For two days Gqeberha stared at grey skies and soggy covers. On Tuesday the sun finally came out, and so did the highest score of Temba Bavuma’s Test career. By the close the Australians were the ones counting the cost.
The Proteas Australia day three story starts on 97 for 5 at Dafabet St George’s Park and ends with South Africa declared on 425 for 9. Bavuma made 179, Simon Harmer a Test-best 82, and Kagiso Rabada struck in the first over of the reply. Australia close on 3 for 1, still 422 runs behind, with two days to play. Rain had taken most of the first two days, and on the first sunny day of the match South Africa made every hour count.
How Proteas Australia day three was won
It did not start well. Mitchell Starc had Wiaan Mulder caught early, after the on-field not-out was overturned on review, and South Africa were 110 for 6. It was Starc’s 450th Test wicket, and with the lower order exposed, Australia would have fancied a quick finish. The day two report has how Scott Boland put the hosts in that hole.
Marco Jansen had other ideas. He attacked from the start, the captain held the other end, and South Africa reached lunch on 216 for 6, with Bavuma on 76 and Jansen on 72. Australia had taken one wicket all morning. The pair added 132 for the seventh wicket before Boland, in the first over with the second new ball, had Jansen caught by Travis Head at midwicket. Jansen made 85 from 100 balls, with nine fours and three sixes. That was Boland’s fifth wicket of the innings, and 242 for 7.
A captain’s innings, then a record
Temba Bavuma brought up his fifth Test century in the afternoon, his first against Australia, and South Africa went to tea on 318 for 7.
What followed was the stand that changed the match. Harmer, more often asked to take wickets than make runs, settled in beside his captain, and the two put on 183 for the eighth wicket, a South African Test record for that wicket. Australia changed their bowlers, changed their fields and waited. They had no answer until the very end.
Harmer and Bavuma fell off successive balls. The captain was caught behind by Alex Carey off Starc for 179 from 334 balls, the highest score of his Test career, and the declaration followed straight away.
| Day three at a glance | |
|---|---|
| South Africa, first innings | 425/9 declared (resumed on 97/5) |
| Lunch and tea | 216/6 and 318/7 |
| Top scorers | Temba Bavuma 179 (334 balls), Marco Jansen 85 (100), Simon Harmer 82 |
| Big partnerships | 132 for the 7th wicket (Bavuma, Jansen), 183 for the 8th (Bavuma, Harmer) |
| Bowling | Scott Boland five wickets, Mitchell Starc 3/89 |
| Australia, first innings | 3/1 at stumps, trailing by 422 |
| Series | Australia lead 1-0 |
Rabada’s first strike
There was time for one more twist. Kagiso Rabada, back from his hamstring injury, needed only four balls to find Nic Maddinson’s edge, and the opener was caught at slip for a duck. Australia survived to stumps on 3 for 1.
Our view: this was the day the Proteas refused to let the series drift. Bavuma has carried the batting through the wet and the dry, and his declaration was the right one: 422 runs in front, South Africa now have the runs and the time to bowl Australia out twice, weather allowing.
What comes next
Day four is on Wednesday, and Australia need to bat long to stay in this Test. Our St George’s Park preview set out what was riding on this match. After the 214-run defeat in Durban, a win in Gqeberha would square the series with one Test to come.