Australia vs South Africa, third Test in Cape Town, series player ratings, Marnus Labuschagne fails to all but end Test career, Matt Renshaw and Josh Inglis show promise, video, highlights

The gains made by Australia during their blockbuster three-Test tour of South Africa all but vanished in two hours of torment on the final morning in Cape Town.

A collective implosion from an under-fire top seven emphatically bludgeoned to death the tourists’ chances of a 2-1 series victory, having seen a 100-run first innings lead and a breakthrough century from Josh Inglis come to naught in a 176-run loss.

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It was the perfect summary for a 1-2 series defeat in which some emphatic answers – Matt Renshaw’s triumphant Durban Test solidifying his spot in the team and strong showings from Inglis and Cameron Green on return from injury – have been drowned out by questions.

And for the first time in a long while, there is cause for severe doubt in Australia’s all-conquering, legendary four-man bowling attack … and one key figure in particular.

Here are foxsports.com.au’s player ratings from the three-Test series against South Africa!

TRAVIS HEAD – 6

210 runs at 35. HS 121

It was a hot-and-cold tour for Australia’s Ashes hero with the bat.

A fighting century in the second innings in Gqeberha was not enough to save the Australians after following on. But it was crucial milestone in Head’s career as it was his first proper away ton, having scored a World Test Championship final hundred on neutral turf in 2023.

His 121 enhanced his reputation as a player who steps up when his country really needs him, and it also quietened calls to move him back to the middle order, after a difficult series against Bangladesh preceded scores of 9, 11 and 14 to begin this tour.

But Head’s fourth ton in nine Tests since permanently moving to the top of the order was his only score above 50 for the series.

The issue of chopping on reared its ugly head again as he started to put bigger scores on the board, and he would have been kicking for himself for falling in that manner for 41 in the first innings on a good batting pitch in Cape Town.

MATT RENSHAW – 9

369 runs at 61.5. HS 190; 2 wickets at 45. BB 2/30

The Queenslander enhanced his reputation more than any of his teammates in this series.

Renshaw had only played one Test – against Bangladesh in Mackay – since being recalled to the squad and quickly established himself as a key cog of the batting line-up with his Durban epic.

Scores of 190 and 82 deservedly yielded man of the match honours in the first Test, but they came from No.5 in a slide down that order that caught everyone by surprise.

He even took his first two Test wickets with the ball, including the prized scalp of Temba Bavuma, to cap off a match that will always be known as the “Renshaw Test”.

Nic Maddinson’s struggles meant Renshaw was reinstated at the top of the order in Cape Town.

He would have been disappointed to not post three figures in a patient first innings of 74, while he was unlucky to be strangled down the leg side for a golden duck in the second innings – the “worst way to get out”, according to former great Graeme Smith.

But in pleasing signs for the Australian team going forward, Renshaw showed all the qualities from his Durban masterpiece against the new ball.

The 30-year-old can be locked in at the top of the order for the home summer, and hopefully beyond.

NIC MADDINSON – 2

56 runs at 14. HS 48

A shock call-up on the eve of the series following injuries to Cameron Green and Josh Inglis in the ODI series, Maddinson took his appearances in the baggy green to a total of five.

A decade after playing his three previous Tests, no one would have expected the 34-year-old, who missed all of last summer’s Sheffield Shield season due to a battle with testicular cancer, to play for Australia again, let along open the batting.

It proved to be a bridge too far as he twice fell for a duck, including a gut-wrenching 33-ball blob on the first day of the series.

A counterattacking knock almost yielded Maddinson a maiden Test fifty in the second innings in Durban, but Kagiso Rabada likely ended his Test career by finding his outside twice in Gqeberha.

NSW’s Shield captain was sent home before the final Test in Cape Town and will need a monster summer in domestic cricket to earn a recall.

MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE – 3

131 runs at 21.83. HS 39; 1 wicket at 32, BB 1/8

It is near certain that the axe will fall on Australia’s No.3 as it did in the Caribbean last year.

No weight of Sheffield Shield runs is likely to save him anytime soon after his twin failures at Newlands, having headed into the match in the “last chance saloon”, according to former international Brendon Julian.

Got started in Durban and Gqeberha with scores in the 30s in three of his four innings, but the way he fell was concerning.

He was trapped lbw on the last ball before lunch on day one of the series in what appeared to be a lapse in concentration; while his second innings dismissal in Gqeberha when trying to smack spinner Simon Harmer into a howling breeze was the sort of brain fade that has cost many a player their international career.

He was given one more chance in Cape Town, but failing to capitalise on those starts only tightened the metaphorical noose around the Queenslander’s neck.

A skittish five-ball duck followed as Harmer brought about his downfall again – this time with an edge to slip after tentatively playing back to a ball he should have defended on the front foot.

He lasted even less time in the second innings before fatefully shouldering arms to a Kagiso Rabada nip-backer.

“It’s a bad way to finish his career,” former great Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket.

The 32-year-old might need to get on the phone to former teammates Usman Khawaja if he wants to learn the secrets of reigniting his Test career.

STEVE SMITH – 4

83 runs at 20.75. HS 28

An underwhelming series for Australia’s champion batter that ended in bizarre fashion by missing the Cape Town Test with a neck issue.

Smith failed to get his triumphant return to South Africa as he did not get past 30 in any of his four innings and was knocked about by the Proteas’ quicks.

He fell to Marco Jansen’s extra bounce in the first innings in Durban before concussion concerns were raised in the second dig after being struck by an Anrich Nortje bouncer.

Dug in to top score as the team was bowled out for 99 in Gqeberha, but the neck issue emerged and the 37-year-old appeared rattled by it.

Fell in unusual fashion after each blow – holing out to long on off spinner Simon Harmer in Durban before skying an attempted pull shot of Kagiso Rabada with the second new ball on day five of the second Test.

His rating was boosted slightly by two superb catches in the first Test when he anticipated reverse sweeps from slip.

CAMERON GREEN – 6

92 runs at 46. HS 65

The West Australian showed how much he was missed during the first two Tests when he came back into the fold in Cape Town after his abdominal injury.

Green arrived in South Africa as Australia’s most in-form Test batter.

He scored a defiant, maiden hundred on home soil against Bangladesh in Darwin and followed it up by being the only player to pass fifty in a two-day demolition job in Mackay.

The 27-year-old has gone back to a more patient approach that made him the country’s brightest young star and earned him a baggy green at 21 years of age.

Batting at No.4 in place of Steve Smith, Green compiled a well-made 65 that showed off his ability to defend and attack South Africa’s snarling quicks, especially as he worked his way through a nervy start.

Fought for 110 overs in Australia’s disastrous second innings, though was responsible for running Josh Inglis out with an ill-judged single.

He is beginning to repay the faith the selectors have long held in him, and the fruits of his labour might be coming at the perfect time with so much Test cricket ahead of this Australian team.

JOSH INGLIS – 7

106 runs at 53, HS 102

Australian cricket’s off Broadway specialist stepped into the spotlight with his excellent century in Cape Town.

Like Scott Boland, Inglis has been spent a lot of time running drinks and sub fielding for the Test team in the last two years.

But playing as specialist batter, Australia’s white-ball gloveman showed why he can be such a damaging player in all formats after stepping in at No.5 in the absence of Steve Smith.

Inglis is arguably Australia’s most dynamic batter, which he proved with a 90-ball Test century on debut in Sri Lanka and by smacking England quicks Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to all parts of Lahore in the ODI Champions Trophy last year.

Inglis took South Africa’s attack to the cleaners too – he ran at Simon Harmer, deposited the spinner over mid-wicket and also swept him beautifully, including a reverse sweep to bring up his century.

Late on day two, he accelerated by flaying the second ball behind point.

It was an innings that surely made him another lock in the middle order for the home summer; while he can scarcely be blamed for the ill-advised quick single from Cameron Green that saw him run out amid Australia’s dire day five collapse.

ALEX CAREY – 5

157 runs at 31.4, HS 31.4; 15 catches

Carey was near faultless with the gloves throughout the series, but it was his batting that was in the spotlight.

After scores of 14, 24 and 0 to start the series, the left-hander was looking a little shaky against South Africa’s quicks.

He was demoted below Beau Webster in the second innings in Gqeberha and finished 37 not out.

Carey’s ability to find form was a silver lining as Australia slumped to an innings defeat.

He carried the momentum forward to Cape Town: returning to No.6, Carey dug in, reined in his attacking instincts and compiled a classy 80.

But his final day dismissal was arguably the ugliest of all in Australia’s capitulation, fatally reverse-sweeping Simon Harmer to offer up a catch just when more caution was required.

COOPER CONNOLLY – 4

29 runs at 14.5, HS 29; 1 wicket at 55, BB 1/41

Dug in with the tail for a first innings 29 and impressively showed a bit of mongrel about him in just his second Test match.

The South African quicks went after him with short-pitched bowling, but the West Australian gutsed it out despite being struck on the helmet by Marco Jansen.

Also, showed his all-round capabilities by chipping in with the ball and taking his maiden Test wicket on day one.

Feathered an edge behind off Simon Harmer for a second-ball duck in the second innings, however, with his ability against spin becoming a concern.

“He’s playing it a long way away from his body, look at his front foot, it’s on middle stump,” Mark Waugh said on Kayo Sports.

“He’s angled the bat as well to make it even worse. He will look at that shot and it’s not the right shot for this innings.”

“He’s drawn his hands away from his body, it’s a naive shot. He’s new to Test cricket,” Kerry O’Keeffe added.

BEAU WEBSTER – 3

64 runs at 21.33. HS 39*; 1 wicket at 70. BB 1/23

The towering Tasmanian endured a tough tour that cost him his place for the series finale.

Webster fell cheaply in the first innings in Durban and Gqeberha when the pressure was on and only boosted his series total with some handy declaration runs on day four of the first Test.

His medium pace hardly threatened, and Webster is now in limbo about his future at international level.

Came into the team early last year and quickly cemented himself as a man for a crisis but left it looking as his fighting fifties in the World Test Championship final, and the Caribbean, might have been his ceiling with the bat.

PAT CUMMINS – 2

6 wickets at 54.66. BB 3/54; 97 runs at 19.4. HS 43

A rare down series for the Aussie skipper, going wicketless in Gqeberha and in the first innings in Cape Town.

He ended the series with just six wickets at 54.66, including a 374-ball run between scalps during the second and third Tests – both career worsts.

His short ball barrage was crucial in Durban, but otherwise, Cummins struggled to have a significant impact with the Kookaburra in the nation where he debuted as a teen 15 years ago.

His captaincy was more in the spotlight than his batting throughout the series: hailed as a genius when Australia won the series opener off the back of moving Matt Renshaw to No.5, calls to bowl first at St George’s Park and Newlands were heavily scrutinised.

MITCHELL STARC – 8

15 wickets at 21.46. BB 6/72; 29 runs at 7.25. HS 11

The champion left armer ticked over 450 Test wickets in Gqeberha, but the highlight was a devastating second new ball burst on day one in Cape Town.

Starc took four wickets in the space of six deliveries with a shiny, hooping Kookaburra to knock over South Africa and call stumps after Australia elected to bowl first.

Before that crucial intervention, the 36-year-old, who won the Compton-Miller Medal as player of the series in the Ashes and took ten wickets in the Mackay Test against Bangladesh, was below his best – but he seemed to be just biding his time before his Newlands blitz.

Having been outstanding with the bat in the Ashes over the summer, just 29 runs in five innings was a shockingly low return from the left-hander, capped by a 24-ball duck on the final day as he and Green all but shut up shop.

NATHAN LYON – 3

6 wickets at 43.66. BB 2/58; 61 runs at 30.5. HS 33*

Another series with the veteran off spinner in the spotlight due to debate over his place in the side.

Lyon was left out in Gqeberha after taking two wickets for the match in Durban – the first time since 2013 that he had been omitted for a red ball Test when fit and available.

The 38-year-old was recalled in Cape Town and introduced into the attack in just the 11th over on day one, but bowled noticeably quicker after former Australian leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe revealed on Kayo Sports that the team hierarchy had raised concerns about the numbers on the speed gun dropping.

He picked up two crucial top order wickets as a result – Marques Ackerman on 95 and Temba Bavuma for a duck.

But just two wickets – including Bavuma again – in 44 overs of the second innings raised major concerns, and he was comfortably outbowled by Harmer on a pitch that had substantial turn.

“You’d have to be disappointed with a two-wicket haul, bowling 40 overs on a fourth-day pitch that was spinning. He could have been more proactive … he got into a bit of a rhythm and just bowled the same stuff.” Waugh said.

Former South African great Vernon Philander said that Lyon would be “bitterly disappointed” with his lack of impact, having found conditions in his favour for the first time in many Tests.

Ironically, he top-scored with 33 not out in Australia’s day five disaster – matching his feat from 2011, when the team were famously bowled out for 47.

JOSH HAZLEWOOD – 6

10 wickets at 27.3. BB 6/49; 11 runs at 5.5. HS 5*

The ‘Bendemeer Bullet’ issued a reminder of his class with a six-wicket haul to bowl Australia to victory in Durban.

Hazlewood returned against Bangladesh in the Top End and took six wickets also in a losing cause in Darwin, but after missing last summer’s Ashes series, Kingsmead was a statement that he was back, until illness took its toll in Gqeberha.

Hazlewood spent a rain-shortened day in his hotel room and when he was finally allowed to return to the bowling crease looked a shell of himself, and was unable to rediscover his top gear in Cape Town either.

At 35, the veteran’s place in the team has proved secure barring lengthy injury absences, but his place remains the most vulnerable with Scott Boland impressing with every opportunity he is given.

SCOTT BOLAND – 8

5 wickets at 16.20. BB 5/81; 42 runs at 21. HS 40

Reading his numbers makes it even more staggering that the Victorian only played one Test on this tour.

As long as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are fit and firing, and a specialist spinner is required, Boland seems confined to being a back-up no matter how well he fares when given the chance.

The 37-year-old did just about everything he could as Australia slumped to an innings defeat in Gqeberha.

Ran through the South African top order to take a five-wicket haul before bunkering down as nightwatchman to face 166 deliveries.

The only other thing he could have done was remove Temba Bavuma as the Proteas skipper made 179, cashing in when conditions got better for batting on day three.

With so much Test cricket to come in the next ten months, Boland will surely add a few more to his tally of 20 Tests.

If not, former Australian batter Simon Katich warned during the Cape Town Test, that their might be a revolt in Boland’s home state – where Cricket Australia’s headquarters are located opposite the MCG.