Some mornings you check the score twice, just to be sure. This is Fluit’s Five 22 October, and the number everyone is talking about has only two digits. Australia started this Test a match up in the series. Today the Proteas need six wickets to drag it back to level.
1. The Big One: Fluit’s Five 22 October starts with 99
Australia did not lose a Test on Wednesday. Not yet. What they lost was the control they brought with them from Durban, where a 214-run win put them in front.
Marco Jansen took it away. His 5 for 33, the fifth five-wicket haul of his Test career, bowled them out for 99. Trailing by 326, the tourists were sent straight back in to bat again.
That is the real damage. A side that leads a series normally sets the terms. This morning Australia are the ones hoping: for time, for a big innings, for the pitch to stay kind. One bowler’s day turned the hunters into survivors. How the follow-on works.
2. The Matchday Move: six wickets or a long day for Travis Head
Day five is today, and the sums are simple. Australia are 156 for 4 in their second innings, still 170 behind. Six more wickets and South Africa win the Test and square the series at 1-1.
The man in the way is Travis Head, unbeaten on 87 from 138 balls. Get him early and the Proteas can breathe; let him settle and this turns into a long, nervy day.
Two question marks hang over it. Steve Smith needed treatment while batting on Wednesday and had not come out in the follow-on by stumps. Anrich Nortje did not finish his second spell, leaving the field. Why this win would count in the WTC table.
3. The Talking Point: three return legs, one Friday
Friday 23 October is return-leg day for the big three. Kaizer Chiefs are 1-0 down to Red Arrows after Ndola and host the Zambians at Moses Mabhida Stadium, with a Confederation Cup group-stage place on the line. Mamelodi Sundowns, 0-0 with Wiliete after the trip to Angola, are home at Loftus Versfeld. Orlando Pirates carry a 1-0 lead from Gaborone back to Orlando Stadium.
Our view: Pirates are in the trickiest spot of the three. A one-goal cushion tempts any side to sit on it, and a single goal for African Stars would wipe it out. Chiefs know they must attack. Pirates have to choose. How the CAF preliminary rounds work.
4. The Stat That Matters: 11,000
Steve Smith went past 11,000 Test runs on Wednesday, only the third Australian to get there after Ricky Ponting and Allan Border. That is serious company.
Now look at when it came. His 28 from 88 balls was the stubborn middle of an innings that folded for 99 around him, until Wiaan Mulder finally got rid of him. That is what the number tells us today: even a batter with 11,000 Test runs behind him could only slow this attack down, not stop it. Whether he bats again in this match is still unclear. Where Australia stood after day three.
5. The One to Watch: the Springbok Women host Ireland
Saturday 24 October brings a fixture two decades in the making. Ireland meet the Springbok Women in Cape Town, with Athlone Stadium hosting and kick-off set for 15:00 SAST, and it is the first Test between these sides ever played in South Africa. The one earlier meeting came at the 2006 World Cup in Canada.
Why watch? Home Tests against a side like Ireland do not come around often, and a full Athlone would tell this team the country is paying attention. The teams meet again at Athlone a week later, on 31 October, so Saturday sets the tone for both. Our full preview of the first Test.
So, a question for the braai tonight: if the Proteas do take those six wickets, does 99 become the Australian total South African fans remember longest? Or is there an older collapse you rate higher? Name it, and make your case.