Vernon Philander stars in South Africa's 3-1 Test series win vs Australia

Vernon Philander PicAFPSouth Africa rode on paceman Vernon Philanders sensational spell 621 to thrash Australia by 492 runs in the final Test and clinch the fourmatch series 31 at the Wanderers Stadium here on Tuesday This is the Proteas first Test series win at home over Australia since 1970 Many were wondering whether Morne Morkel would produce an outstanding swansong on his final day as a South Africa Test cricketer but he was robbed of the limelight by his fellow quick PhilanderAustralias day got off to a horrid start and never looked to improve Philander was on the money on the first ball of the day as Shaun Marsh clipped an insideedge onto his pad which gifted a simple catch to gullyHis second scalp was his 200th Test wicket as Mitchell Marsh departed for nought Philander had set the tone From thereon Australia could only delay the inevitable and they barely did that The next delivery dropped just short of third slipNeutral supporters were denied the chance to see Morkel who took 218 on day four first up as Kagiso Rabada also found his lines straight away There cant have been too many supporters outside of Australia who didnt want to see the towering quick go out with a bangHaving batted Australia out of the game South Africa had robbed Australia of any hope on day four setting a mountainous target of 612 after finally declaring on 3446 in their second inningsSkipper Faf du Plessis had soldiered on through a nasty finger injury to notch a hundred on day four to guide the hosts to a commanding positionThe South Africa captain conceded that he also needed to manage his fast bowlers some of whom were carrying knocks including the mighty Philander who was struggling with a groin injurySouth Africa chose to add further bruises to an already peppered outfit and the away sides trepidation showed in their lack of fight on day fivePhilander got his third of the morning when Peter Handscomb was caught in two minds and dragged one on to his stumps making it 956 further reward for an unrelenting spell of bowling that was truly testing the batters judgement on whether to play or leavePat Cummins who had nine wickets and a halfcentury in the match has proven himself to be a very capable lowerorder batsman but his premature arrival at the crease was testament to South Africas excellent start to the final dayNew skipper Tim Paine nicked one behind off Philander whose figures for the day were now 43 from 45 overs That became 53 when he bowled Cummins to make it 1008 before debutant Chadd Sayers was removed for a golden duck after surrendering with a loose and carefree drive which was grabbed at third slip by Dean Elgar It was fast becoming one of the great spells of bowlingIt was a shame the final wicket was a run out which denied Morkel a suitable ending to a fantastic Test careerSouth Africa will take a lot of confidence from this spirited performance while Australia have a rebuilding job on their handsCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever