Australia were 230 for 8 at Kingsmead, and Renshaw and Lyon added 134 on the way to 390
Matt Renshaw made 190 from 397 balls and shared a record ninth-wicket stand with Nathan Lyon, before South Africa closed day two in Durban on 27 for 1 in bad light.
Oct 10, 2026
Australia resumed on 187 for 6 at Kingsmead on Saturday. By the time the innings ended, two balls after tea, they had 390, and Matt Renshaw had 190 of them. He was caught by Aiden Markram at slip off Simon Harmer, ten runs short of a first Test double hundred, after 397 balls.
South Africa then lost Ryan Rickelton in the second over of their reply, caught by Beau Webster at third slip off Josh Hazlewood for a three-ball duck. Markram and David Bedingham took them to 27 for 1 before bad light ended play for the second day running. South Africa trail by 363.
The lower order holds
Renshaw reached his fifty early in the morning, from 117 balls, with an edge off Anrich Nortje that ran away between third slip and gully. Pat Cummins kept him company until the 74th over, when he pushed at a good-length ball from Wiaan Mulder and was caught by Markram at second slip for 43. The seventh-wicket stand was worth 86.
Mitchell Starc survived a chance on the way to 6, an edge off Harmer that went through Markram’s hands at first slip for four. South Africa took the second new ball as soon as it was due, and Mulder bowled Starc with it, the ball pitching on middle and hitting off. Australia were 230 for 8 and the morning’s work looked like it might come to nothing.
It did not. Nathan Lyon faced 92 balls alongside Renshaw, and the pair added 134 for the ninth wicket, a record for Australia against South Africa. Renshaw got to his hundred just before lunch, off 204 balls, with a boundary through the leg side. It was his second Test century. The first was his 184 against Pakistan at the SCG in January 2017.
A blow to the grille, then 150
Temba Bavuma turned to Harmer and Keshav Maharaj in tandem after lunch and the scoring slowed. When Nortje came back, he hit Renshaw on the grille of the helmet with a 143kph bouncer. Renshaw gave a thumbs-up straight away and, after treatment, went on to reach 150 with a reverse sweep off Maharaj, a shot he had used all day against the spinners. Lyon was eventually trapped lbw by a full ball from Marco Jansen for 27. He reviewed and lost.
Cummins and Lyon faced 190 balls between them, 27 more than Australia’s top four. That says plenty about how the first morning went. Renshaw was batting at No. 5 because Nic Maddinson was picked to open and Cameron Green is injured, and on this evidence he is not giving the place back. He became the first Australian to face 300 balls in a Test innings since Usman Khawaja’s 232 in Galle in 2025.
South Africa’s seamers did the work
Mulder finished with 4 for 68 and Jansen 3 for 68, and Nortje took 2 for 88. The spinners were the problem. Harmer and Maharaj bowled 48.2 overs between them for one wicket, and that came with the total already on 390. South Africa also gave away 30 extras.
The pitch that offered steep bounce and seam on Friday was much easier on Saturday, and it is expected to turn later in the match. South Africa need a big response from Markram and Bedingham on day three, with Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs to come, if they are to stop Lyon bowling at them in the fourth innings with a lead in hand.