Set a target no side has ever chased in Test cricket, the Proteas needed somebody to plant his feet and refuse to budge. On SA v Australia day four, that somebody was Aiden Markram. He walked off at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium on 45 not out from 115 balls, with South Africa 102/4 and 319 runs still to find on the final day.
Four wickets fell in the evening session, and the arithmetic is brutal. Six more and Australia go one up. Survive, and the series stays level.
How Australia shaped SA v Australia day four
Australia started Monday 33 without loss and 139 ahead, the position our day-three report left them in. They spent the next two sessions turning that lead into something enormous, and quickly.
Travis Head was the first to go, for 11, to Marco Jansen. Anrich Nortje then took two of the big ones. He bowled Nic Maddinson for a breezy 48 from 38 balls, and later removed Alex Carey for 24.
Nortje also hit Steve Smith on the helmet with a bouncer. Smith made 27 before he holed out off Simon Harmer, and he did not take the field when South Africa batted. SA Cricket Mag reported that he was undergoing further assessment.
Keshav Maharaj did the steady work at the other end. He had Marnus Labuschagne caught by Temba Bavuma for 37, then held a return catch to end Matt Renshaw’s innings on 82 from 99 balls. That is two big scores in one Test for Renshaw, after his 190 in the first innings.
Then Pat Cummins walked out and hit four sixes in a 12-ball 32 not out. Beau Webster was 39 not out at the other end when Australia declared at tea on 314/6. The lead was 420.
Four down before the floodlights won
The chase began badly. Ryan Rickelton nicked Josh Hazlewood to Carey in the fourth over and went for 2.
David Bedingham and Markram steadied things for a stretch. Then Hazlewood struck again, trapping Bedingham lbw for 46. Close to a half-century again, after his 49 in the first innings, and again not quite there.
Bavuma lasted only briefly, caught at short leg by Maddinson off Renshaw for 1. Tristan Stubbs followed for 1, caught behind off Cummins. Wiaan Mulder, 5 not out from 23 balls, saw Markram through to the close with the floodlights on.
The Citizen counts 84.2 overs on day four, the most of the match after 65.2, 78.2 and 75 on the first three days, though still short of the 90 a full day should produce.
| Score | |
|---|---|
| Australia, first innings | 390 |
| South Africa, first innings | 284 |
| Australia, second innings | 314/6 declared |
| South Africa, second innings, at stumps | 102/4 |
| Target | 421 |
| Still needed | 319 |
What day five asks of the Proteas
Nobody has chased 421 to win a Test. South Africa’s own best, according to IOL, is 414/4 against Australia at the WACA in 2008, and they made 340/5 to beat the same opponents at this ground in 2002. History is not entirely against them. It is mostly against them.
Our view: the realistic aim on Tuesday 13 October is a draw, and that rests on Markram batting through as much of the day as he can. Every session survived also matters beyond Durban, because of what a result here does to the World Test Championship qualification picture. For who is in the squad, see the Proteas Test team page, and for why this series carried so much weight before a ball was bowled, our first Test preview.