Australia will want to crawl into a big large hole and not come out for a while, for a long while. Having suffered a scathing defeat in the first Test match, most would have expected the Test team, playing at home, to show the trademark Aussie spirit and come back with a vengeance against the Proteas. Instead, another tame show meant the series is over, and the day-night Test match will now be academic.
Starting the fourth day at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on 121/2, Australia, as they have shown they can in this series, suffered an alarming collapse, eventually folding up for 161 to hand South Africa a victory by an innings and 80 runs.
The win means South Africa have now won the three-match Test series 2-0, with the final Test at the Adelaide Oval now all about playing for pride for Australia, while the Proteas will target a whitewash.
With Usman Khawaja and captain Steven Smith starting day four having batted well the previous day, Australia would have had hopes of going past South Africa's first innings total and eventually giving the away team a target to hunt down.
Instead, Australia folded quicker than a sandcastle in a rainstorm. From a relatively comfortable 129/2, Australia completely lost the plot when Khawaja (64, 121b, 9x4) was caught behind off Kyle Abbott, with the wicket-train refusing to stop once the left-hander was dismissed.
Adam Voges, who a few Test matches ago could boast of a Test average of nearly 100, also fell to Abbott after some indecision, and when Calum Ferguson, Peter Nevill and Joe Mennie fell in the space of four overs, all to Rabada, Smith was contemplating going into hiding.
Just ten balls after those wickets, Smith edged one off Rabada and that was all she wrote.
Abbott and Kagiso Rabada were the wreckers-in-chief with the ball, with the former ending up with six wickets to his name while the youngsters finished with four.
Scores: Australia: First innings: 85 all out in 32.5 overs.
South Africa: First innings: 326 all out in 100.5 overs.
Australia: Second innings: 161 all out in 60.1 overs.
Bowling: Second innings: South Africa: Kyle Abbott 23.1-3-77-6; Vernon Philander 16-6-31-0; JP Duminy 1-0-8-0; Kagiso Rabada 17-5-34-4; Keshav Maharaj 3-0-10-3.
Fall of wickets: Australia: 0/1, Joe Burns (0.4 overs); 79/2, David Warner (23 overs); 129/3, Usman Khawaja (41 overs); 135/4, Adam Voges (46.1 overs); 140/5, Calum Ferguson (49.1 overs); 150/6, Peter Nevill (53.4 overs); 150/7, Joe Mennie (54 overs); 151/8, Steven Smith (55.4 overs); 151/9, Mitchell Starc (58.3 overs); 161/10, Nathan Lyon (60.1 overs).
