Cape Town, Oct 31 (IANS) Australia captain Pat Cummins admitted that his side lost control of the third and final Test against South Africa during the opening hour of the final day, saying the hosts capitalised on crucial moments to secure a 2-1 series victory at Newlands on Saturday.

Australia suffered a 176-run defeat in the series decider after being bowled out for just 111 while chasing a target of 288. The loss also saw them surrender the number one position in the ICC Test rankings to South Africa, with New Zealand moving to the top of the World Test Championship standings.

Reflecting on the contest, Cummins said the match had witnessed several momentum shifts, with Australia initially putting themselves in a strong position before South Africa fought back through their second-innings batting effort.

"I mean, really ebbed and flowed, didn't it? After a pretty hot start, I think we did brilliantly to take the ten wickets on day one. Gave ourselves a chance. Then, probably fell a little bit behind with the bat, but then a great partnership got us well ahead. And then, ending day three 4 for 40 effectively, in great position," Cummins said after the match.

"But really tough workout there yesterday. I thought a couple of the partnerships they put on made chasing today a pretty tough task," he added.

The Australian skipper felt his side failed to respond adequately to the challenge on the final morning, when Kagiso Rabada removed three batters in a devastating opening spell before Simon Harmer completed the collapse with six wickets.

"I think the trend of this game was once you got yourself in, there were runs to be scored there, and you could face lots of balls. Probably, within the first hour really, the game was away from us. So just didn't really give ourselves a chance," he said.

Australia had taken a 100-run first-innings lead after scoring 429 in response to South Africa's 329. However, centuries from Ryan Rickelton (101) and Wiaan Mulder (115) helped the hosts recover and post 387 in their second innings, setting the visitors a target of 288.

Despite the series defeat, the Australian captain backed his team to bounce back, saying the upcoming home assignments would provide an opportunity to regroup and return to winning ways.

"I think we're a really good side. You know, tough opponents away from home. It's always really difficult. Now, we came here very hopeful and thought we were good enough to win, but we weren't. So, we'll have a couple of weeks to digest it. A couple of big series coming up. But we're going back home, a place we obviously know well. But overall relatively happy with how we're going," he said.

Asked how he would look back at the series after some time, Cummins said the outcome had been decided by small moments rather than one major setback, while acknowledging that South Africa had handled those situations better.

"I think most series that you miss out on, even just individual Tests, it always comes down to little moments. You just wish you had those little moments again and, maybe, a catch went to hand or you opted for something different. It's never one big thing," he said.

"So, I think throughout this series we've had our little moments. But South Africa were better than us in those moments," he added.

South Africa won the opening Test in Durban by 214 runs before Australia suffered an innings and 31-run defeat in the second match at Gqeberha. The hosts completed the turnaround with a commanding performance in Cape Town to clinch the series 2-1 and reclaim the top spot in the Test rankings.

--IANS

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