Australia must produce a response in Cape Town, where a series-deciding Test is set to start on Tuesday with the teams level at 1-1. Their innings and 31-run defeat in Gqeberha, where they were bowled out for 99 in the first innings, has put several careers on the line, and Steve Smith faces a late fitness test.
It will be the first Test Australia have played in Cape Town since the ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
The batting has been struggling for some time. In the 4-1 Ashes defeat of England last winter, Travis Head, Steve Smith and Alex Carey held the line while others struggled. In South Africa, the tourists have managed only three individual fifty-plus scores: one by Head and two by Matt Renshaw.
Without Head in Durban, the situation would have been even worse. His second-innings 121 was 81 more runs than the next highest score by an Australian in that match.
Smith has also struggled. He was hampered by a neck problem in Gqeberha and has managed three innings in the 20s and a score of three. If he fails his fitness test, it could open the door for Marnus Labuschagne to keep his place in the side.
Pressure on Labuschagne and the selectors
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting described Labuschagne’s position as “untenable” after a lean run at home against Bangladesh. He has now gone 47 innings without a Test century, stretching back to the 2023 Ashes in England.
Labuschagne, who was born in South Africa, has started well on this tour, reaching the 30s in three of his four innings. However, he has failed to turn those starts into bigger scores. He was pinned lbw, sliced a shot to cover, was brilliantly caught by Simon Harmer at gully, and then holed out to long-on in the second innings of the second Test, when Australia were trying to save the game.
If he misses out this week, his career could be over. If he plays and fails again, the outcome could be similar. If the team as a whole falls short, pressure may grow on head selector George Bailey. Former captain Steve Waugh said before the Ashes that Bailey has previously shown a lack of “appetite” for making big calls, and Matthew Hayden criticised the selection of Nic Maddinson for the South Africa tour.
Maddinson’s struggles highlight wider problems
Maddinson, 34, had not played a first-class match since March 2025 after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. He averaged 6.75 across his first three Tests in 2016. Hayden accused the selectors of “disrespecting first-class cricket” and “promoting the greatest pile of mediocrity that we’ve seen in a generation of cricket.”
Maddinson has struggled even more in this series, averaging 14 after scoring 56 runs from four innings. Of those, 48 came in a single innings, while he also recorded a 33-ball duck, a four-ball duck and a 10-ball eight. He has now been released from the squad, and Renshaw is expected to open alongside Head in Cape Town.
Many fans wanted Maddinson to succeed given what he had been through, but he has not performed. This has led to questions about whether a younger player should have been picked instead. Ollie Davies, Sam Konstas, Campbell Kellaway and Nathan McSweeney were among the options.
Australia’s problem is that, unlike in past eras, they do not have experienced batters averaging over 40 and scoring heavily in domestic cricket waiting in the wings. Every name mentioned above averages in the mid-30s or lower in first-class cricket.
Bavuma aims to extend his captaincy record
South Africa, by contrast, can rely on captain Temba Bavuma for runs. His brilliant 179 from 334 balls in Gqeberha means he is averaging 49.95 across his last 28 Tests. That innings came after he walked in with the score at 12-2, and he was at the other end when the Proteas slumped to 110-6 before recovering to 425-9.
Bavuma has now won 12 of his 14 Tests as captain. A win in Cape Town would give him 13 wins from 15, and it would be a strong result unless Australia can produce something special in the final Test.
The third Test begins at 7.30am on Tuesday (8am first ball).