Some days a Test match belongs to a team. Saturday in Durban belonged to one batter. Matt Renshaw walked out on Friday with Australia in trouble, and when he finally walked off, a little after tea on SA v Australia day two, he had made 190 and turned a wobbling innings into a total of 390.
The Proteas’ reply had barely started when the gloom came down again. South Africa closed on 27/1 from 8.4 overs, still 363 runs behind, with bad light ending play early for the second day in a row.
How SA v Australia day two slipped away
Friday was a seamers’ day, and our day-one report has how Australia fell to 124/6 before a late rally. Saturday began with Australia on 187/6 at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium, and early on the home side looked like finishing the job.
Wiaan Mulder made the breakthrough, finding the edge of Pat Cummins, who was caught by Aiden Markram at second slip for 43. Mitchell Starc followed soon after, bowled by Mulder for 6. At 230/8, with only Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood to come, the plan was simple: two more wickets, and bat before tea.
It never came.
Renshaw and Lyon, for hours
Lyon is not a batter anyone fears. On Saturday he did not need to be. He kept out 92 balls for his 27, Renshaw did the scoring, and together they added 134 for the ninth wicket. TimesLIVE reported that it is the highest ninth-wicket stand for Australia against South Africa, beating a record of 78 that had stood since the 1930s.
Marco Jansen finally trapped Lyon lbw shortly before tea. By then Renshaw was well past his hundred, and he kept going after the break until Simon Harmer had him for 190, his highest Test score. He faced 397 balls and hit 21 fours and a six.
For context, he did all of this batting at No 5, though he usually opens. His previous best, 184 against Pakistan in Sydney, came nearly a decade ago. Australia added 160 runs for their last two wickets, and that is the number the Proteas will think about tonight.
The bowlers who did the work
Mulder was the pick of the attack, with 4-68 from 27 overs. Jansen took 3-68 from 31 overs and Anrich Nortje 2-88. Harmer’s only wicket was the big one, while Keshav Maharaj went wicketless.
Our view: the seamers have done their job across two days. The concern is what happened once the ball got older. With two spinners picked for this Test, as our first Test preview explained, South Africa needed one of them to break the ninth-wicket stand. Neither could.
A tricky half hour under grey skies
The reply began badly. Ryan Rickelton lasted three balls, edging Hazlewood to Beau Webster at third slip in the second over.
Markram and David Bedingham then survived a testing spell in poor light. Markram reached 15 not out from 27 balls and Bedingham 12 not out from 22, before the players were taken off and the umpires called stumps.
What it means, and what comes next
The Proteas are not out of this Test, but they now have to bat long themselves on a pitch Renshaw has just shown is no minefield. Avoiding the follow-on is the first job, and a big partnership on Sunday morning would change the mood quickly. The full squad and the selection calls are on our Proteas Test team page.
Day three starts at 09:30 SAST on Sunday 11 October, according to the Proteas’ official account. Markram and Bedingham resume, with nine wickets in hand.