3rd Test, Day 4: Australia beat South Africa in day-night test

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Australian cricketers are celebrating after a South African wicket fall. Image Source: ICC

Internet Desk: A newly formed Australian side have stopped the rot at Adelaide Oval, ending a five-Test losing streak with a seven-wicket win over South Africa in the day-night clash on Sunday.

Australia’s youngest Test XI since 1986 cruised to victory on day four. They rolled the Proteas for 250 in Sunday’s opening session then hauled in a target of 127 runs before the meal break.

David Warner and Usman Khawaja fell in the space of three balls during the 19th over but there was no late twist in the absorbing dead rubber.

It is far too early to suggest Steve Smith’s team have banished the batting woes that led to lopsided defeats in Perth and Hobart.

But Australia fought hard throughout the pink-ball contest, especially man-of-the-match Khawaja in a first-innings knock of 145 that spanned almost eight hours.

“I’m really proud and pleased with the way the boys stood up in this game,” Smith said.

“They showed a bit of fight, character and resilience.

“It was obviously a disappointing start to the series. We’ve been outplayed by South Africa.”

The result, fittingly secured when debutants Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb were at the crease, meant Australia avoided the nation’s first whitewash in a home Test series since federation.

Warner’s new opening partnership with Renshaw had a false start on day one, when Khawaja was forced to open because the vice-captain was off the field late in South Africa’s innings.

There was more drama on Sunday, when their 64-run stand ended with the needless run-out of Warner on 47.

Renshaw would be excused for feeling nervous when Faf du Plessis successfully reviewed an lbw shout in the same over, with Tabraiz Shamsi dismissing Khawaja for a second-ball duck.

But the 20-year-old, who only recently moved out of home in Brisbane and had played 12 first-class games before donning the baggy green, finished 34 not out from 137 balls.

The opener looked set to share a special moment with Smith, who admitted last week he didn’t know what Renshaw looked like before his call-up.

The skipper was out edging when Australia required a further two runs but it only delayed the inevitable, with Handscomb getting off the mark by stoking the winning run.

Vernon Philander was named man of the series, having claimed 12 wickets and scored 136 runs.

Debutants Renshaw, Handscomb and Nic Maddinson were added to Australia’s XI after the hosts lost the three-Test series in an embarrassing innings-and-80-run defeat at Bellerive.

The selection panel, itself rejigged following chairman Rod Marsh’s sudden resignation, made five changes in total.

“They’ve come in without any scars. It’s made a big difference,” former captain Ian Chappell observed on the Nine Network.

Shane Warne, sitting alongside Chappell, suggested the turnaround “could be the making of” Smith’s captaincy.

Spearhead Mitchell Starc put the second new ball to good use on Sunday, trapping Vernon Philander lbw and clean bowling Stephen Cook with a cracking inswinger.

Cook’s dismissal on 104 ended South Africa’s second innings, while Starc finished with figures of 4-80 in his most impressive performance of the series.