South Africa vs Australia — Match Centre
South Africa won by 176 runs
Toss: Australia chose to bowl
Match details
- Status
- Result · South Africa won by 176 runs
- Match
- 3rd Test · TEST · International
- Scheduled start
- Tue 27 Oct 2026 · 2:30 PM Bangladesh time
Tue 27 Oct · 10:30 AM (local time, UTC+02:00) - Scheduled end
- Sat 31 Oct 2026 · 9:30 PM Bangladesh time
Sat 31 Oct · 5:30 PM (local time, UTC+02:00) - Scheduled length
- 4 days
- Ball-by-ball (provider)
- first update Mon 26 Oct 2026 · 3:03 PM Bangladesh time
last update Thu 29 Oct 2026 · 10:13 PM Bangladesh time (3 days) - Toss
- Australia chose to bowl
- Match referee
- Javagal Srinath (IND)
- Umpire
- Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
- Umpire
- Richard Illingworth (ENG)
- TV umpire
- Chris Gaffaney (NZ)
- Data
- Scores fetched Sun 1 Nov 2026 · 2:35 AM Bangladesh time
Scorecard
South Africa · 329/10 (82.3)
| Batter | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aiden Markram | c Mitchell Starc b Josh Hazlewood | 78 | 141 | 10 | 1 | 55.32 |
 Marques Ackerman | st Alex Carey b Nathan Lyon | 95 | 94 | 12 | 2 | 101.06 |
 David Bedingham | c Josh Hazlewood b Mitchell Starc | 50 | 80 | 7 | 0 | 62.50 |
 Temba Bavuma (c) | b Nathan Lyon | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
 Matthew Breetzke | lbw b Cooper Connolly | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
 Ryan Rickelton † | lbw b Mitchell Starc | 42 | 83 | 5 | 0 | 50.60 |
 Wiaan Mulder | c Alex Carey b Mitchell Starc | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
 Marco Jansen | b Mitchell Starc | 52 | 71 | 7 | 0 | 73.24 |
 Simon Harmer | batting | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
 Gerald Coetzee | b Mitchell Starc | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
 Kagiso Rabada | lbw b Mitchell Starc | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mitchell Starc | 16.3 | 2 | 72 | 6 | 4.40 |
 Josh Hazlewood | 15.0 | 3 | 59 | 1 | 3.90 |
 Pat Cummins | 18.0 | 2 | 73 | 0 | 4.10 |
 Nathan Lyon | 23.0 | 1 | 71 | 2 | 3.10 |
 Cooper Connolly | 9.0 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 4.60 |
 Matt Renshaw | 1.0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 |
Australia · 330/4 (90.0)
| Batter | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Renshaw | c Ryan Rickelton b Marco Jansen | 74 | 139 | 10 | 0 | 53.24 |
 Travis Head | b Simon Harmer | 41 | 49 | 7 | 0 | 83.67 |
 Marnus Labuschagne | c Aiden Markram b Simon Harmer | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
 Cameron Green | c Simon Harmer b Marco Jansen | 65 | 110 | 8 | 2 | 59.09 |
 Josh Inglis | batting | 85 | 111 | 9 | 2 | 76.58 |
 Alex Carey † | batting | 51 | 126 | 4 | 0 | 40.48 |
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kagiso Rabada | 18.0 | 1 | 81 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Marco Jansen | 14.0 | 4 | 37 | 2 | 2.60 |
| Gerald Coetzee | 14.0 | 3 | 54 | 0 | 3.90 |
| Wiaan Mulder | 14.0 | 4 | 47 | 0 | 3.40 |
| Simon Harmer | 27.0 | 4 | 84 | 2 | 3.10 |
| Aiden Markram | 3.0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4.70 |
Commentary
Surely a few more twists and turns left in this game before the dust settles. Join us again on Day 4. Goodbye for now!
Australia seamers bowled 38.5% of deliveries, bouncers or hard-length zone (8m+), in this innings, which fetched them figures of 2/49 (67 balls), while South Africa landed 37.5% of balls in the same zone with returns of 1/112.\n\nB1$ \nDay 1: 329/10, RR: 3.98, False-shot%: 11.2 \nDay 2: 330/4, RR: 3.66, False-shot%: 11.8 \nDay 3: 239/10, RR: 2.90, False-shot%: 18.4
Bavuma vs Lyon in Tests \nInngs: 18 \nRuns: 190\nBalls: 400\nDismissals: 7 \nAvg: 27.14 \nDot%: 72.5 \n\nI0$
18:05 Local Time, 16:05 GMT, 21:35 IST: South Africa end the day 40 runs ahead with six wickets in hand. They've fought incredibly hard to stay alive in this contest but Australia are closing in on a pitch that has started to play its tricks. There's sharp turn out of the rough for Lyon while the quicks are finding a little bit of uneven bounce. But take nothing away from the hosts who have shown a lot of resilience, first to restrict Australia to a lead of 100, and then to recover from those two early blows of Markram and Bedingham, both of whom fell to loose shots. Simon Harmer led the way with the ball, while Marques Ackerman struck his second fifty of the Test before he was sent packing by a brute of a short ball from Mitchell Starc. They would've loved to finish the day three-down but it wasn't to be with Nathan Lyon striking minutes before the close.
46.6
Mitchell Starc to Ryan Rickelton, no run, right behind the line of it in defence and it's stumps at the end of another cracking day
46.5
Mitchell Starc to Ryan Rickelton, no run, back of a length around off, blocked from the crease
46.4
Mitchell Starc to Ryan Rickelton, no run, goes short and wide of off stump, Rickelton lifts his bat and lets it go
46.3
FOUR! Mitchell Starc to Ryan Rickelton, FOUR, a gimme on the pads and Rickelton does not miss out. He picks the 142ks delivery and flicks it past the short leg to his right with decent timing
46.2
Mitchell Starc to Ryan Rickelton, no run, bouncer on the stumps, Rickelton ducks under it
46.1
Mitchell Starc to Matthew Breetzke, 1 run, short of length outside off, tapped to sweeper cover, they probably want Rickelton on strike, hence the spread field
42.4
FOUR! Josh Hazlewood to Matthew Breetzke, FOUR, to sweeper cover
42.3
Josh Hazlewood to Matthew Breetzke, no run, good length around the top of off, 136kph, Breetzke gets half-forward and defends
There's a man at silly mid-on
42.2
Josh Hazlewood to Matthew Breetzke, no run, short ball at 135kph, Breetzke ducks under it
42.1
Josh Hazlewood to Matthew Breetzke, no run, full and straight, 141kph, and Breetzke is compact in defence at the crease
41.6
Matt Renshaw to Temba Bavuma, no run, sharp turn out of the rough, Bavuma goes back and punches it down the pitch
41.5
Matt Renshaw to Matthew Breetzke, 1 run, tossed up outside off, Breetzke gets forward, opens the face and guides it wide of slip
41.4
Matt Renshaw to Matthew Breetzke, no run, happy to stay on the back foot once more as he defends
41.3
Matt Renshaw to Matthew Breetzke, no run, length ball turning into the stumps, Breetzke hangs back and tucks it to midwicket
41.2
Matt Renshaw to Matthew Breetzke, no run, tossed up on a length outside off, defended off the back foot
27.3
Matt Renshaw to MJ Ackerman, 1 run, to backward square leg
27.2
Matt Renshaw to Temba Bavuma, 1 run, short outside off, Bavuma punches to the right of sweeper cover
27.1
Matt Renshaw to MJ Ackerman, 1 run, tossed up just outside off, Ackerman pins the drive to Hazlewood at long-on
Matt Renshaw, right-arm off break, comes into the attack
A slip and a short leg for Renshaw...
26.6
Cooper Connolly to Temba Bavuma, no run, slider on the stumps, Bavuma gets a thick inside edge on the block towards square leg
26.5
Cooper Connolly to Temba Bavuma, no run, full on off, Bavuma prods across and defends it down the pitch
26.4
Cooper Connolly to Temba Bavuma, no run, short outside off, Bavuma cuts and picks out Neser at backward point
26.3
Cooper Connolly to Temba Bavuma, no run, drifting in towards off, knocked away to short mid-wicket
Only a slip for Cooper Connolly
14.1
Pat Cummins to MJ Ackerman, no run
A
13.6
Nathan Lyon to Temba Bavuma, no run, flat outside off, Bavuma gets forward and defends it towards point
13.5
Nathan Lyon to Temba Bavuma, no run, short on the stumps, clipped away to square leg
13.4
Nathan Lyon to Temba Bavuma, no run, this one drifts in and straightens past the outside edge, Bavuma played for the turn but there was none
13.3
Nathan Lyon to Temba Bavuma, no run, this one spins sharply from outside off and hits Bavuma high on the pads after beating on the inside edge. Interesting signs...
13.2
Nathan Lyon to Temba Bavuma, no run, this time he has more time on the back foot and thus, flicks hard to the left of short leg
13.1
Nathan Lyon to Temba Bavuma, no run, goes on the back foot and tucks the offbreak to short leg
Hello for the one final time. Big session this for South Africa. Let's see how they go about it. Lyon to continue with a slip and a short leg...
--Pat Cummins went 320* balls (53.2 overs) without a wicket, his longest drought in a Test innings since debuting in 2011.
9.5
Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, no run
9.4
FOUR! Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, FOUR, good height on the short ball, it's above the right shoulder but Ackerman looks in control as he swivels across and pulls behind square.
9.3
Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, no run, fuller than a length outside off, he gets forward and punches to cover
9.2
Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, no run, well wide outside off, left alone
9.1
Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, no run, round the wicket, short of length on off, Ackerman rides the bounce and defends
8.6
Pat Cummins to MJ Ackerman, 1 run, short of length across off, climbs on Ackerman who opens the face and steers to deep backward point
8.5
Pat Cummins to MJ Ackerman, no run, over the wicket, banged in short, Ackerman ducks under it
8.4
Pat Cummins to MJ Ackerman, no run, pitched up at the stumps, punched to mid-off
8.3
Pat Cummins to Temba Bavuma, 1 run, back of a length outside off, Bavuma rides the bounce and steers it through point
8.2
Pat Cummins to Temba Bavuma, no run, back of a length around off, tapped from the crease to mid-off
4.5
Mitchell Starc to MJ Ackerman, no run, 146kph
4.4
FOUR! Mitchell Starc to MJ Ackerman, byes, FOUR, banged in short, there's sharp bounce and it sails over the keeper's head
4.3
Mitchell Starc to MJ Ackerman, no run, 144.6kph, fuller than a length on off, Ackerman gets forward and punches to mid-on
4.2
Mitchell Starc to David Bedingham, 1 run, back of a length on leg, clipped through midwicket
4.1
Mitchell Starc to David Bedingham, no run, overpitched outside off, he looks to drive but mistimes it to short cover
3.6
Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, no run, good length on middle and off, defended forward
3.5
Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, no run, banged in short, Ackerman ducks under it
3.4
Josh Hazlewood to David Bedingham, 1 run, good length in the channel, Bedingham hangs back and taps it from the crease into the off-side
3.3
Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, 1 run, pitched up around off, Ackerman looks to drive and slices it wide of mid-off
3.2
Josh Hazlewood to MJ Ackerman, no run, nice hard length across off, Ackerman pokes at it and is beaten with the ball nipping away perhaps
Moving day is where it all happens, they say. As of now, Australia hold a decent advantage and whether they can press on it to kill the game remains to be seen. It's set up nicely for what promises to be a deciding day of the series. We will be back tomorrow to witness it all. Do remember to join us for all the thrills and spills. Until then, Cheers and goodbye!!
AUS batting by sessions on day 2 \nSession 1: 90/2, RR: 3.33, False-shot%: 10.4 \nSession 2: 101/2, RR: 3.74, False-shot%: 13.5 \nSession 3: 139/0, RR: 3.86, False-shot%: 11.5
Stumps on day 2 = 17:57 local, 15:57 GMT, 21:27 IST: A magnificent wicketless final session helps Australia take the honours on day 2. There's no energy in the way the hosts are trundling towards the dressing room. The disappointment is quite evident. Two wickets each in the first two sessions and many pundits would have predicted a wicket or two during the 10-over phase with the new ball. Not to be. Head and Renshaw started the day brilliantly, and despite a double-wicket blow after drinks, Renshaw found able partner in Green to resurrect the innings. While both Green and Renshaw got out 15 minutes before the tea break, Carey and Inglis ensured the platform wasn't wasted. The pair dug deep and pressed on the accelerator when South Africa ran out of gas prior to the second new ball. Their association is now worth 145, and they will need to remain focused in the first session tomorrow if they are to take this game away from South Africa. As for the home side, they will have to come up with something special in the first hour tomorrow to prevent further damage. That said, the surface is still a belter and the visitors might want to cash in and go big in the first innings.
89.6
Simon Harmer to Josh Inglis, no run, keeps a touch low just outside off and Inglis does well to keep it out
Last ball of the day coming up...
89.5
Simon Harmer to Alex Carey, 1 run, floated up just outside off, Carey eases the drive to long-off
For the first time since 1994, four Australian batters scored 50+ in a Cape Town Test innings.
89.4
Simon Harmer to Josh Inglis, 1 run, tucks the shorter delivery into the mid-wicket pocket. Scores level.
89.3
Simon Harmer to Josh Inglis, no run, goes back and across to defend this
89.2
Simon Harmer to Josh Inglis, no run, short on off, wristed away to the right of short fine
89.1
Simon Harmer to Josh Inglis, no run
88.6
Gerald Coetzee to Alex Carey, , a hit-me low full toss bowled wide of off stump, Carey says thank you and creams the drive through covers to claim his Raises his bat to acknowledge the applause from the dressing room
88.5
Gerald Coetzee to Alex Carey, no run, pitched up outside off at 143ks, Carey drives to the right of cover
88.4
Gerald Coetzee to Alex Carey, no run, full toss wide of off at 137ks, Carey all hands on the drive and ends up skewing it off the toe-edge back towards the bowler
88.3
Gerald Coetzee to Josh Inglis, 1 run, back of a length on off at 138ks, tucked away to the right of mid-wicket
88.2
FOUR! Gerald Coetzee to Josh Inglis, , slashes away over backward point this time. Gerald Coetzee looks a bit dissapointed. short and wide of off, Inglis gets enough bat on the cut to beat the fielder inside the ring on the off-side
88.1
FOUR! Gerald Coetzee to Josh Inglis, , 133ks banged in short outside off, Inglis arches back and ramps it over the slip cordon with decent timing. Bounces well in front of the ropes, but there's no-one in the deep
87.6
Simon Harmer to Alex Carey, no run, appeal for lbw, but nothing doing from umpire Richard Illingworth. It was loopy and just outside off, hit the pad first but Carey got a big stride forward and the impact (outside off) would have gone in his favour
87.5
Simon Harmer to Josh Inglis, 1 run, this time it is Inglis with the reverse sweep and he forces it to the left of deep backward point for a single
87.4
Simon Harmer to Alex Carey, 1 run, loopy on off stump, Carey toe-ends the drive to long-off
Preview
Head-to-Head · recent meetings
RSA
5
wins
Played
8
0 no-result
AUS
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wins
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| RSA v AUS South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs | TEST · Oct 2026 |
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Recent form · last 5 completed
South Africa
WWLLW
Last: South Africa won by 176 runs
Australia
LWWWL
Last: South Africa won by 176 runs
W won · L lost · D drawn or tied · NR no result
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Info
| Result | South Africa won by 176 runs |
| Match | 3rd Test · TEST |
| Series | Australia tour of South Africa, 2026 |
| Date & time | Tue 27 Oct 2026 · 2:30 PM Bangladesh time |
| Ended | Sat 31 Oct 2026 · 9:30 PM Bangladesh time |
| Venue | Newlands, Cape Town |
| Toss | Toss: Australia chose to bowl |
| Match referee | Javagal Srinath (IND) |
| Umpire | Richard Kettleborough (ENG) |
| Umpire | Richard Illingworth (ENG) |
| TV umpire | Chris Gaffaney (NZ) |
Playing XI
South Africa
- Aiden Markram
- Marques Ackerman
- David Bedingham
- Temba Bavuma (c)
- Matthew Breetzke
- Ryan Rickelton (wk)
- Wiaan Mulder
- Marco Jansen
- Simon Harmer
- Kagiso Rabada
- Gerald Coetzee
Bench: Keshav Maharaj, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kyle Verreynne
Australia
Bench: Travis Head, Matt Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Beau Webster, Scott Boland, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Michael Neser