South Africa captain Dean Elgar was happy to see his team draw the third Test in Australia and vowed to “come out stronger” after his own struggles with the bat continued at the SCG.
The Proteas were aided by rain delays in the final Test of a series the hosts had already won, but still had to see out the final day as Sarel Erwee (42 not out) and Temba Bavuma (17 not out) frustrated Australia.
Pat Cummins’ side dismissed South Africa for 255 in their first innings and enforced the follow-on as they chased the win, but a series of failed reviews and some determined batting from the tourists saw the match end in a draw.
Elgar was out for 10 in the second innings, lasting just 25 balls, which ended a series for him in which he managed just 56 runs in total at an average of 9.33, though he was just happy to leave Australia without his team facing a 3-0 whitewash.
“It’s good to end the tour like this,” he said. “Touring Australia is never easy, but obviously the message to the group last night was we have got to go out and fight on day five, and I think it’s going to help us in the future. It’s going to lead us down the right road.
“I know I’m the captain but I’m also a run-scorer and I know that hasn’t worked out of late, but I know I’ll be back. I don’t go lying down. I know my character and I know I’ll come out stronger.”
Cummins cut a frustrated figure after being denied a third win, admitting “the wicket probably didn’t play exactly as we would have thought” but was left optimistic after another strong series for his team.
Australia begin their tour India next month looking to win there for the first time since 2004, and Cummins believes they have a good chance of doing so.
“I think we’ve given ourselves the best chance,” he said. “[It was] another fantastic summer… Other than this game in a shortened time frame we’ve been able to get 20 wickets each Test in different circumstances.
“I feel like we are adapting really well, having the experience of Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year has put us in really good stead knowing no one is going in blind. I think [we’ve got] as good a chance as we’ve ever [had].”
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