South Africa have turned a looming defeat into a genuine chance of series glory at Newlands, Cape Town, setting Australia 288 to win on a gripping final day of the decisive Test. With the winner set to finish the series on top of the ICC Test rankings, everything is on the line.
Wiaan Mulder (Credits: BBC Sport)
South Africa vs Australia: Rickelton and Mulder’s centuries set up day-five thriller
Beginning day four effectively 40-4, the Proteas batted on and on before being bowled out for 387 in the final over. Ryan Rickelton made 101 and Wiaan Mulder was last man out for a brilliant 115, the pair’s third and fourth Test centuries respectively, built through disciplined, patient batting as Australia’s bowlers tired.
It took a run-out to end Rickelton’s knock, before errors cost Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee in a collapse of 4-61. Number 11 Kagiso Rabada then helped Mulder flog 36 precious late runs before the close.
288-run chase: history, PitchViz and Australia’s record
Should Australia chase 288 on day five, it would be the second-highest fourth-innings chase in 62 previous Tests at Newlands — behind only their own famous chase of 331 against the Proteas in 2002, when Ricky Ponting hit an unbeaten hundred.
The analytics favor the hosts narrowly: WinViz gives South Africa a 54% chance of victory. The PitchViz rating jumped to 6.6 in the final session — the most difficult rating of the match — with Nathan Lyon’s sharply turning delivery to dismiss Simon Harmer showing the danger ahead. Harmer, who dismissed Head, Labuschagne, Inglis and Carey in Australia’s first innings, could be decisive on a wearing pitch.
History, though, offers Australia hope. Between 2008 and 2019 they failed 14 of 17 fourth-innings chases between 200 and 350 — but Pat Cummins’ men have since pulled off pursuits of 282 and 279 since 2023, plus last year’s Perth Ashes triumph. With Travis Head — who smashed 123 from 83 balls in a similar chase against England almost a year ago — in the lineup, Saturday’s finale promises a classic.
Also Read: Australia Fight Back as Starc Takes Four in Six Balls to Bowl South Africa Out for 329 at Newlands | Marnus Labuschagne’s Test Century Drought Hits Record 48 Innings
Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
