one, helped get Australia into a good position and got a beauty from (Anrich) Nortje that knocked him over.
Smith overtakes Bradman with SCG ton
Steve Smith: 9/10
Good all-round Test match. Batted well for a hundred. Also caught well. Should have been awarded more catches than he got.
Travis Head: 8/10
Kept the game going forward with the bat, as he did all series. Another strong contribution in the middle order. Was also useful with his part-time offies. Will be useful with the ball in India, I reckon.
Matthew Renshaw: 3/10
Didn’t get much of a chance to contribute, to be honest.
Alex Carey: 6/10
Didn’t get a bat. He’s going to need to keep working on his wicketkeeping to slow bowling. I thought at times he struggled a bit up to the stumps.
Ashton Agar: 3/10
Disappointing game for him. Didn’t really look like getting a wicket. Didn’t really trouble the batsmen all that much on a slowish pitch. Didn’t get an opportunity to have a bat, either. So a difficult game for him after such a long lay-off.
Pat Cummins: 9/10
I thought he had a very good game. Captained well, bowled very well. His spell late on day four was an excellent spell. Gave Australia every chance to win. So a very good Test match.
Lyon claims final Proteas wicket
Nathan Lyon: 7/10
Bowled well without luck. I was flabbergasted by a couple of umpire decisions that went against him. But toiled away extremely well, continued to ask questions and on another day could have picked up a lot more wickets.
Josh Hazlewood: 9/10
I thought he, like Pat Cummins, had a very good game. Very good in the first innings. Looked fresh. Great to see him back from injury and bowling well.
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