South Africa clinch series 1-0 to reach top ranking spot

Photo Credit:YellowMonkey/Blnguyen

It was an emotional day for Cricket as one of the legends of the game has retired.Ricky Ponting one of the most successful and aggressive captain's in world cricket gained a lot of respect in his career and it was no less during his last innings when the whole South African team circled him when he came to bat to pay him the respects.Even though he managed only 8 runs in his last innings he will be remembered for much more that he has contributed to cricket.Speaking about the third test match between South Africa and Australia the proteas easily won by 309 runs.It was a brilliant second innings that helped them seal the deal after having not so good time with the bat in the first innings.They truly deserved the win and with a comfortable win they also won the series 1-0 which confirms them a seat in the top spot in test rankings.Below are the highlights and scorecard from the match.

Highlights of the match:

South Africa:

(1st Innings)Batting and Bowling:

Faf du Plessis - 78(142)*

Dale Steyn - 4 Wickets

Robin Peterson - 3 Wickets

(2nd Innings)Batting and Bowling:

Hashim Amla - 196(221)

AB de Villiers - 169(184)

Australia:

(1st Innings)Batting and Bowling:

Matthew Wade  - 68(102)

Nathan Lyon - 3 Wickets

(2nd Innings)Batting and Bowling:

Ed Cowan - 53(148)

Mitchell Starc - 68(43)*

Mitchell Starc - 6 Wickets

Mitchell Johnson - 4 Wickets

Full Scorecard of the match:

Australia(2nd innings)Batting	322-10 (82.5)	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Ed Cowan	c Elgar b Steyn	53	149	5	1	35.57
David Warner	c Smith b Philander	29	34	5	0	85.29
Shane Watson	c Smith b Morkel	25	46	4	0	54.35
Ricky Ponting	c Kallis b R Peterson	8	23	2	0	34.78
*Michael Clarke	st Villiers b R Peterson	44	52	8	0	84.62
Michael Hussey	c Villiers b Steyn	26	52	1	0	50
Matthew Wade	c Smith b R Peterson	10	12	2	0	83.33
John Hastings	c Smith b Morkel	20	30	1	2	66.67
Mitchell Johnson	c Villiers b Philander	3	13	0	0	23.08
Mitchell Starc	not out	68	43	9	2	158.14
Nathan Lyon	c Smith b Steyn	31	43	6	0	72.09
Extras: 5 b:0 lb:3 nb:0 w:2
Total: 322-10 (82.5) | Curr. RR: 3.89
FOW:David Warner (40-1, 13.2), Shane Watson (81-2, 29), Ricky Ponting (102-3, 37.4), Ed Cowan (130-4, 42.5), *Michael Clarke (188-5, 57.5), Michael Hussey (198-6, 60.3), Matthew Wade (198-7, 61.5), Mitchell Johnson (204-8, 66.5), John Hastings (235-9, 70.2), Nathan Lyon (322-10, 82.5)

South Africa(2nd innings)Bowling	O	M	R	W	Nb	Wd	RPO
Dale Steyn	22.5	6	72	3	0	1	3.15
Vernon Philander	21	8	41	2	0	0	1.95
Morne Morkel	16	2	57	2	0	1	3.56
Robin Peterson	20	2	127	3	0	0	6.35
Dean Elgar	1	0	4	0	0	0	4
Faf du Plessis	2	0	18	0	0	0	9

South Africa(2nd innings)Batting	569-10 (111.5)	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Alviro Petersen	c and b Johnson	23	20	4	0	115
*Graeme Smith	c Lyon b Starc	84	100	13	0	84
Hashim Amla	c and b Johnson	196	221	21	0	88.69
Jacques Kallis	c Johnson b Starc	37	65	5	0	56.92
AB de Villiers	c Wade b Starc	169	184	21	3	91.85
Dean Elgar	lbw b Johnson	0	4	0	0	0
Faf du Plessis	c Clarke b Johnson	27	38	4	0	71.05
Robin Peterson	c Johnson b Starc	0	3	0	0	0
Vernon Philander	not out	14	17	2	0	82.35
Dale Steyn	c Wade b Starc	8	17	1	0	47.06
Morne Morkel	b Starc	0	2	0	0	0
Extras: 11 b:4 lb:4 nb:0 w:3
Total: 569-10 (111.5) | Curr. RR: 5.09
FOW:Alviro Petersen (28-1, 7), *Graeme Smith (206-2, 32.3), Jacques Kallis (286-3, 51.5), Hashim Amla (436-4, 88.1), Dean Elgar (436-5, 88.5), Faf du Plessis (538-6, 103), Robin Peterson (539-7, 103.5), AB de Villiers (557-8, 107.4), Dale Steyn (569-9, 111.3), Morne Morkel (569-10, 111.5)

Australia(2nd innings)Bowling	O	M	R	W	Nb	Wd	RPO
Mitchell Starc	28.5	3	154	6	0	1	5.34
Shane Watson	9	3	24	0	0	0	2.67
Mitchell Johnson	25	1	110	4	0	0	4.4
John Hastings	19	1	102	0	0	1	5.37
Nathan Lyon	22	2	128	0	0	0	5.82
Michael Hussey	4	0	26	0	0	1	6.5
David Warner	3	0	14	0	0	0	4.67
Ricky Ponting	1	0	3	0	0	0	3

Australia(1st innings)batting	163-10 (53.1)	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
David Warner	c Villiers b Steyn	13	35	2	0	37.14
Ed Cowan	c Kallis b Steyn	0	1	0	0	0
Shane Watson	lbw b Philander	10	12	1	0	83.33
Nathan Lyon	c Plessis b Steyn	7	26	0	0	26.92
Ricky Ponting	lbw b Philander	4	7	0	0	57.14
*Michael Clarke	c Villiers b Steyn	5	13	0	0	38.46
Michael Hussey	c Smith b Morkel	12	40	1	0	30
Matthew Wade	b R Peterson	68	102	7	3	66.67
John Hastings	c A Petersen b R Peterson	32	58	4	0	55.17
Mitchell Johnson	b R Peterson	7	22	0	0	31.82
Mitchell Starc	not out	0	3	0	0	0
Extras: 5 b:0 lb:5 nb:0 w:0
Total: 163-10 (53.1) | Curr. RR: 3.07
FOW:Ed Cowan (3-1, 0.3), Shane Watson (18-2, 5.1), David Warner (34-3, 12.1), Nathan Lyon (35-4, 12.4), Ricky Ponting (43-5, 15.2), *Michael Clarke (45-6, 16.2), Michael Hussey (100-7, 30.3), Matthew Wade (140-8, 45.5), Mitchell Johnson (162-9, 51.5), John Hastings (163-10, 53.1)

South Africa(1st innings)Bowling	O	M	R	W	Nb	Wd	RPO
Dale Steyn	16	4	40	4	0	0	2.5
Vernon Philander	16	0	55	2	0	0	3.44
Morne Morkel	13	6	19	1	0	0	1.46
Robin Peterson	8.1	1	44	3	0	0	5.39

South Africa(First innings) Batting	225-10 (74)	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
*Graeme Smith	c Clarke b Watson	16	30	1	0	53.33
Alviro Petersen	b Starc	30	73	4	0	41.1
Hashim Amla	run out (Warner)	11	43	2	0	25.58
Jacques Kallis	b Starc	2	7	0	0	28.57
AB de Villiers	c Clarke b Hastings	4	12	1	0	33.33
Dean Elgar	c Wade b Johnson	0	12	0	0	0
Faf du Plessis	not out	78	142	12	0	54.93
Robin Peterson	c Wade b Lyon	31	45	3	0	68.89
Vernon Philander	c Hussey b Lyon	30	54	2	1	55.56
Dale Steyn	b Johnson	2	11	0	0	18.18
Morne Morkel	c Hastings b Lyon	17	15	4	0	113.33
Extras: 4 b:0 lb:2 nb:0 w:2
Total: 225-10 (74) | Curr. RR: 3.04
FOW:*Graeme Smith (38-1, 11.3), Alviro Petersen (61-2, 22.4), Jacques Kallis (63-3, 24.3), Hashim Amla (67-4, 26.5), AB de Villiers (67-5, 27.4), Dean Elgar (75-6, 30.5), Robin Peterson (132-7, 47.3), Vernon Philander (196-8, 67.1), Dale Steyn (206-9, 70.2), Morne Morkel (225-10, 74)

Australia(First innings)Bowling	O	M	R	W	Nb	Wd	RPO
Mitchell Starc	16	3	55	2	0	0	3.44
John Hastings	20	2	51	1	0	0	2.55
Shane Watson	9	2	22	1	0	1	2.44
Mitchell Johnson	17	3	54	2	0	1	3.18
Nathan Lyon	12	1	41	3	0	0	3.42