Harmer’s 6/16 sinks Australia as Proteas win series 2-1

Veteran spinner Simon Harmer was the star of the series decider at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, according to The Citizen. He took career-best figures of 6/16 in Australia’s second innings as South Africa won by 176 runs and took the series 2-1.

Harmer is 37 and was playing only his 17th Test. He ended the match with figures of 10/120, his first ten-wicket haul in a five-day game, and was named Player of the Match. He ran through much of Australia’s middle and lower batting as the Proteas closed out the win.

Experience made the difference

Both sides began the final day hoping to win. Harmer said his long career in domestic cricket helped him stay calm. “It was just dealing with expectations,” he said, adding that he put the pressure aside and focused on his job.

He explained that once Australian partnerships began to build, he drew on the variations and changes of trajectory he has learned over the years to break them up.

The result is South Africa’s first Test series win over Australia since 2018.

A difficult start to the series

Things had not gone as smoothly earlier in the series. Harmer took two wickets in each of the first two Tests, in Durban and Gqeberha, and admitted he had struggled. He said he kept asking himself whether he was bowling well enough.

He also pointed out that the pitches had not offered as much help on days four and five as he had expected. In Gqeberha, he said, “I was desperate for wickets”. His usual plan is to keep things tight in the first innings and then push harder for wickets in the second.

In Cape Town, he said it was “nice to just bowl freely” and play his own game. Harmer said the previous few weeks had been tough, but that he planned to enjoy Saturday night after the win.

This story is based on reporting by The Citizen.