SA VS AUS: 3 Reasons For Australia’s Embarrassing Defeat In 3rd Test.

When things got tough, Australia crumbled under pressure as they suffered a brutal reality check by collapsing on the final day. Australia who won the first Test in Durban crumbled under pressure as South Africa, the reigning WTC champions fought like warriors and as a team to rally to win the series 2-1. It was a cracking Test match with it being evenly poised after 4 days. Things unravelled for the Aussies on Day 5 and they have been left with more questions than answers. We will try and find out the reasons for their loss in this Test match.

Inability to break the Ryan Rickelton-Wiaan Mulder partnership on Day 4 changed the momentum of the match. 

In a game of twists and turns where both teams fought against adversity at different times, it was Day 4 that turned out to be decisive and the turning point in the match as well. After South Africa posted 329 in their first innings, Australia responded with 429 and a 100-run lead. South Africa came out to bat in their second innings and were 3 down below 100 runs i.e. before wiping out the deficit. Thereafter, they had two small stands of 36 runs and 50 runs and the match was still in the balance at 181/5 as the lead was 81 runs with 5 wickets in hand.

This is where the game started to change when Wiaan Mulder joined forces with Ryan Rickelton. The duo applied themselves and took the team first to Lunch at 202/5. Thereafter, they played normal Test cricket and did not do anything fancy and made sure Australia failed to make inroads in the afternoon session. 92 runs were scored in the afternoon session for 0 wickets as the Australian bowlers were left to search for answers. This is where the game changed and by Tea, the pendulum had indeed swung South Africa’s way.

The duo carried on after Tea as Rickelton got his 3rd Test ton and put on 154 runs for the 6th wicket in a match turning partnership. Rickelton got out for 101 run out while there was a flurry of wickets to boost the Aussies in the final session. But Mulder carried on and added 36 vital runs with Kagiso Rabada to take the total to 387 and make sure Australia’s target is 288 runs on the final day. The bowlers were bereft of ideas and this will concern the Aussies.

It’s time for Australia to go back to the drawing board and start fixing the loopholes before they play Tests in December vs New Zealand. That’s going to be an important series now for Australia with regards to WTC table.

Losing 7 wickets in the first session of Day 5 chasing 288 runs sealed the fate of Australia. 

Chasing 288 was never going to be easy for the Australians on Day 5, but one expected better fight from the mighty Australians and make it a thriller of a contest. What followed on Day 5 was jubilation for South Africa and catastrophic for Australia. Kagiso Rabada started the damage by removing Matthew Renshaw and out of form Marnus Labuschagne in the first over itself to reduce Australia to 5/2. Thereafter, he removed Travis Head for 14 to leave the visitors reeling at 22/3 in 6 overs.

If that was not enough, after a 18-run stand Josh Inglis was run out as he was sold down the river by Cameron Green. Alex Carey came and went as Simon Harmer got into the act now. Cooper Connolly came and went. Green tried from one end, but Starc’s blockathon ended on 0 off 25 balls. Australia were left reeling at 60/7 in 26 overs at Lunch on Day 5 and after that it was a matter of time for the Aussies. They tried blocking away and played till Tea time. Nathan Lyon scored 33* to take them past 100 runs but it was all over in 57.1 overs for 111.

This is not the first time Australia has suffered a collapse. In fact, it’s the second time as they were bowled out for 99 in Gqeberha in the previous Test match. They repeated the same performance here and it is a real cause of concern. Yes, there are positives here and there, but continuous poor form of certain players does not help. Cummins was blocking only. The bowlers of Australia showed resilience, but the batting flopped. Australia needs to look at where they are because if we take the Bangladesh home series, they have lost 3 off the last 5 Tests in the summer.

A lot of review will be done and what’s the way forward for the Aussies will be discussed for sure.

Tactical calls throughout the Test match baffled the experts as Australia crumbled. 

Australia tactically, were found wanting in this Test match for sure. For starters, yes Steve Smith missed out due to an unfortunate injury and a replacement had to be made. But the visitors made 4 changes and it looked like pressing panic button. One of the most baffling calls they took was Scott Boland being dropped. Here is a man who got a 5-wicket haul in the last Test match and then as night watchman he grinded out there for 166 balls for 40 balls and had to get a beauty to get out. He should have been in the XI, but no he was dropped for Nathan Lyon.

We have no problem for Lyon’s inclusion, as he was needed on this pitch. But the exclusion of Boland, Australia’s best bowler in 2nd Test left loads of eyebrows. Then the toss decision to bowl first. Yes, they came back and took a 100-run lead. But they ran the risk of chasing on the final day 200-250+. That’s what happened and they were clueless against Harmer which was expected in a way. Then the biggest elephant in the room. The continuous backing of Marnus Labuschagne.

Yes, Marnus might have played this game due to Smith’s injury, but the Queenslander has a lot of backing in the Australian team and support staff. He last scored a Test hundred in July 2023. After that, he has been having a prolonged draught. But he keeps on getting chances. Any other team, he would have been dropped by now. But now the time has come to possibly look beyond him in the home series coming up.

There were some on-field calls and usage of bowlers that was an issue, Pat Cummins’ own bowling form wasn’t great, and it was a culmination of everything that went wrong for the Aussies. They have got a reality check and need to work on the loopholes to improve as a Test nation.

What Lies Ahead for Both Teams. 

Australia’s next Test series is against New Zealand in December which consists of 4 Test matches. The Aussies will face England in 8 white ball games in November. South Africa will have a 2-Test series against Bangladesh next from 15th November 2026. They have England in December/January later on in the year. The Proteas face Bangladesh in limited overs series as well.

So, loads of action coming our way for both teams going ahead.

Also Read: SA vs AUS: Simon Harmer’s 10-Wicket Haul Crushes Australia