Smith’s four catches took him past Root’s record, and Australia lead South Africa by 139 in Durban
Steven Smith caught four South Africans on day three at Kingsmead, and the second of them made him the first fielder to 221 Test catches.
Oct 12, 2026
South Africa were 197 for 8 at Kingsmead on Sunday, still more than 190 behind, and Steven Smith had already taken three catches. He took a fourth to end the innings at 284, and Australia went in 106 runs ahead. By the time bad light stopped play for the third day running, Nic Maddinson and Travis Head had pushed the lead to 139 without losing a wicket.
Smith’s second catch of the day, to remove David Bedingham off Pat Cummins, was his 221st in Tests. It took him past Joe Root for the most Test catches by a fielder who is not a wicketkeeper, a record the two have been passing back and forth between them.
Two reverse sweeps, two catches
The first of the four came from Temba Bavuma. The South Africa captain had 3 from 27 balls against Nathan Lyon when he shaped for the reverse sweep. Smith saw him start to move to his right, went with him, and Bavuma could not keep the ball down.
The Bedingham catch came three overs later. Smith dived to his left in the cordon and held it with both hands, though the ball was probably carrying to Matt Renshaw anyway. Bedingham, promoted to No. 3, made 49. Nobody in the South Africa innings made more.
The third was the best. Kyle Verreynne also went for the reverse off Lyon, and he hit it squarer than Bavuma had. Having just watched his captain go the same way, it was a brave shot to try. Smith had further to go this time and caught it one-handed. “Oh my god, Smudge,” Marnus Labuschagne could be heard shouting.
“He’s an incredible thinker of the game, but the way he moves, premeditates for those type of catches, they’re freakish,” Lyon said afterwards. Asked whether Smith himself was pleased, Lyon said there was “probably no one more impressed than Steve.”
The fourth, off Beau Webster, removed Anrich Nortje for 16 and ended the innings. Among fielder-and-bowler pairs in Test cricket, only Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralidaran have more dismissals than Smith and Lyon.
Cummins does the heavy lifting
South Africa started the day on 27 for 1 in good batting conditions. The Kingsmead pitch had flattened out since the first morning, and Aiden Markram and Bedingham put on 84 for the second wicket. Markram went for 37 when he edged Mitchell Starc to Renshaw at slip. Starc had come around the wicket to him.
South Africa went from 84 for 1 to 99 for 4. Wiaan Mulder and Tristan Stubbs added 56 for the fifth wicket after lunch before Cummins broke it with a short ball. Mulder, on 30, started the pull, tried to abort it, and was caught. Stubbs fell to the same plan, holing out to deep fine leg for 32.
Cummins finished with 3 for 54 from 15 overs. All four of Australia’s frontline bowlers took at least two wickets, with Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Lyon picking up two each.
Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer added 52 for the ninth wicket, and Harmer and Nortje another 35 for the last. Harmer was left unbeaten on 35.
Maddinson gets off the mark
Maddinson made a 33-ball duck in the first innings, on his return to Test cricket after almost ten years. He pulled the first ball of the second innings, from Marco Jansen, for four, his first Test runs since December 2016. He hit another boundary in the same over and then flicked Mulder for six over deep square leg. He is 17 not out from 19 balls.
Only 5.4 overs were possible before the light went. Around 60 overs have now been lost across three days, so Australia have a call to make about how long they can afford to bat before setting South Africa a target.