Ken Borland

Two bad days in a row for South Africa at Kingsmead has left them needing a miracle to save the first Test against Australia.

The Ball in Play

Oct 12, 2026

The current Proteas team’s capacity to bounce back from poor performances has been impressive, but after two bad days in a row at Kingsmead, it is going to take something miraculous for them to escape from the first Test against Australia with a draw.

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South Africa go into Tuesday’s final day on 102 for four, chasing 421 for the most unlikely of wins, but more realistically they are going to have to not lose six wickets in at least 75 overs of stern examination from the brilliant Australian attack.

Aiden Markram is holding firm on 45 not out after nearly three hours and 115 balls at the crease. He has Wiaan Mulder for company, with Ryan Rickelton (2), David Bedingham (46), Temba Bavuma (1) and Tristan Stubbs (1) all dismissed and out of the equation.

Keshav Maharaj, who put some of those batsmen to shame in the first innings with his gutsy 34, was the unfortunate player who had to front the media. His bowling has not been much to talk about in this Test – overall figures of 29-0-131-2 – so it was batting that he spoke about, with some honesty.

“We’ve lost a couple of soft wickets again if we’re honest. The application that Aiden has shown is what we’re looking for, but a lot of our dismissals have been self-inflicted rather than due to good bowling. Maybe it’s because of the transition from white-ball cricket and you want to feel bat on ball, which has led to our demise.

“We need to zone in and be strong-minded in terms of shot-selection and match awareness plays a big hand too. Whatever happens, we need to dust ourselves off because there’s still a series at stake. What stands out about this team in the last while has been our ability to find a way in difficult situations. We’re focused on our first task, which is to take care of the first hour tomorrow,” Maharaj said.

What is highly likely is that South Africa will once again be tested by an outstanding attack. The famed Australian quartet is relentless, consistent and highly-skilled. And on Monday Matt Renshaw, fresh from scoring 82 to take his match tally to 272, joined Hazlewood, Cummins, Starc and Lyon in being an absolute handful with his part-time off-spinners.

It was if Renshaw was bowling grenades as he took one for 16 in seven overs, Bavuma being his victim. That was the one South African wicket to fall on Monday for which one could safely give all credit to the bowler.

Renshaw landed his off-break on exactly the right length to have the diminutive Bavuma stretching as far forward as he could, but the delivery turned more than expected, and there was good bounce, an inside-edge going on to the pad and then being snaffled by Nic Maddinson, lunging to his left at short-leg.

As Maharaj correctly pointed out, the other dismissals were down to batsman error.

Rickelton edged behind an attempted hook at a brilliantly-directed Hazlewood bouncer in the fourth over of an innings that was meant to be a rearguard battle for survival and not about flashy strokeplay.

Josh Hazlewood gave Bedingham as strenuous an examination as a proctologist, testing him over and over outside off-stump. Bedingham, despite getting on to off-stump, so he must have known where it was, often sparred well away from his body. Hazlewood kept dragging him across his stumps before the inevitable full in-ducker came and he was trapped plumb lbw for a promising, but ultimately unfulfilling 46.

Stubbs was the last wicket to fall, shortly after Bavuma, and he left the field shouting at himself and little wonder. He reached for a full and wide delivery from Pat Cummins, but was he trying to drive or was he defending? It was the sort of indeterminate shot that is often fatal and he too edged behind.

How Australia, starting the day on 33 without loss and already leading by 139, went about their batting on Monday was similarly clinical.

Nic Maddinson has recently survived cancer, so his controversial selection and then making a 33-ball duck in the first innings were brushed off as he played with tremendous freedom in scoring 48 off 38 balls. He hooked his first ball, a Marco Jansen bouncer the previous afternoon, for four and collected five more fours and two sixes on Monday.

Marnus Labuschagne (37) and Steve Smith (27) added 53 for the third wicket. The former Australian captain was on two when he was belted on the helmet by a fired up Anrich Nortje and, while he lashed the fast bowler through the off-side for three fours soon after, he was being tested for concussion while South Africa batted. He had passed all the tests at the ground, but the Australian medical team will apparently continue the testing until satisfied that he has no symptoms.

Renshaw fell when Smith holed out to off-spinner Simon Harmer, and once again went about his business with clarity and composure. He was understandably more aggressive, however, and once again playing spin superbly, with numerous reverse-sweeps, was how he needed just 99 deliveries for his breezy 82.

Alex Carey (24) and Beau Webster (39 not out) both chipped in, and Cummins’ 32 not out off just 12 balls, hitting Harmer for four sixes in five balls was exactly how to emphasise your sheer dominance over a team that has not been nearly sharp enough.

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The Sharks were clinical and dominant in the first half of their opening United Rugby Championship match against Zebre in Parma, racing into a 28-3 lead after half-an-hour, but the last 45 minutes saw them display the opposite characteristics as they were fortunate to escape with a 42-37 win.

Zebre looked to have snatched a stunning comeback victory in the 77^th minute when replacement wing Jacopo Trulla went over the line for the second time in two minutes, slickly finishing brilliant counter-attacks, but the officials spotted an offence on the opposite side of the field that gave the Sharks a massive reprieve.

Replacement prop Juan Manuel Pitanari had taken out Werner Kok off the ball as he chased the kickoff, and instead of potentially trailing 41-39 in the dying stages, flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain was able to kick a penalty that put the Sharks 42-34 up.

Skilful Zebre flyhalf Tiff Eden then kicked a penalty at the other end in the final minute to ensure the home side at least took home two well-deserved bonus points.

Having produced such compelling rugby in the first half, dominant forwards laying the platform and the backline rushing up in sturdy defence, it was inexplicable that the Sharks were so stuck on the back foot in the second half. The vagaries of momentum will be blamed, but there is no doubt the visitors surrendered the initiative.

The early momentum was squarely the Sharks’ as Zebre made a wild start to the game, conceding two yellow cards, one of which could easily have been a red, and a number of penalties.

Through good, cohesive team play, the Sharks capitalised and they had scored four tries by the 27^th minute, two by forwards and two by backs, which summed up the balance in their game, which would certainly have impressed independent observers.

Rohan Janse van Rensburg, playing at outside centre, looks a fine acquisition by the Sharks. He carried strongly, along with prop Thomas du Toit, for the opening try by lock Reniel Hugo, and he grabbed the fourth try with a powerful finish after his midfield partner Ben Tapuai had sent Chamberlain, who had a good game at flyhalf, slicing through with a slick inside ball.

But Zebre again made a game of it in the second half, their comeback starting in first-half injury time as they finally controlled the ball long enough to create some pressure.

The Sharks briefly managed to break free of Zebre’s second-half dominance as the arrival of replacement tighthead prop Carlu Sadie led to a penalty at his first scrum by Chamberlain, and then big front-foot ball at the second that saw flank James Venter score.

But the Sharks defence allowed the dangerous Zebre runners far too much time and space on the ball in the second half.

Scorers

Zebre: Tries – Luca Bigi, Simone Gesi, Taina Fox-Matamua, Gabriele Venditti, Jacopo Trulla. Conversions – Tiff Eden (3). Penalties – Eden (2).

Sharks: Tries – Reniel Hugo, Kerron van Vuuren, Werner Kok, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, James Venter. Conversions – Boeta Chamberlain (4). Penalties – Chamberlain (3).

Ferisco Adams produced outstanding death bowling as Boland Rocks staged a great escape to beat the North-West Dragons in a Super Over in their CSA T20 Challenge match at St George’s Park on Sunday.

At some stage on Sunday, Dwaine Pretorius’s cellphone would have pinged with a message telling him that he will going to his maiden IPL tournament at the end of the summer and the Proteas all-rounder celebrated by battering 74 off 51 balls. It was an innings that seemed to have secured victory for the Dragons as they went into the final over needing just nine runs to win, with Pretorius and Delano Potgieter (37* off 27) flying as they had already added 94 in nine overs.

But Adams restricted North-West to just four singles off the first five deliveries, and Pretorius was forced to hook the final delivery for four just to tie the game and ensure a Super Over.

Then Adams missed his length with his first ball, Potgieter slog-sweeping a full toss for six, but Pretorius was then run out by Adams, who fielded a fierce straight hit and Potgieter was caught at long-off next ball, meaning the Dragons were all out.

Boland needed just three balls to get the seven runs they needed, Janneman Malan edging one boundary and reverse-paddling the other off Duan Jansen.

North-West were chasing 183 for victory and Pretorius came to the crease after opener Wesley Marshall, who blasted 34 off just 16 balls, had taken them to 42/2 in four overs.

The lanky 32-year-old took a little while to get going, but captain Nicky van den Bergh was playing fluently at the other end with his 28 off 19. But once he was bowled by off-spinner Imraan Manack, Pretorius changed gear and struck sixes off Manack and Zakhele Qwabe in the 12^th and 13^th overs.

Spinners Siyabonga Mahima (4-0-25-1), Manack (4-0-28-1) and Shaun von Berg (1-0-5-0) all bowled tidily for Boland.

Boland had posted 182/6 in a well-structured innings that saw Janneman Malan dash to 33 off 18 balls up front, while his brother Pieter anchored the innings with 53 off 46.

Christiaan Jonker provided the big finish with 37 off 19 deliveries, helped by Hardus Viljoen scoring 19 off just eight balls.

Pretorius (4-0-33-1) and Potgieter (2-0-10-1) both did well with the ball as well, but 19-year-old leg-spinner Caleb Seleka was the pick of the North-West bowlers with two for 20 in his four overs.

While Boland have broken North-West’s winning run, Western Province notched their third successive victory when they beat the Central Gauteng Lions by five wickets with five balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, the Lions posted just 140/5 with Shane Dadswell (27 off 16) and Mitchell van Buuren, who bashed 44 off 34 balls, adding 48 for the third wicket in 5.2 overs. Sisanda Magala finished well with 19 not out off 15 deliveries, but Kagiso Rapulana took 36 balls over his 32 not out.

Beuran Hendricks (4-1-26-2) and Wayne Parnell (4-0-24-0) were tough to get away, but spinner Junaid Dawood broke the Lions’ momentum with 2/23 in his four middle overs.

Gavin Kaplan (39 off 32) and Tony de Zorzi (42 off 31) added 47 for the second wicket in six overs to give WP a fine start, but the Lions gave themselves a sniff by reducing them to 113/5 with four overs left.

But Yaseen Vallie (21*) and Aviwe Mgijima (16*) broke the Lions’ hearts.

Magala (4-0-24-1) and Codi Yusuf (4-0-20-1) were excellent with the ball for the Lions.

 

Despite the Sharks keeping their SuperRugby playoff hopes alive with their 26-10 win over the Cheetahs in Durban, coach Gary Gold did not try to hide his disappointment with the quality of their performance, with many feeling it was a fortuitous escape for the home side.

“I was disappointed in the performance, especially in two areas – the number of errors and our discipline. We kept the Cheetahs in the game by doing things like dropping the kick-off or kicking straight into touch, and we also wasted a couple of try-scoring opportunities.

“We didn’t get our territory game going, our set-piece struggled, our maul was penalised and our kicking game wasn’t good enough. We also conceded quite a soft try from our perspective. We said before the match that we didn’t want to get into a game of touch rugby with them, but that’s what happened,” Gold said after the win, which leaves the Sharks with a two-point lead over the Bulls as the hunt for the third South African qualifying place enters its final weekend.

Gold did, however, praise the character of his team, especially during the middle of the first half when captain Tendai Mtawarira was yellow-carded for slapping an opponent and they conceded three scrum penalties in a row on their own line.

“It was a test of character today and it was critically important the way we defended, especially during that period when we were already 7-3 down. If the Cheetahs had gone to 14, we would have had a real dog-fight on our hands. It’s not the glamorous part of rugby, but we had to really dig deep in the face of a potential penalty try. We defended really nicely then and I thought Andre Esterhuizen did particularly well. It would have been very difficult to have come back from conceding another try then,” Gold conceded.

While the Sharks, who play the lowly Sunwolves in Durban next weekend, are the favourites to claim the third SA qualifying berth, Gold said they really needed to up their game and produce a carbon-copy of the efficient performances they produced in New Zealand.

“We’ve been stuttering since the break and we need a properly good performance just to get our confidence going. To just win against the Sunwolves won’t be good enough, we need a clinical performance, like we had in New Zealand, and to really put them to the sword.”

Gold said the team was disregarding what the Bulls did and were focusing on their own game.

“We thought the Bulls would win, but we were focusing on this game because it was a potential banana skin. If we’d lost, everything we’d done in the last 13 weeks would have been in tatters. The fan would have been really dirty … ”