South Africa Beat Australia by 176 Runs in Cape Town to Clinch Test Series 2-1
Simon Harmer took 10 wickets in the match as South Africa bowled Australia out for 111 on the final day at Newlands, sealing a 2-1 series win and moving to the top of the ICC Test team rankings.
South Africa beat Australia by 176 runs in the third and final Test at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, October 31, to win the series 2-1. Australia, set 288 to win on the final day, were bowled out for 111 in their second innings.
Simon Harmer took 10 wickets in the match, with 4 for 104 in the first innings and 6 for 16 in the second, as Australia fell from 60 for 7 to 111 all out. He is the first South African spinner to take a ten-wicket haul in a Test at Cape Town, and the first South African spinner to do so against Australia since 1952. It was Harmer’s first ten-wicket haul in Test cricket, in his 17th Test.
How the match unfolded
South Africa made 329 in their first innings, with Marques Ackerman scoring 95 and Aiden Markram 78, while Mitchell Starc took 6 for 72. Australia replied with 429, led by Josh Inglis with 102, to take a lead of 100 runs. Ryan Rickelton scored 101 and Wiaan Mulder 115 in South Africa’s second innings of 387, setting Australia 288 to win. Nathan Lyon top-scored for Australia in the second innings with 33 runs.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said after the match that poor decisions by his batters cost Australia the game and the series. “A few really poor decisions. I know it’s a day-five wicket, but I don’t think it was drastic. There were runs to be scored out there,” Cummins said in the post-match press conference, as quoted by Hindustan Times. Cummins also said he had expected the opening-day pitch to offer more help to his bowlers after he won the toss and chose to field.
A series turned around
Australia won the first Test in Durban to take a 1-0 lead. South Africa leveled the series by winning the second Test in Gqeberha, where Australia were dismissed for 110 in their first innings and lost by an innings and 31 runs inside three days. The Cape Town win moved South Africa to the top of the ICC Test team rankings, ending a run at the top for Australia that stretched back to March 2023, when Australia last lost a Test series. Australia has now lost four of their last seven Tests heading into a home series against New Zealand.
Reporting based on coverage by CricTracker.
