Two days of rain and waiting, and Gqeberha is finally promised some sun. This is Fluit’s Five 20 October, and the mood is a nervous one: our Test side is five down, two of our CAF clubs have must-win Friday nights, and the Bok Women have a new leader.
1. The Big One: Fluit’s Five 20 October starts with one man at the crease
Rain allowed only 43 overs across the first two days, but that was enough for Australia to get a grip. South Africa start this morning on 97 for 5, a Test down in the series, and the whole thing leans on Temba Bavuma, unbeaten on 41 from 108 balls, with Wiaan Mulder on 2.
The forecast is for a full day of sunshine, IOL reports. That sounds like good news. Alviro Petersen told the same paper not to bank on it: in his view the grass still gives the seamers plenty, and batting stays hard work. A dry day means time for a result, and South Africa have to make that time count. How the World Test Championship points work.
2. The Matchday Move: two must-win Friday nights in Durban and Pretoria
Friday 23 October is the night the CAF weekend gets settled. Kaizer Chiefs bring a 1-0 deficit from Ndola to Moses Mabhida Stadium, IOL and AfricaSoccer report, so they have to win to stay in the Confederation Cup. Mamelodi Sundowns host Wiliete at Loftus Versfeld the same night, TimesLIVE and AfricaSoccer report, after a goalless first leg in Angola. A win takes them through.
Kick-off times are still to come from the clubs. We will give them as soon as they are confirmed. Where it went wrong for Chiefs in Zambia.
3. The Talking Point: Mbokazi is back, so who sits?
Mbekezeli Mbokazi is playing again for Chicago Fire after a thigh injury and surgery kept him out for nearly three months, FARPost reports. He played the full match in a 1-0 win away to Charlotte on 27 September. SAFA president Danny Jordaan called it a “good problem” for Pitso Mosimane, with so many quality defenders now in the mix before November’s double-header against Benni McCarthy’s Kenya.
Our view: a fit Mbokazi starts. The real argument is about who gives up the shirt, and every Bafana fan already has a name. Mosimane’s story so far.
4. The Stat That Matters: 4 for 31
That is Scott Boland’s return from 14 overs in this Test. Four wickets for 31 runs, and the names tell the story: Aiden Markram, David Bedingham, Marques Ackerman and Ryan Rickelton, the last of them ending a 52-run fifth-wicket stand late on Monday.
Why it matters: Australia left out Nathan Lyon to play an all-seam attack here, and Boland has repaid that call. If he owns the first hour on a pitch that still has grass on it, South Africa could be bowled out cheaply. If Bavuma sees him off, the match changes shape. What was at stake before a ball was bowled.
5. The One to Watch: the Springbok Women and Sizophila Solontsi
On Saturday 24 October, Ireland play the Springbok Women at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, the first time the two sides have met on South African soil. It is the first of two Tests a week apart, and the last matches of the Bok Women’s 2026 season.
They go in with a new captain. Babalwa Latsha has been ruled out of the series, so back-rower Sizophila Solontsi leads, with scrum-half Unam Tose as her vice-captain, SA Rugby Mag and the DFA report. The pair shared the job in the 41-29 win over Italy. Home crowd, new skipper, a first visit by Ireland: go. The Bok Women’s new captain.
So, for the braai: if Bavuma bats all day today, does South Africa still lose this Test? Make your case.