AUS vs SA: Coach McDonald acknowledges he 'can't defend' Australia's 99 all-out

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has acknowledged that he 'can't defend' his team's performance in the first innings of the second Test against South Africa, where they were all out for 99. South Africa, who are trailing 0-1 in the three-match series, turned the game around after being 97/5 post the first two rain-hit days. Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma (179) powered South Africa to 425/9 before Marco Jansen, who scored 85 with the bat, took a five-for as Australia were skittled out for less than 100 runs and were made to follow on.

Aussie coach McDonald on 99 all out:

"It's disappointing, but as I said, those players that sit in that room are still the same players that performed exceptionally well last week. I have great belief and trust that the skillsets in that room, in particular tomorrow, can go out there and potentially turn this one around," said McDonald after day 4 (Oct 21) play.

Also Read - BCCI's CoE cautious over Hardik Pandya’s fitness, sets expected return timeline

"The speed at which that happened and the momentum that South Africa were able to gain through that, we didn't envisage coming here and looking at a follow-on, that's for sure. We felt like we were good enough on that surface, it didn't play too many tricks, either. There was a bit of bounce. You do have to give a little bit of credit to the South African attack as well, the way they exposed some of our deficiencies in that, so I don't want to take anything away from that. But there was some batter error there and I think we are better than that but, as it sits right now, I can't defend that," he added.

Where's the match headed?

After Australia were asked to follow on, only the third time since 1988, opener Travis Head anchored the innings with 87 not out as they reached 156/4. They are still 170 runs behind to make South Africa bat again after conceding a 326-run lead in the first innings. Should South Africa win the match, it will be one of the most famous victories for them.