Australia vs South Africa, third Test day five, series taking points, disastrous batting collapse slammed, Marnus Labuschagne career all but over, analysis

For a man renowned for his exaggerated leaves, there is bitter irony in the fact Marnus Labuschagne’s Test career came to an end, at least for now, when not offering a shot.

A torrid tour that followed a lament lasting for far too long, Saturday at Newlands was the final indignity of a man who was once ranked the world’s No.1 Test batter.

In the nets in the morning he looked a little less tense than he had a couple of days prior when out for a duck.

But there was no confidence in his body language whatsoever.

He walked to the crease a man condemned and was lucky to edge a full toss on the first ball he faced from Kagiso Rabada.

He left the next. And then was snared by the star, having “made up his mind to leave that delivery prior to it leaving Rabada’s hand”, according to O’Keeffe.

As Labuschagne was in the midst of a slower walk back to the pavilion than the infamous trudges Pakistan great Inzamam-ul-Haq managed, notably arching well wide of his rivals, ire was mounting.

It leaves him with an average of 24.31 in 26 Tests since July 2023, having endured more consecutive innings without a century than any Australian top-four batter in 149 and a half years of history.

“When you’ve got a number three who hasn’t scored a hundred for three years and has averaged 20-odd, that’s the base of your batting, and it’s been unsettled,” was Waugh’s view.

O’Keeffe concurred.

“Unfortunately, a lot of this has to fall to Marnus. The fact that he’s an underperforming No.3 – he should be the best player in the team.

“He should be leading from the front, and he hasn’t done for three years.”

“He’s so far out of form he’s just frozen,” Waugh added.

“He’s obviously not going to be there during the summer,” made for a damning conclusion from Warner, who has seen Labuschagne’s rise and fall closer than most – and much of it from the non-striker’s end during his playing days.

But amid the outrage was sympathy.

Former Test opener Simon Katich was angered Australian selectors placed the Queenslander in a position where he would be embarrassed in the manner he has been given his long-running struggle for form.

It says something where his radio network SEN opted against taking live calls from listeners at lunch, probably mindful there are only so many times the ‘bleep’ button can be pressed.

What made it even more difficult in South Africa is that Labuschagne sharpened the target on his back with his mannerisms in the field and the Proteas were waiting for their moment.

Before his first innings, there was chatter picked up on a stumps microphone about the Proteas eagerness to get that “annoying number three” to the crease to finish him off.

Super Sports, the local broadcaster, is sharp when it comes to picking up on weaknesses or divisions within a touring team, which serves to further the angst among local fans.

There was no sandpaper for them to hone in on in this series, of course. But they found their man in Labuschagne according to an Aussie who was bed-ridden for a period in this Test.

Throughout South Africa’s long innings in Newlands that swung the series their way, the broadcaster continued to spotlight the “villain’s” antics and eccentricities.

The most evident was the moment where he questioned Travis Head for checking on Marques Ackerman after the opener was struck in the grill as Labuschagne was teeing off.

Labuschagne made 10 Test centuries in his first 30 matches. He managed just one more in his next 39 Tests. And he now holds an Australia record when it comes to Test innings without scoring a century among top-order batsmen, which adds insult to the rawest wound.

Katich has been adamant throughout this series that the Queenslander had been set up to fail by the national selectors.

“There was a huge amount of people that felt that Mackay was the tipping point and that was in August. It has been a discussion point for the best part of the last three seasons,” he said on SEN Cricket.

“Everyone knows the average has been around that 25 mark. No hundreds. That is the job of the selectors to recognise you have a player who is nowhere near his best. How do you get him back to his best?

“Their view is ‘We will keep picking him.’ It has been very obvious to anyone who has watched this series that they have got that horribly wrong.

“More importantly, what they have got more horribly wrong is that now they have potentially crucified a bloke’s career.

“He might not come back from this. It will take a huge amount of fortitude and mental strength to go away and get his game back in order and beat everyone else back to the finish line to get a spot, because there might not be a spot. Who knows?”

Labuschagne is only 32.

It is part of the reason the Australians persevere with him, hopeful that he could be the man who would steer them through the post Steve Smith era, whenever that time comes.

He was dropped midway through the West Indies tour, but earned a spot back in the Ashes after making runs on flat Queensland wickets in the infancy of last season.

Labuschagne also started well in the Ashes but it was evident as the series progressed that he had not conquered his demons after all.

The flaws that first felled him were still there.

But he continued to be backed, with the argument being he was the best-performed batsman alongside Green whenever he dropped back to domestic cricket.

There is a paradox in that, though.

The right-hander was averaging in his mid-30s when first given a chance in the Australian team courtesy of the debacle at Newlands back in 2018.

If he could make the most of that opportunity, as he did initially when riding his luck, why couldn’t another domestic cricketer be given a similar opportunity when he was struggling?

“Their argument will be that we believed in him, we backed him, we showed faith in him for probably three Tests more than anyone did. But really, have you done that?” Katich said.

“If anything, you could see the writing has been on the wall for a while. His game has been nowhere near what it was at its peak.

“He has looked tentative and he has looked nervous and you can’t blame him for that, because we all know Test match batting is hard enough when you are in the best of nick.”

GREAT URGED TO DO THE ‘TEAM THING’ AS CHANGE LOOMS

Australia’s Newlands nightmare was not down to just one man.

It was a collective failing of an entire top seven, save for dogged resistance from Green – with four ducks and seven single-figure scores pockmarking an ugly score of 111.

Captain Cummins has been vocal in his belief that traditional batting orders are not an essential part of Test cricket, a view readily apparent in many of the XIs Australia have featured under his tenure.

As Waugh summarised, two years of struggles, beginning in late 2024 with a disastrous collapse to Jasprit Bumrah and India in Perth, have been “papered over” by an outstanding pace brigade, helpful bowling conditions, and occasional acts of brilliance with the bat devoid of consistency.

“We’ve got out of jail a lot, and through individual batting – whether it’s a Travis Head or a Steve Smith or an Alex Carey,” Waugh said.

“But as a unit we haven’t batted well, I’d say, for two years.”

O’Keeffe went further, diagnosing a top seven that underwent a radical shift in Cape Town with the last-minute withdrawal of Smith and the move of Renshaw back to the top of the order as having something “clinical wrong” with it.

“People are batting out of position, Marnus’ Test career is over. Question marks about Connolly against spin remain after that shot,” he said.

“It was so disjointed.”

A loss of this magnitude demands, and will spark, change – though Inglis’ century at No.5 in the first innings adds another complication to a batting order increasingly bottom-heavy when it comes to preferred spots.

Warner’s view is that Smith, still arguably the best batter in the team despite struggling in South Africa, needs to be the one to do the “team thing” and move up to first drop.

Smith has scored eight Test centuries there, headlined by an epic double-ton at Lord’s in 2015, and averages a whopping 65.22 at No.3.

It’s a view shared by O’Keeffe.

“He’s in the twilight of his career,” he said.

“I just think for the country, get up there and have a crack.

“You’ve been Australia’s best player for so long; it’s time to bat three, the best players’ position.”

The other key factor in the decision will be succession planning.

The 38-year-old may have the finish line in sight with an Ashes series serving as a regular jumping off point for Australian and English cricketers.

The top three has been the hardest place to bat in Test cricket in recent times and a Smith move to No.3 could serve as a bridge between eras.

But for the first time since, arguably, Usman Khawaja bedded down his spot during the 2015/16 summer, Australia face a serious question mark as to who fills the most important slot in the line-up.

AUSSIE NEMESIS RETURNS WITH A VENGEANCE

If the cloth of cloud hanging over Table Mountain was an ominous sight for Australia on their arrival at Newlands on Saturday morning, it was not long before the locals started chirping.

The Aussies filled the nets in the morning aware they needed to pull off the second biggest run chase ever at Newlands to secure the Test win and what had been a hard-fought series.

The task at hand was going to be an extreme physical and psychological challenge and the home town supporters leant into a dynamic they felt would add to the Aussies anxiety.

“Are you ready for Rabada? Are you ready for Rabada?” a group of fans were chanting.

It soon became very, very clear that they were not, with Rabada proving the wrecker to Australia’s hopes with a spellbinding 30 minutes of supreme fast bowling.

Nothing motivates Rabada more than the sight of a Baggy Green. It gets his blood pumping, his heart pounding and his nostrils flaring. His balance of spirit and focus is sublime.

He stepped up at the WACA as a young man a decade ago in the absence of Dale Steyn. Back in 2018 the shoulder-bump with Steve Smith caused all manner of ramifications.

In the World Test Championship decider at Lord’s last year, he snared nine wickets with brilliance.

Now he has a famous opening over in a series decider, a Test to decide the world’s best team, one that will play a role in who makes the 2027 WTC Final, added to the honour roll.

He, too, leant into the psychological hold he appears to have on the Australians even when he was not playing, as evidenced by his deeds in Durban in the opening Test of the series.

Rabada was initially ruled out of the series after suffering a hamstring injury in August.

But there was no way the spiritual leader of the Proteas was going to miss this fight without giving his all to be prepared and he worked diligently through September to build fitness.

It was felt that Durban was too soon, but in the nets at Kingsmead Stadium he made sure the Aussies were aware he was coming, heading into bowl in an adjoining net whenever a rival made an appearance. Even warming up, Rabada possesses a presence hard to miss.

It is hard to imagine Australia would have recovered from 6/124 to reach 390 in the first innings in Durban, which swung that Test the tourists way, had the 31-year-old been playing.

Marco Jansen was the match winner in Gqeberha but it was Rabada who set the tone late on Day 3 when terrorising Nic Maddinson with four balls that ended his Test comeback.

Rabada kept coming in the second innings as Australia tried to save the match at St George’s Park, snaring four wickets including the scalp of his prized rival Smith once again.

Off-colour in Australia’s first innings in Cape Town with a stomach illness, South Africa’s batsmen Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder gave him time to recover with their centuries.

On Saturday, with the series on the line and the locals chanting his name, Rabada was ready and duly snared Matthew Renshaw and Marnus Labuschagne in a stirring first over.

The cherry on the top was the scalp of Travis Head, the Australian who was clearly the main threat, with the last ball of his fourth over. He ended the spell with 3-14 from five overs.

The damage was done, the knockout blow delivered, even if the last rites came midway through the second session.

Rabada has more wickets against Australia than any other nation. And he had done it again.

A TALE OF TWO TAILS

When Andrew McDonald was assessing what shaped as a daunting series that began in Durban early in October, he settled on a key measure that could prove decisive.

Whichever tailed wagged better was likely to be the one that emerged the victor in a ripping series that ended with a whimper from Australia on Saturday. And so it proved.

“Lower order batting. I think that could be a real pivotal area in this series,” the Australian coach said on October 6.

“From eight down, I think if you can conjure up some lower-order runs and the ability to knock over the tail as well with the ball, that’s an area that we definitely want to focus on.”

Leading into the series, little separated the two sides statistically over the period when it came to the numbers eight through 11 dating back to early 2024.

The Aussies were averaging 24.04 runs per wicket from the period that started with a draw against the West Indies, or about 96 runs in total per innings.

The South Africans, in contrast, were making about 103 runs with the tail in the same time frame.

It is no surprise that in the Test the Australians won in Durban, Pat Cummins (43) and Nathan Lyon (27) batted brilliantly when supporting Matthew Renshaw.

The tail combined for 81 runs in the first innings before Cummins added an unbeaten 32 at No.8 in a match where the Aussies declared their second innings.

But even in defeat, the South Africans made 151 runs for the Test compared to the tourists 113, which is scarcely a surprise when Marco Jansen is the No.8.

The second Test and the series as a whole swung South Africa’s way courtesy of the brilliance of their tail when following the lead of skipper and centurion Temba Bavuma.

Jansen made a dashing 85 from 100 balls and Simon Harmer a superb 82 from 157 balls as the Proteas tail combined for 180 of South Africa’s first innings tally of 9-425 declared.

With Boland promoted to nightwatchman in both Australian innings, Beau Webster batted at No.8 in the infamous collapse and Alex Carey in the position in the second innings.

But the Aussies could only manage 75 runs combined in the two innings, headed by Carey’s unbeaten 37.

On to Newlands and Jansen was the sole tailender to score a run for the Proteas in the first innings, though his 52 was extremely handy after South Africa blew a decent start on Day 1.

But the Aussie tail were skittled for 16 in their first innings at a time where the tourists had the ascendancy, reducing Australia’s lead to a manageable 100 runs if the Proteas batted well.

The South African tail did not wag on Friday, making just four runs, but they did not need to after wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder’s heroics with the bat.

It was only too late that they found some fight; while Mitchell Starc was strokeless with a 24-ball duck amid bizarre Australian tactics to decline singles, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon defended grimly against the grain.

Perhaps to make a final point to the despairing top order, they managed a 45-run partnership, with Lyon top-scoring with 33 not out – just as he did when the team were bowled out for 47 at the same venue 15 years earlier.

It is not that the Aussie bowlers did not try their hardest with the bat.

It is just that the South African tail features some batters who are clearly more than capable of batting higher.

AUSSIES’ BITTER WTC FINAL REPEAT

It was the COVID-enforced cancellation of a tour to South Africa in 2021 that cost Australia a place in that year’s World Test Championship final.

Having fallen behind India and New Zealand on the table with a shock 2-1 series loss to a virtual Indian second team on home soil that summer, the team’s fate was sealed.

Five and a half years on, and it appears a trip to the continental cradle of civilisation will again prove crucial in deciding the newly dethroned No.1 Test team’s WTC fate.

Australia have twice looked like they had turned the corner during a series that started full of promise, but ends with the team’s first series defeat since India in early 2023.

They have now lost four of their last seven Test matches going back to England at the MCG last year.

That has been enough to see them at a stroke plummet from a clear first on the World Test Championship table to third, behind the Proteas and upcoming opponents New Zealand.

With a five-Test tour to India in January next year, a third consecutive WTC final is now in serious jeopardy – and the Black Caps will be no pushovers in the home summer either.

Should they make it to Lord’s for a pre-Ashes test of mettle midway through 2027, they’ll likely face the Proteas once again, who have a packed calendar ahead with two home Tests against Bangladesh, then three more against a touring England over the Christmas-New Year period.

It’s a team that emphatically rubber-stamped their status as the world’s best, even more so than their upset triumph in the 2025 WTC final.

Captain Temba Bavuma has marshalled his troops with aplomb, with the Proteas’ ability to bounce back from a chastening loss in Durban – a rusty display in their first Test in nearly 12 months – showing the character of the team he leads.

Marco Jansen has been menacing with the ball, a constant threat with the bat and nearly faultless as a close-in catcher; Rabada returned from a hamstring injury to power past the 350-wicket mark in Cape Town; and Simon Harmer established himself in front of veteran Keshav Maharaj as the team’s frontline spinner.

Newcomer Marques Ackerman was just as impressive, with twin 50s at Newlands – including a spectacular day one 94 – giving him an opening spot for the foreseeable future.

“I’ve seen with my own eyes why they are the World Test Champions,” Katich conceded midway through the second session on day five.

Following his retirement in late 2012 after being humbled by a famous South African team in his farewell Test, Ricky Ponting urged his teammates to look to their opponents – Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and co. – as a standard to aspire to.

It’s unlikely any of Australia’s current Test line-up will be calling it quits immediately in a similar vein.

But they’d do well to take a similar viewpoint of a team light on legendary names, but with all the hallmarks of a champion team.