Late on a long Thursday, Temba Bavuma looked like the man who would carry South Africa safely into Friday. Then, with the close only minutes away, Nathan Lyon bowled him for 35, and the mood around Newlands changed with one ball.
The Proteas Australia Newlands day three story ends with South Africa on 140 for 4 in their second innings, 40 runs ahead with six wickets left. Matthew Breetzke and Ryan Rickelton are the not-out pair, and the Test that will decide a series level at 1-1 now leans Australia’s way.
Harmer’s morning, then a lead of 100
Australia began the day on 330 for 4, a single run in front, after the stand our day-two report described. Josh Inglis needed little time to finish the job he had started: cricket.com.au reported that he reached three figures with a reverse sweep for four roughly 40 minutes into the morning. Simon Harmer had the last word, though. Inglis edged him behind soon after for 102, and Alex Carey followed for 80, caught at slip by Aiden Markram, once more off the off-spinner. The fifth-wicket pair had added 185, and Harmer finished the innings with four wickets.
The rest of the order offered less. Kagiso Rabada removed Pat Cummins for a duck, Gerald Coetzee had Mitchell Starc caught behind by Rickelton for 11, and Australia were eventually all out for 429. That was a first-innings lead of 100.
Proteas Australia Newlands day three: the deficit wiped out
The reply began badly. Markram drove Starc to Travis Head at mid-off and went for 1, and when Josh Hazlewood removed David Bedingham for 11, South Africa were 31 for 2, still 69 behind.
Marques Ackerman would not let it happen quietly. He went after the bowling while Bavuma held the other end, and together they put on 64 to lift the total to 95. Starc broke the stand when Cameron Green held Ackerman for 62, but Bavuma kept going and took South Africa past the deficit and into the lead.
Then came the blow. With stumps very close, Lyon beat Bavuma and hit the stumps. South Africa were 131 for 4, and the captain who had batted so patiently was gone for 35.
| Day three at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Australia, first innings | 429 all out (resumed on 330 for 4) |
| First-innings lead | Australia by 100 |
| Inglis and Carey | 102 and 80, both to Simon Harmer; stand of 185 |
| South Africa, second innings | 140 for 4 at stumps |
| Fall of wickets | Bedingham at 31; Ackerman at 95; Bavuma at 131 |
| South Africa’s top scorers | Marques Ackerman 62, Temba Bavuma 35 |
| Wicket-takers | Mitchell Starc 2, Josh Hazlewood 1, Nathan Lyon 1 |
| Not out | Matthew Breetzke and Ryan Rickelton |
| Lead | South Africa by 40, six wickets left |
Our view: Forty runs with six wickets in hand is a foothold, not a position of strength, on a surface where Australia have just made 429. Losing Temba Bavuma is what stings, because he was the batter best suited to batting through a whole Friday. Ackerman’s counter-attack showed this South African line-up can score quickly against this attack. The question now is whether Breetzke, Rickelton and the lower order can bat long enough to leave Australia a chase that genuinely worries them on the final day.
What comes next
Day four starts on Friday morning, with Breetzke and Rickelton resuming. Australia won in Durban by 214 runs and South Africa replied with an innings victory in Gqeberha, so the result here settles the series. For the build-up, our Newlands preview has the squads, the day-one report covers how South Africa reached 329, and our first-innings analysis looks beyond the numbers of that innings.