Key events
96th over: Australia 350-4 (Inglis 95, Carey 60) Inglis and then Carey both work Mulder off their pads with ease for a pair of singles. The runs keep flowing as Inglis cuts a shorter ball for two more. 350 up for Australia.
95th over: Australia 346-4 (Inglis 93, Carey 59) A loose over from Jansen as he drifts on to Inglis’s pads and the Australia No 6 glances to fine leg for a single. Carey cuts a wider delivery through point that is only just pulled up short of the boundary by a diving Mulder. The South African is made to work hard again as Carey hammers another shot through point and this time Mulder fields with his feet before picking the ball up. All this running isn’t ideal when he has to charge in with ball in hand again.
94th over: Australia 339-4 (Inglis 91, Carey 54) Mulder continues with Ryan Rickelton standing up at the stumps. The South Africa pace bowler has the ball nipping around. Inglis doesn’t know much about it as he defends with a straight bat and gets a thick inside edge that runs away to square for a single. Mulder goes around the wicket to Carey who comfortably defends four times.
93rd over: Australia 338-4 (Inglis 90, Carey 54) Jansen wakes up Carey with a shorter ball. He gets the ball angling into the left-hander before ending the over with two more bouncers. Maiden.
92nd over: Australia 338-4 (Inglis 90, Carey 54) Wiaan Mulder takes the ball for South Africa. Have to think Kagiso Rabada is still feeling below full fitness as he stands in the field with his side desperate for an early breakthrough or two. Gerald Coetzee dives over the ball at mid-on and it races away to the boundary. It was an exquisite straight drive from Inglis and Coetzee got an unlucky bounce. But that is two little slices of misfortune that have already struck the Proteas today.
91st over: Australia 334-4 (Inglis 86, Carey 54) Marco Jansen comes around the wicket and cramps up left-hander Alex Carey without finding a way through. The towering left-arm quick drifts to the offside and Carey makes the most of being given a little bit of room with a drive for one. Jansen angles the ball across Inglis with the left-right combination messing with his line as he gives up another single through cover. Carey ends the over riding his luck as a thick inside edge nearly chops on to the stumps but he picks up a couple more.
Marco Jansen rolls the arm over as he prepares to get day three under way with Alex Carey on strike. A huge first session coming up. Let’s play …
The South African players are getting into position at Newlands as Josh Inglis and Alex Carey prepare to continue their partnership. A minute or so until it’s game on …
Cameron Green looked solid as he returned from an abdominal strain to make 65 while batting at No 4. But he would still be kicking himself over not making a much more impactful score both for his side in this Test and his own long-term future. He speaks to Fox Sports … while it is worth noting Australia had partnerships of 58, 0, 126, 1 and an unbroken 145 on day two.
It was a great day for us yesterday. We spoke about big partnerships on a great batting pitch. And we did that beautifully with a couple of big partnerships.
South Africa will pin their hopes on bowling with a ball that is only 10 overs old and with Kagiso Rabada still having much more to give. The pace bowler was suffering from stomach cramps yesterday as he finished with 0 for 81 from 18 overs. If he is back to anything resembling his best, then the Proteas could soon be right back in this Test.
A near perfect day for batting at Newlands with the sun belting down, no cloud, little wind and a forecast high of 26C. Could be worse for the punters in Cape Town too.
All but one of Australia’s batters spent a prolonged period at the crease as the tourists wrested back the momentum on day two at Newlands. Catch up on how it all played out, and much about what it means, with Geoff Lemon’s daily recap …
If Cape Town’s first day was a rollercoaster, the second was some more sedate form of transport, though it continued with ups and downs fitting its mountainous backdrop. Twice, South Africa produced double strikes to stall promising Australian positions; twice the Australians rebuilt. Finally, Josh Inglis and Alex Carey pushed Australia in front, 330 for four to South Africa’s all out 329, ready to surge on through day three with those six wickets left in hand.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of day three of the third Test between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town. Hump day in this series decider has a lot to live up to after a rollercoaster ride across the first two days as the Proteas, and then Australia, each had a turn at tightening their grip on the game.
Australia have edged one run ahead of South Africa’s first innings total of 329 and still have six wickets in hand as Josh Inglis (85 not out) grasps his opportunity after a late call-up in place of Steve Smith and Alex Carey (51 not out) returns to form. The tourists are in a strong position as they seek to build a commanding first innings lead. But we only have to look back to barely more than a day’s play ago to when South Africa were 327 for 6 and in sight of stumps to be reminded of how quickly the tables can turn in this three-match contest between two evenly matched teams.
Inglis and Carey will be back at the crease in about 45 minutes with the first ball to be bowled at 10:30am in Cape Town / 7.30pm AEDT / 8.30am GMT. In the meantime, get in touch with your thoughts and predictions by email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/oct/29/south-africa-v-australia-third-test-day-three-cricket-newlands-cape-town-live-updates
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