After an intense series defined by wild momentum swings and unpredictable contests, the third and deciding Test between South Africa and Australia settled into a more methodical pace on Wednesday. By the close of play at Newlands, Australia had moved into a slender one-run lead with six wickets still intact. Soaring and swooning rollercoasters and garish, rackety ghost trains, this series needed a gentle twirl on a soothing carousel, after 11 days of wildly swirling swings and roundabouts.
The second day’s play proved a grueling challenge for the bowlers under clear skies, a stark contrast to the previous day’s overcast conditions. On Tuesday, the atmosphere and pitch combined to devastating effect, most notably when Mitchell Starc tore through the South African tail, taking 4/2 in just nine deliveries to bowl the hosts out for 329. It was a relentless grind of a day’s play under skies unmarked by clouds and on a pitch that seemed to enjoy making bowlers suffer. When Australia took the second new ball with the floodlights blazing and thick greyness blocking out the blue, that was a key difference from Tuesday. Until it is tamed by the conditions and old-fangled application.
Wednesday offered no such assistance for the fielding side. Australia’s batters flourished, with Josh Inglis and Alex Carey extending their unbroken partnership to 145 runs. During the final 10 overs of the day, the pair added 44 runs to solidify the team’s position. Given the weather forecast for Thursday, further scoring opportunities appear likely. With similar weather forecast for Thursday it’s difficult to see how the stream of runs will be stopped.
South Africa’s bowling attack faced additional hurdles as key figures spent extended periods off the field. Team management confirmed that Kagiso Rabada was sidelined by stomach cramps, while Marco Jansen dealt with a stiff back. Piet Botha, South Africa’s bowling coach, acknowledged the difficulty of the day, noting that the lack of lateral movement on the pitch necessitated a massive effort from his bowlers. Asked about that at a press conference, Renshaw sounded almost as if he missed those heady times: “When you’ve got Jansen bowling an over and then Rabada comes on, and then Harmer’s bowling, you’ve got all of them coming in pretty hard at you.
Defending his team’s performance, Botha stated, “We always knew it was going to be a tough day with the way the pitch is playing. There was no lateral movement there, so it was always going to be a big effort. I can’t fault the effort.” He added that the team needed to be self-critical regarding their consistency, explaining, “Maybe if we’re self-critical, we didn’t hit our lengths for long periods. Because once the pitch plays like that, you’ve got to create some maidens and hopefully create a false shot.” If you do that chances might come your way. In its own cranky way, like an ancient uncle demanding his desert before he touches his dinner, was crunchy with character, even Wednesday.
Reflecting on Tuesday’s collapse, where South Africa lost nine wickets for 126 runs after a strong start, Botha expressed disappointment that the team failed to capitalize on the initial 158-run opening stand. He noted, “There were a couple of shots that shouldn’t have been played. The way the pitch played today you definitely feel like we should have got more runs.” Were the bowlers grumpy with the batters after South Africa lost 9/126 on Tuesday after reaching 203/1.
The match stands in contrast to the earlier encounters in the series, which saw Australia win by 214 runs at Kingsmead and South Africa respond with an innings-and-31-run victory at St George’s Park. While the opening days of the series were marked by aggressive, high-stakes cricket, Wednesday saw only isolated moments of volatility. Before lunch, Simon Harmer claimed the wickets of Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne in the space of six balls, but South Africa failed to break through again for the following 31.5 overs. Settle stomachs, mend minds and remind us of proper cricket’s sense and sensibilities, to negate nerves. Maybe because South Africa haven’t played a three-match series since December 2022 and January 2023. Maybe that’s what happens when the top two ranked teams in the world clash: the cricket goes feral. Hints on Wednesday of what we saw in Durban and Gqeberha were rare. But those were blips in the narrative; deviations from the utterly straight and desperately narrow. It was as if the first two Tests were played in bubbles of unreality.
Matt Renshaw eventually fell to Jansen, who also dismissed Cameron Green nine balls later. Speaking on the nature of the series, Renshaw highlighted the immense challenge of facing a high-quality South African attack, noting that even with the ball in hand, the hosts remain a deep threat with players like the top-ranked Test allrounder Jansen batting as low as seven. As the series moves into its 13th day, both sides remain locked in a tense battle, with neither team willing to concede an inch in the final deciding match.
