Rickelton and Mulder made hundreds, and Australia need 288 at Newlands to win the series
South Africa were bowled out for 387 on day four of the Cape Town decider. Only Australia’s 334 for 6 in 2002 is a bigger winning chase at Newlands.
Oct 31, 2026
South Africa started Friday 40 runs ahead with four wickets down. Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder then made hundreds, South Africa were bowled out for 387 at the close of day four, and Australia need 288 on Saturday to win the series at Newlands.
It is a target with history attached. Only one side has chased more to win a Test at Newlands, and that was Australia themselves, with 334 for 6 in 2002. Australia have not made more than 288 to win a Test batting last since the Wanderers in 2011, when an 18-year-old Pat Cummins hit the winning runs on debut in a chase of 310.
One wicket in two sessions
Australia took one wicket before tea. Matthew Breetzke made 43 off 121 balls before he pulled Cummins straight to Mitchell Starc on the boundary. That brought in Mulder, and Australia could not get past him or Rickelton until after tea. The pair added 154 and took almost no risks doing it.
Four for 16, then Mulder again
Rickelton reached his hundred and was then run out for 101. Josh Inglis, who made his own hundred on Thursday with a broken finger, dived to stop the ball and threw it in to end the stand, and that started a collapse of four wickets for 16. Marco Jansen fell to a Starc bouncer for a duck, Simon Harmer went too, and Marnus Labuschagne ran out Gerald Coetzee with a direct hit.
Mulder was still there. With the last man for company he added another 36, which may matter more than it looked at the time, before he was caught on the boundary by Starc off Cummins for 115 off 221 balls.
Starc took three wickets to give him nine in the match, after his 6 for 72 in the first innings. Cummins finished with 2 for 71 and Nathan Lyon with 2 for 101. Lyon was turning it a long way.
What Saturday asks of Australia
The series is 1-1. Australia won the first Test in Durban by 214 runs, and South Africa levelled it in Gqeberha by an innings and 31 runs. Whoever wins here also takes the No. 1 Test ranking, which Australia hold now.
Inglis said on Thursday that chasing more than 200 batting last on this pitch would be difficult. Australia now need 288, with Harmer, who took 4 for 104 in the first innings, bowling into the rough on a fifth-day surface. They have a full day to get them, which also puts a draw in play, and a draw would leave the series 1-1. My guess is South Africa are favourites. Australia have the batting to make that look silly, but they have not chased this many to win a Test in 15 years.
Play starts at 2pm IST.