South Africa 75 and 67 for 3 (Tucker 27*, Brits 18*, Garth 2-8) Australia 575 for 9 Dec (Sutherland 210, Healy 99, Mooney 78, Gardner 65, Tryon 3-81) by 432 runs
After toiling for 125.2 overs on the pitch, a tired South Africa showed little resistance and, like their first innings of 76, the top order simply hustled and pushed to provide practice to catch Australia’s packed string.
Captain Anneke Bosch finished a miserable match with a couple, while captain Laura Wolvaardt could not capitalize on an early suspension to get past a superb delivery from Brown in the 8th.
Bowling fast on an unbroken line and length, Australia looked likely to take a wicket in almost every delivery, much more so than earlier in the day when South Africa could only manage four wickets in more than two sessions.
Sutherland completely thwarted South Africa and their innings was initially marked by patience. He learned from a series of batteries earlier in the race, which had been lost driving on the top before setting up.
Sutherland scored only 7 off their first 35 balls as they showed discipline around their stumps. Once settled, Sutherland unfurled the effortless ball hitting and hit 27 fours and two sixes in her 256-ball masterpiece.
Sutherland, 22, hit the fastest double century in the 248th delivery with the last ball before tea to become the second youngest player to achieve the feat.
She fell agonizingly short of Ellyse Perry’s Australian record of 213 as she advanced to a standing ovation from the WACA crowd, which included her parents.
It was a big disappointment for South Africa in their first Test match against Australia. They had Australia in trouble at 12 for 3 before falling away as their fielders miscued badly on their length.
After braving close to 50 degrees on day one, South Africa needed wings very early in much cooler conditions and overcast skies.
Quick Masabata Klaas was hoping to continue his stellar debut after dismantling Australia’s top order but was thwarted by a 144-run partnership from Sutherland and Gardner.
They made batting look relatively easy as South Africa struggled to find a spark. Gardner scored her half-century by sending a short ball to the boundary, but had a few anxious moments when she survived two reviews.
After the restart at 54, Sutherland looked defiant and treated Tucker’s offspring with contempt thanks to her excellent use of her legs to knock her to the ground.
Sutherland moved into the 90s and their march to a century was hit by Klaas armed with the second new ball. But she was undaunted and smashed back-to-back boundaries to reach her ton and raise her bat to the WACA faithful who rose to their feet.
South Africa finally enjoyed a breakthrough when Nadine de Klerk trapped Gardner lbw to end the 144-year partnership. But Sutherland continued on their merry way as they easily surpassed their highest score of 137 in last year’s Nottingham Ashes Test.
In her first Test match since late 2021, Sophie Molineux scored a fluent 33 but the show belonged to Sutherland, who had also claimed 3 for 19 in South Africa’s first innings to illustrate her rising superstardom.
Sutherland, understandably, was not asked to bowl late the day after her memorable knock.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth