I Think Everyone Can Hold Their Heads Up High: Pat Cummins After Sydney Draw Against South Africa

I think everyone can hold their heads up high: Pat Cummins after Sydney draw against South Africa (Image Source: IANS)

Australia skipper Pat Cummins thinks his team can hold their heads up high in believing they tried their best for getting a result in the Sydney Test against South Africa, which ended in a draw on Sunday.

On day five of the rain-affected Test match, Australia had bowled out South Africa for 255 in the first innings and enforced a follow-on. But despite getting Dean Elgar and Heinrich Klassen out, they were unable to make more inroads as the match ended in a draw, giving Australia 2-0 series victory.

"I thought Nathan Lyon was outstanding. He bowled close to 60 overs for less rewards than he deserved. I think the most pleasing thing is similar to last year's Ashes, everyone contributing. I'm really happy with how everyone is travelling. I think everyone can hold their heads up high," said Cummins in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Cummins admitted luck wasn't on Australia's side on day five to get a clean sweep over the Proteas. "The wicket was still pretty good. We knew we were up against it. Keep putting some balls in some good areas, hopefully the luck turned."

"But that wasn't the case, they batted beautifully. We were probably up against it. We had 150 overs to try and take 20 wickets on a pretty good batting surface. Really proud of all the efforts."

Elgar, the South Africa skipper, feels that the end of the tour was nice while saying the 2-0 series loss will help the youngsters in future. "It's good to end the tour like this. 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. If you think about it, there's only three or four guys that have toured here in the past. The rest was all brand new experiences. I think the learnings from that is these guys might be playing here again in a couple of years time and obviously there are a lot of learnings out of that."

Elgar himself had a poor tour, managing just 56 runs at an average of 9.33. But he signed off by being determined to bounce back in form. "But Australia is a tough place to tour if not the toughest in the world. There's a few negatives but also a lot of positives especially out of today."

"I know I'm the captain but I'm also a runscorer 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."

Elgar himself had a poor tour, managing just 56 runs at an average of 9.33. But he signed off by being determined to bounce back in form. "But Australia is a tough place to tour if not the toughest in the world. There's a few negatives but also a lot of positives especially out of today."

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