South Africa A completed a resounding eight-wicket victory over their Australian counterparts on the final day of their four-day unofficial Test match at Townsville on Sunday.

The bowlers followed the good work of the batsmen on the previous two days with the result that Australia A were only able to set a target of 18 runs for the visitors to chase down.

Australia were 113-2 at the start of the final day’s play, trailing by 180 runs thanks to the early damage done by Warriors spinner Simon Harmer the previous day. He finished with figures of 3-106, while Kagiso Rabada and Marchant de Lange took two wickets each, to be the other main wicket-takers.

Tom Cooper converted his 42 not out overnight, to a well-played 82 off 144 balls before he was bowled by Rabada. The only other half-century was scored by Matthew Wade (60), who was eventually run out by De Lange. The rest of the batting order could not build partnerships as Peter Nevill (29), Michael Neser (23), Cameron Boyce (19) and Chadd Sayers (3) were dispatched by De Lange (2-54), Rabada (2-50), Hardus Viljoen (1-77) and Harmer.

Australia A captain, Moises Henriques, did not bat due to injury, leaving his side a batsman short. The hosts were all out for 310, leaving South Africa an 18-run target for victory.

It did not come without its casualties, as Reeza Hendricks and David White lost their wickets to Marcus Stoinis (1-9) and Neser (1-9) for two and three respectively. Rilee Rossouw scored the remaining 13 runs required for a well-deserved victory by the visitors.

The second Test will take place from 14-17 August at the same venue. Rossouw, De Lange and Rabada will not be available for that fixture, however, as they will fly out of Australia to join the Proteas in Zimbabwe for the ODI leg of their tour.

Match report courtesy of Cricket South Africa.

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