By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: CSA.
Live from St George’s Park: On Monday, South Africa were 110 for six, two rain affected days had drained the second Test of time, and Australia looked well placed to take an unassailable lead in the series.
By Thursday afternoon, the Proteas had turned the match into one of their most emphatic victories in recent memory, beating Australia by an innings and 31 runs at St George’s Park to set up a decider at Newlands.
Marco Jansen had the final say, taking the edge of Josh Hazlewood’s bat to finish a performance that reached across every department.
His 85 with the bat helped South Africa recover from their early collapse, his five for 33 in Australia’s first innings set the tone with the ball, and his final wicket brought the contest to a close under the Gqeberha floodlights.
Wiaan Mulder had done much of the hard work on the fifth day. He removed Travis Head for 121 after the Australian opener had fought his way to a century, then ended Scott Boland’s remarkable resistance after the nightwatchman had faced 166 deliveries.
Mulder also bowled Pat Cummins, finishing with three for 64 in an innings that exposed Australia’s recurring difficulty against disciplined, straight bowling.
The result was all the more striking given where South Africa had been earlier in the match. Temba Bavuma’s career best 179, built on patience and an exacting judgement of when to score, changed the direction of the game.
Jansen’s 85 and Simon Harmer’s 82 carried the hosts to 425 for nine declared, a total that seemed remote when Australia had them six down for 110.
Bavuma said the innings was among the best of his career, not simply for the runs but for the position it put his team in. “To be able to perform like that, to be able to get the team in a very competitive position, I take a lot of pride in that,” he said. He also acknowledged the wider significance: South Africa had given themselves a chance to remain in the series.
Australia’s reply of 99 was a collapse of unusual severity. Jansen claimed five wickets, while Rabada’s pace and control gave the attack a sharper edge.
South Africa’s decision to enforce the follow on left Australia facing the prospect of a heavy defeat, although Head and Boland made them work for it in the second innings.
Head reached his century from 151 balls, striking two boundaries off Jansen in quick succession. It was his first Test hundred against South Africa and only his second overseas, following his 163 in the 2023 World Test Championship final. For a time, he offered Australia a route towards making the hosts bat again.
Mulder ended that possibility by coming around the wicket and cramping Head for room. The resulting bottom edge sent the ball into the stumps.
Steven Smith followed, pulling Rabada into the leg side, where Matthew Breetzke completed a nervy catch in the swirling wind. Smith had been moved down to number seven after suffering neck trouble on the fourth day.
Boland continued to frustrate South Africa, showing the defensive resolve that had helped him take five for 81 in the first innings. But Mulder eventually found the gap between bat and pad, then bowled Cummins with a delivery that moved away to beat the outside edge. Rabada dismissed Mitchell Starc, and Jansen finished the job when Hazlewood edged behind.
South Africa had managed the turnaround despite losing almost two days to rain and spending much of the match without Anrich Nortje, who suffered a groin injury. The absence of their fastest bowler made the contributions of Mulder, Rabada, Harmer and Jansen all the more important.
Bavuma praised Rabada’s ability to shoulder responsibility and give the other bowlers room to work. Jansen, he said, had shown his class with both bat and ball. “Makes the job a lot easier,” the captain said of having senior players deliver under pressure.
Jansen had described resilience before the final day as something more than recovering from a crisis.
“Resilience can also be making good decisions and just sticking to a plan,” he said. “Test cricket tests every single aspect of you so you have to have the attitude of: it doesn’t matter what happens, I’m going to come back again and again and again.”
South Africa did precisely that. After the defeat in Durban, they responded with a performance built on a monumental captain’s innings, a decisive first innings bowling effort and the persistence to prise out Australia a second time.
Cummins accepted that his side had not made enough runs on a pitch he felt was good for batting.
“One side gets ahead and kind of suffocates the other side with a few early wickets,” he said, describing the pattern of a series now level at one apiece. “They played well.”
The Proteas have earned the chance to take the contest to Cape Town with everything to play for. Their challenge now is to carry the discipline and clarity of Gqeberha into the final Test, rather than needing another escape from the brink.