AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA: TALE OF THE TAPE
STATE OF THE SERIES: South Africa triumphed 3-1. The hosts bounced back in style after losing the first Test, recording victories in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg to win their first home Test series against Australia since the end of apartheid.
STAT OF THE SERIES: Australia haven't gone through a four-Test series without at least one batsman scoring a century since 1969-70, when they were thumped 4-0 on a tour of South Africa.
MAN OF THE SERIES: Officially it was Kagiso Rabada, who captured 23 wickets at 19.26. High-profile lawyer Dali Mpofu deserves some of the credit, having successfully challenged the express paceman's series ban after the second Test.
AUSTRALIA'S MAN OF THE SERIES: Tim Paine's composure with the bat in all four Tests was impressive, but it's hard to go past Pat Cummins. Cummins snared 22 wickets at 21.45, while he produced a maiden Test half-century in Johannesburg.
HAUL OF THE SERIES: Rabada snared 11-150 in Port Elizabeth, the second best match figures from any South African in a Test against Australia. Rabada swung the ball and momentum on day one of the second Test, snaring five wickets in 18 consecutive deliveries.
KNOCK OF THE SERIES: AB de Villiers' unbeaten 126 in the second Test. It was the superstar's first Test ton since January 2015, full of audacious strokes, and came when the match was in the balance. South Africa had just suffered a first-innings collapse 4-28, raising Australia's hopes of a 2-0 series lead.
CATCH OF THE SERIES: Dean Elgar's spectacular effort to dismiss Paine on day three of the final Test. Elgar turned around from mid-off, sprinted at full pace then dived at full length in the outfield.
BALL OF THE SERIES: Rabada skittled the stumps regularly, but there was something particularly awesome about the thunderbolt that clean bowled David Warner in Australia's first innings of the third Test. Off stump was uprooted and sent cartwheeling.
SHOT OF THE SERIES: Take your pick of the many magic tricks produced by innovator de Villiers. The best was arguably a front-foot pull in Port Elizabeth, where he made a mockery of a delivery from Cummins that most batsmen would treat with far more respect.
MILESTONE OF THE SERIES: South Africa's retiring paceman Morne Morkel and Australian offspinner Nathan Lyon both celebrated their 300th Test wicket in this series. Lyon has captured 306 scalps and sits sixth on Australia's all-time list of wicket-takers, with Brett Lee (310) and Mitchell Johnson (313) in his sights.
STOUSH OF THE SERIES: The ugly spat between Warner and Quinton de Kock in Durban was triggered by a comment South Africa's keeper made about Warner's wife. Both men were charged by the match referee, while relations between the sides strained as they argued publicly over culpability and what prompted de Kock's barb.
SHAME OF THE SERIES: Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft's roles in the cheating scandal, a costly crisis that Cricket Australia is still trying to defuse.
QUOTE OF THE SERIES: "I'm incredibly sorry for trying to bring the game into disrepute the way we did today ... I won't be considering stepping down. I still think I'm the right person for the job," Australia skipper STEVE SMITH after day three of the third Test. Things escalated quickly as Australia's ball-tampering ploy became a source of nationwide outrage.
