The fall-out from Australia’s ball-tampering scandal had a major effect on the performance of the team, new captain Tim Paine said after his team were thrashed by 492 runs in the fourth Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Tuesday. The defeat gave South Africa a 3-1 series victory, their first at home against Australia since 1969/70.
“We can’t hide from the fact that purely on the skill they outplayed us,” he said.
“There’s been enough spoken about the week we had,” said Paine.
“We’re disappointed with the way we handled it. This group had a chance to show some real fight and determination today, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to.”
“Mentally we weren’t quite there. You only have to be slightly off in any game of cricket, let alone (against) a team as good as South Africa, and you get exposed.
“I thought we were going to be better than we were. It obviously had more of an effect on guys than we probably knew ourselves.”
It brought to an end a series of high-quality cricket and even greater off-field drama, culminating in a ball-tampering scandal during the third Test in Cape Town which resulted in former captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft being sent home and banned.
