Pace spearhead Rabada praises bowling effort despite batting malfunction

Proteas pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada said the bowling group put in a wholehearted effort despite the lopsided nature of their six-wicket defeat against Australia in Brisbane on Sunday.

Rabada, who played his first competitive game of cricket since the T20 World Cup, toiled manfully for his eight wickets at the Gabba.

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The Proteas slipped into futility as SA's now-commonplace batting blow-out saw them slip to 152 and 99 all out in only 86 overs in Brisbane.

Despite the batting troubles, the Proteas bowlers did their bit, something that left Rabada with a smile.

"We bowled really well in bits and bowled poorly in bits, but when we were on top of our game, it made a huge impression," Rabada said.

"As a bowler, you want something in the wicket, but that's out of our control, so we have to embrace whatever we're dealt with.

"We try not to control the things that we can't control, but it looked quite bad out there for the batters and the ball was doing heaps."

The Proteas were subjected to another hammering didn't sit well with Rabada, especially with how their batting again malfunctioned.

There hasn't been a cure for SA's batting issues despite a shuffling of batting weaknesses that seems to manifest in every Test.

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The loss, their second consecutive one in Australia and third overall after the defeats against England, does require a bit of inward thinking.

Rabada admitted that they needed to do this ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next week.

"That's for us to reflect on and I don't think you can get an answer right way," Rabada