On a day where South Africa had to dig deep, two players stood up and showed to be standing up and showing the performance when it mattered the most. Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder combined with each other and put on more than 150 runs between them. The duo made sure Australia go wicketless in the afternoon session. Both the batters scored superlative tons while others chipped in as well with the lead touching 100 runs.
In the end, Australia found the going tough towards the end of the day. Their bowlers toiled hard with wickets shared. Starc finished with 3 wickets and the others ended with a couple of wickets or something. The Proteas have shown character to hang in there and provide a competition. Let’s see how Day 5 starts for all of us.
Ryan Rickelton & Matthew Breetzke showed resistance before the latter fell to Pat Cummins in a gripping morning session.Â
Ryan Rickelton and Matthew Breetzke came out to resume proceedings for South Africa while Nathan Lyon had the ball in hand for Australia. Lyon bowled a decent first over of the day. Mitchell Starc had the ball in hand from the other end and bowled a decent over. Lyon continued and bowled a decent over. Starc continued and bowled a decent over. Lyon continued as Rickelton hung back and punched it firmly through the covers for the first boundary of the day as the 150 came up for Australia with the lead past 50 runs.
Starc continued and bowled a probing maiden over. Lyon continued and bowled a decent over. Josh Hazlewood came into the attack for the first time on Day 4. He bowled a decent over as well. Lyon continued and bowled a decent over as well. Hazlewood bowled another maiden. Lyon continued and bowled another probing over. Hazlewood kept the score under check. Lyon bowled another maiden over.
Cooper Connolly came into the attack next as Breetzke broke the shackles by hanging back and slapping the short ball through covers for a boundary. Lyon continued and bowled another good over. South Africa reached 171/4 in 62 overs when we paused for Drinks in the morning session. Captain Pat Cummins came back into the attack next. He started his new spell with a maiden. Lyon followed up with another maiden.
Cummins continued as Breetzke drove through extra covers for a boundary. Lyon continued as Breetzke got across and slogged it through the line past mid-on for a boundary. The 50-run stand came up between the two teams. Cummins continued and gave Australia the breakthrough this morning and broke his wicket-taking draught after 372 balls as Breetzke took on the short ball and was holed out to Starc at deep fine leg for 43 off 121 balls with 5 fours to his name.
Wiaan Mulder came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Lyon continued as Rickelton leaned into the ball and punched it past mid-on for a boundary as Rickelton completed 1000 Test runs. Cummins continued as Rickelton hung back and punched the ball past cover point for a boundary. Lyon continued and bowled a maiden. Cummins continued and Rickelton punched it down the ground by bunting it away for a boundary. Lyon continued as the 200 came up for South Africa and the lead swelled to 100 runs.
Mitchell Starc came back into the attack next and bowled a quiet over. Matthew Renshaw came back into the attack as well. Rickelton survived a scare as there was no spike on ultra edge. Renshaw bowled a maiden. Starc continued and bowled the last over before Lunch. He overstepped but completed the over as well. South Africa reached 202/5 in 75 overs with Rickelton unbeaten on 39 off 83 balls alongside Mulder unbeaten on 5 off 30 balls as we paused for Lunch on Day 4.
Ryan Rickelton & Wiaan Mulder drives South Africa’s fightback as they endured a wicketless second session.Â
Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder came out to resume proceedings for South Africa while Matthew Renshaw had the ball in hand to start the proceedings after Lunch. Renshaw started with a miserly over. Nathan Lyon had the ball in hand from the other end. He bowled a quiet over as well. Renshaw continued as Rickelton flicked it away past short midwicket for a boundary.
Lyon continued as Mulder got across and cleared his front leg to hit it flat and hard over long-on for the maximum. Renshaw continued as Mulder drilled it through the left of covers for a boundary. South Africa reached 222/5 in 80 overs as the second new ball was due now. Mitchell Starc came back into the attack and after bowling a ball as the second new ball was taken. Starc gave away 4 leg byes to the batting side as a bonus. Mulder chipped it past mid-off for a triple.
Josh Hazlewood operated from the other end. Ricketon reached his fifty in 108 balls and the partnership touched 50 runs as well. Starc continued as Mulder got the outside edge past the gully fielder for a boundary. Hazlewood continued as Rickelton creamed the ball through extra cover for a boundary. Starc continued and bowled a quiet over. Nathan Lyon came back into the attack. He bowled a quiet over.
Starc continued as Rickelton drove the ball through deep cover point for a boundary as the 250 came up for South Africa and the lead crossed 150 as well. Lyon continued and bowled a maiden. Pat Cummins came back into the attack. Rickelton got forward and drove it in the gap between cover and cover point for a boundary. South Africa reached 257/5 in 89 overs as we paused for the Drinks Break in the afternoon session.
Nathan Lyon continued after the break and bowled a maiden. Cummins continued and bowled a decent over. Lyon continued as Rickelton cleared his front leg and drilled it hard down to long-on for a boundary. Cummins continued and bowled a maiden over. Matthew Renshaw came back into the attack and he bowled a maiden over as well. Cummins bowled another decent over as well. Renshaw bowled a decent over as well. Josh Hazlewood came back into the attack. He bowled a decent over as well.
Cooper Connolly came back into the attack. He bowled a good over as well. Hazlewood continued as Mulder pulled the ball away through square leg for a boundary as the 100-run stand came up between the duo. Travis Head came into the attack next. He bowled a decent over as well. Marnus Labuschagne came into the attack for the first time in the innings. He bowled a decent first over. Head continued and kept things tight. Marnus continued and bowled a quiet over to take us to Tea.
South Africa reached 294/5 in 103 overs with Rickelton unbeaten on 83 off 167 balls while Mulder is unbeaten on 46 off 114 balls. The players left the field for Tea on Day 4 with South Africa leading by 194 runs with 5 wickets in hand.
Ryan Rickelton & Wiaan Mulder complete special tons while Australia get the remaining 6 wickets as South Africa get bowled out for 387 in 134.4 overs in the final session.Â
Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder came out to resume proceedings for South Africa while Nathan Lyon started the proceedings for Australia. Lyon bowled a decent first over after Tea. Mitchell Starc had the ball in hand from the other end. He too bowled a tight over. Lyon kept things under check as well. Starc continued as Rickelton guided the ball past deep backward point region for a boundary as he entered the 90s as the 300 came up for South Africa in 106.3 overs.
Nathan Lyon continued and bowled a tight over. Starc continued and bowled a probing over. Lyon delivered a maiden. Pat Cummins replaced Starc into the attack. He bowled a maiden as well. Travis Head replaced Lyon into the attack and kept things under check. Cummins bowled another maiden. Head continued as Mulder got to the pitch of the ball and creamed to sweeper cover for a boundary as the fifty came up for Mulder in 138 balls. His 2nd Test fifty.
Pat Cummins continued and bowled a quiet over. Head bowled another decent over. Josh Hazlewood came back into the attack next. He too kept things tight. Marnus Labuschagne came back into the attack. Mulder broke the shackles as he got down on one knee and paddled it to deep fine leg for a boundary. Mulder got a ball down the leg side as Mulder got down on one knee and nailed it through backward square leg for a boundary. Hazlewood continued and then came the moment where Ryan Rickelton completed a brace to complete his 3rd Test match hundred off 218 balls.
The 150-run stand came up between Rickelton and Mulder. Marnus continued as Mulder looked to drive it down the ground and got an outside edge past deep third man for a boundary. Then, against the run of play, there was a mix-up between the batters where Rickelton was sent back and sold down the river as he was run out for 101 off 219 balls with 12 fours to his name as his innings ended in a heartbreak.
The Drinks Break was taken at this stage after which Marco Jansen walked out to bat next. Hazlewood continued as Mulder stood tall and swivel pulled it away in front of square for a boundary to deep square leg and deep midwicket for a boundary. Lyon came back into the attack and bowled a quiet over. Mitchell Starc returned as he dismissed Jansen for a 8-ball duck as he took on the short ball and hit the pull shot straight to Nathan Lyon at deep square leg.
Simon Harmer came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. Lyon continued as Harmer shouldered arms as the ball went back and clattered the stumps. Harmer went for 1 off 3 balls. Gerald Coetzee came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. Starc continued and bowled a tidy over. Lyon continued as Mulder went for a wild hack and the ball hit the inside half of the bat past square leg for a boundary. The 350 came up for South Africa and the lead crossed 250 runs.
Another run out took place as Coetzee came running down from the bowler’s end only to be sent back by Mulder. Coetzee fell for 1 off 6 balls. Kagiso Rabada came out to bat last. Starc continued and bowled a decent over as Rabada got off the mark as well with a brace. Lyon continued as Mulder took him on as he got down on one knee and slog swept it over deep square leg for a maximum. Cummins returned to the attack now. Mulder stood tall and got on top of the bounce with a pull through deep backward square leg for a boundary.
Lyon continued and bowled a tight over as Mulder neared his ton. Cummins continued and bowled another tight over. Lyon continued as the big moment came as Mulder reached his 4th Test ton off 204 balls and it was a hard working ton. Lyon completed his decent over. Cummins continued and conceded a wide before Mulder took on Cummins as he picked the length early and pulled it away over deep backward square leg for the maximum.
Nathan Lyon continued as Mulder took him on as he got down on one knee and underneath it to smoke the slog sweep over deep midwicket for the maximum. Cummins came to bowl the last over of the day and he got the last wicket to fall in the final over of the day. He took on Cummins and was holed out to Starc at long-on who made no mistake. Mulder remained unbeaten on 115 off 221 balls with 10 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Cummins as Starc took the catch. Rabada remained unbeaten on 2 off 14 balls. South Africa finished with 387 in 134.4 overs. 15 extras given by the fielding side.
The Australian bowlers toiled hard in the heat and bowled well. Mitchell Starc was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/65 in 24 overs. Captain Pat Cummins finished with 2/71 in 24.4 overs. Nathan Lyon finished with 2/101 in 44 overs. Josh Hazlewood finished with 1/68 in 21 overs. Cooper Connolly finished with 0/14 in 4 overs. Matthew Renshaw finished with 0/22 in 8 overs. Travis Head finished with 0/15 in 5 overs. Marnus Labuschagne finished with 0/18 in 4 overs. This means Australia’s target on the final day of the series is 288 runs.
What Lies Ahead on Day 5.Â
What a Test match this has been and what a series it has been. South Africa roared back on Day 4 to set things up for Day 5. The Proteas played 3 sessions and scored 387 all out as a total and gave the target of 288 for the Aussies. Come the final day on a wearing track, Australia will aim to chase 288 down in 90 overs while South Africa will look to restrict the and get them bowled out. Draw is not an option at this stage. This game and series with crucial WTC points are up for grabs. Who will get it? Only time will tell.
Let’s see how the final day pans out in Cape Town of what has been an epic, absorbing series between the two teams.
Also Read: SA VS AUS: Josh Inglis’ 2nd Test Ton Keeps Australia In Command.