Australia vs South Africa, 2nd Test at Melbourne, AUS v SA, Dec 26 2022 - Match Result

Australia too good for this South African team, in the end. Their bowlers have shown fight, but the batters have just not been up to scratch, and as Dean Elgar pointed out, the inexperience is hurting them. Having said that, South Africa were beaten across all departments by the hosts, who looked the part. Every player stepped up and now they have a real shot at making the WTC final. That's all from us for today, but do hang around for Firdose Moonda's report and post-match stuff from Alex. Till then, this is me, Ashish Pant, signing off on behalf of Andrew McGlashan and Ranjith. Ciao!

Here's Pat Cummins, the Australia captain: The win is right up there. We have had a number of great contests against South Africa over the years. It's really sweet and something to be proud of. The way the two veterans of our side, David Warner and Steve Smith batted in the heat was as gutsy a performance in the heat. And then for Starc to bowl through injury, and Green to bat like that - we are really proud of that effort. Warner's energy was great and to do it in his 100th Test was great. Carey is one of our favourite's. He has been awesome for us in white-ball cricket. Lyon is good to go, just winded himself [going for the catch]. The Boxing Day is a huge event and this year even more special celebrating Warnie.

South Africa captain, Dean Elgar: Not easy at the moment, was a bit of a hammering that. We have to come up to speed to the intensity Test cricket deserves. We were good in periods, but it is not a lot. The inexperience is hitting us hard. We have lost a lot of batters in the last few years. There is opportunities for guys to make their spots their own, but the inexperience is hurting us. Lot to play for, lot to ride on. 2-1 sounds better than 3-0. We have not been up to speed and have to move on pretty quickly.

David Warner is the Player of the Match. He collect the Johnny Mullagh medal for his double century in his 100th Test. Phenomenal achievement by the boys. We saw some crazy stuff from Carey and Green and that century from Carey. My Dad couldn't come here, but this one is up there. Never doubted my abilities. It is all about coming out here, I have trained my backside off in the nets. Just needed to get out there and perform on the big stage. I have obviously committed to play the next year's WC and I want to carry on for as long as possible.

"SA only took 22 wickets in losing the series to Australia's 40."

Delta: "Loosing by an innings and around 200 runs is not justifiable by any means for this strong bowling lineup. SA needs to sort out their issues with batting very soon."

Pankaj: "What's the crowd number today? Has it surpassed 20K?" 13906 today, Total attendance for the Test over four days - 155714.

Presentation time

Mitchell Starc: That's what we need to do and we pride ourselves on that. A big 24 months for us. Green's injury is a bit worse than mine but I think he will be back quicker. It was nice to contribute. I was not overly sure what I could do. It was nice to play a role and contribute. I think I will be out of action for a few weeks. I have another scan to see how much the damage is. We have the Indian tour coming in, have to get fit for that. [On Warner] He is the first bloke to score a 200 and get out first ball. To go through a bit of outside noise, and score a century on Boxing Day is a great effort. He and Alex Carey set the game for us. To bowl first and avoid the hot second day was great.

3.25pm Australia take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series and move ever so close to making the WTC final! Fitting that David Warner leads them off the park in his 100th Test. South Africa started off the day steadily before Mitchell Starc struck to remove Erwee and then Boland got into the act either side of lunch. Temba Bavuma struck a fifty but was involved in two run outs. He was well supported by Kyle Verreynne, but once he fell lbw, it unravelled quite quickly for the visitors. Nathan Lyon struck thrice and while South Africa did manage to breach the 200-run barrier, it wasn't anywhere enough. This is Australia's first series win against South Africa at home since the 2005-06 summer.

Smith back on

Harry: "We are at the Tea time now. Do they get extension as only 1 wicket remaining ?" Yep, a 30 minute extension