At lunch, everything was going South Africa’s way. The series was there for the taking and two openers were batting as if Australia had left their plan at the hotel. By the close, the mood had turned right around.
The Proteas Australia Newlands day one story is a glorious start and a frustrating finish. Sent in by Pat Cummins, South Africa were 140 without loss at lunch and 203 for 1 in the afternoon. Then they lost five wickets for 29 runs and were bowled out for 329 in 82.3 overs, with Mitchell Starc taking 6 for 72. Australia did not have to bat before stumps.
How the Proteas Australia Newlands day one turned
Marques Ackerman set the tone. He had 82 off 75 balls by lunch, with Aiden Markram on 56 beside him, and the pair took the opening stand to 158 before Ackerman’s patience ran out. He charged at Nathan Lyon, was beaten in the flight and was stumped by Alex Carey for 95 off 94 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes. Five runs short of a hundred, in a series decider.
Markram moved on to 78 before he went for the pull against Josh Hazlewood and Starc took the catch. It was 203 for 2, and then the wheels came off. Temba Bavuma was bowled by Lyon for a duck. Matthew Breetzke was given out leg before to Cooper Connolly for 2 on Australia’s review, Connolly’s first Test wicket. Starc had David Bedingham caught by Hazlewood at fine leg, hooking, for a fluent 50 off 80 balls, and Wiaan Mulder was caught by Carey off Starc without scoring. From 203 for 1, South Africa were 232 for 6.
Rickelton and Jansen fight, Starc finishes it
Ryan Rickelton and Marco Jansen dug in. Their stand of 95 for the seventh wicket carried the Proteas past 300 and gave the evening some hope. It ended in one over. Starc took the second new ball, trapped Rickelton leg before for 42 with a full ball that swung, and bowled Jansen for 52 with one just like it.
With the first ball of his next over he bowled Gerald Coetzee, in for Anrich Nortje, for a duck. Kagiso Rabada survived the hat-trick ball and was leg before to the next. Four wickets in six deliveries, and Simon Harmer was left on 0 not out.
| Day one at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Toss | Australia won and chose to bowl |
| South Africa, first innings | 329 all out (82.3 overs) |
| Lunch | 140 for 0 after 27 overs |
| Top scorers | Marques Ackerman 95 (94 balls), Aiden Markram 78, Marco Jansen 52, David Bedingham 50 |
| The slide | 203 for 1 to 232 for 6 |
| Seventh-wicket stand | 95, Ryan Rickelton and Jansen |
| Bowling | Mitchell Starc 6/72 (16.3 overs), Nathan Lyon 2/71, Josh Hazlewood 1 wicket, Cooper Connolly 1 wicket |
| Australia | Yet to bat |
Starc’s day, and Ackerman’s verdict
It was Starc’s 20th five-wicket haul in Tests, The Citizen noted, and he did it after Australia’s attack had gone wicketless through the morning. “I’d like to delete the first session,” he said after play, as TimesLIVE’s Stuart Hess reported.
Ackerman was just as frank about the stroke that got him out. “I live by the sword and die by it,” the opener said after the day’s play, according to Daily Maverick. It is the way he bats, and for 94 balls it was thrilling. Lyon’s wicket, though, opened the door for everything that followed.
Our view: 329 is not a poor first-innings total in a Test, and plenty of sides would take it after being sent in. From 203 for 1, though, it feels like a hundred runs left out in the middle. Now the seamers who bowled Australia out in Gqeberha have to make it look like enough. Our Beyond the Score on that attack explains why South Africa trust them to do it.
What comes next
Australia start their reply on day two, Wednesday 28 October, at 10:30 SAST. The series is level at 1-1 after Australia’s 214-run win in Durban and South Africa’s innings win in Gqeberha. Our series decider preview has the build-up and the squads. Four days left, one Test, and the first session on Wednesday matters more than ever.