Key events
“There’s so much to adore about Temba, for so many reasons, but from a cricketing standpoint, his record as captain is so impressive,” emails Guy Hornsby. “Sure, the difference may reflect his modest returns without the armband, but he’s into Warwick Armstrong territory, and who wouldn’t want to emulate the Big Ship?”
It would take about 13 Tembas to fill the space of one Warwick.
The forecast is decent for today: cool temperatures around 20 degrees, some cloud cover with plenty of scattered sunshine. Hopefully no more rain, though we may not get all of the extended overs in due to the light. We’ll start 15 minutes early and hope to go later than the scheduled stumps, to make up for rain earlier in the match.
In seriousness, that Bavuma innings was one for the ages. Scarcely have we seen such a deviation from the mean, from a player who struggled to convert fifties to one who dominated from such a difficult situation across three, however abbreviated, days of play. Plenty of help from his lower order, but he was the core.
Here’s our match report from yesterday.
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
Alright, friends, we’re set for a big one. Day three in Gqeberha saw the biggest turnaround in a Test match since … well, the previous one in this series in Durban. Is Temba Bavuma the Matt Renshaw of South Africa? Many are saying it. That was quite an astonishing day’s cricket, and it leaves the hosts more than 400 runs in the lead, while the visitors have already lost Nic Maddinson for his second duck in three hits, and Scott Boland is going to resume this morning having been the nightwatch in the late gloom.
For Australia today, the task is simply to bat and bat and bat. Try to eat up as many overs as possible, while keeping the runs going in order to whittle down that deficit from the imposing proportions that it has now. Do they have the technique and temperament to go long? If they can wipe out day four, then day five won’t pose as much threat, and a draw will mean the visitors at least have the series trophy locked up. But if South Africa’s bowlers can sustain some damage in the way Australia’s couldn’t, trouble looms.
This should be a good one, with plenty riding on every wicket. Shall we?
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/oct/21/south-africa-v-australia-second-test-day-four-cricket-st-georges-park-gqeberha-live-updates
About the Author
