Australia suffered one its worst days with the bat in a long time and as they stare down the barrel of defeat, it raises plenty of questions about where to next for the misfiring batting order.
There is still a job at hand to try to survive day five with six wickets up there sleeve – maybe only five if Steve Smith does not bat due to the neck issue that kept him in the change rooms wearing a neck brace during the Australian second innings.
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The visitors’ frailties against high-class fast bowling were brutally exposed as they were bowled out for 99 midway through the second session of day four.
Travis Head (87*) then led the fightback to be 4/156, trailing by 170 runs, at stumps as the shortcomings of his teammates once again has the make-up of Australia’s top order in the spotlight.
Scroll down for the biggest talking points from day four of the second Test!
WRAP: Marnus brain explosion sums up horror 7-year low as unusual Smith issue rocks Aussies
Khawaja analyses Maddinson Test 2 duck | 01:26
CHANGES ARE COMING…
It is a day of reckoning for Australian cricket, perversely coming just a week after one of the finer overseas triumphs during the Cummins, McDonald and Bailey tenure.
An old antagonist Vernon Philander branded it “gutless batting”, though that does a disservice to the threat posed by an attack led by Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen.
And anyone who watched Steve Smith batting with a neck injury and Travis Head struggling to walk while at the crease will bristle at the phrase used by Vernon Philander.
What is indisputable is that the Australian top order batted without discipline, showing nerves and succumbing without summoning a fight in a humiliating display.
The enduring excellence of Australia’s stunning bowling attack has enabled the Baggy Greens to string together four years without a series loss and that may yet continue.
And it is not just with the ball. Without the discipline of the bowling pack in the first Test at Kingsmead Stadium to stay with Matthew Renshaw, the series might be gone by now.
The Australians have been ghastly in Gqeberha. But the fact the Proteas were dusty in Durban means it all rests on Cape Town. But even a win there will not cover the cracks.
Australia needs to rethink its approach to the opening positions according to Usman Khawaja, who is not long retired, and identify two specialists to blunt the new ball.
Simon Katich says playing Travis Head as an opener robs us of a match-winner at No.5.
The short-term reserves are in action and there was a welcome sight in the nets prior to play when Cameron Green was seen bowling during the warm-up. It does not mean he will bowl in Cape Town, but it is a good sign he has overcome his abdominal issue.
That solves the dilemma at No.5, for surely Renshaw returns to the top of the order to become the opener he was brought back in as when replacing Jake Weatherald.
Josh Inglis and Cooper Connolly have been batting in the nets, so too Victorian wicketkeeper Sam Harper, who has excelled at the top of the order for his home state.
While the big scores out of the Sheffield Shield from Sam Konstas and Kurtis Patterson are encouraging dispatches from home, an emergency flight over is highly unlikely.
As Katich noted on SEN at St George’s Park Oval, it is one thing to score runs at home in the Sheffield Shield, but another thing altogether to face a rampaging Rabada and the jagging and jolting of Jansen.
“Does one good score change anything? The key question is are they able to face this quality of attack under pressure against a new ball when you first walk to the crease?” he said.
It is unlikely that Nic Maddinson will not be the only casualty in Cape Town. The selectors will assess the pitch, but how the attack shapes up is also interesting.
What happens with Beau Webster is also a question. He made runs when batting without pressure in Durban but has failed in both first innings of the series so far.
While he held down an end as Temba Bavuma, Jansen and Simon Harmer put the match beyond Australia on Wednesday, he did not look particularly threatening.
The first innings debacle is unlikely to prompt similar selection carnage to that which unfolded in Hobart a decade ago when the Proteas routed the Aussies, but perhaps only because this series is being played away and is still live. But changes are coming.
Every Boundary! Konstas’ unbeaten 151* | 04:12
‘A BIT SKEWED’: MARNUS REALITY LAID BARE
Australia’s No.3 Marnus Labuschagne will come under intense scrutiny leading into Cape Town following his second innings dismissal.
After nicking off for 14 in the first innings, Labuschagne threw away a golden opportunity to make a score of note in the second dig.
The Queenslander decided to run at spinner Simon Harmer and try to launch him over mid on for six against the breeze, but only managed to be caught by Marco Jansen running back with the flight like a centre-half forward in Aussie rules football.
It was a complete brain explosion and it sealed Labuschagne’s third dismissal in the 30s from four innings on this tour.
The 32-year-old has played 47 innings since his last Test ton – at Old Trafford in the 2023 Ashes – and averages 25 in that time.
Those numbers are why Labuschagne’s former teammate Usman Khawaja believes the one-time No.1 Test batter in the world has deceived the Australian public.
“I think he’s playing to where he is,” Khawaja said on Kayo Sports at lunch on day four.
“He’s averaging around 42 in Test cricket right now. He’s averaging around 39 in Shield cricket. When he played for Australia, because he took over (from) me (at No.3) in 2019, he was averaging like 33 in Shield cricket back then.
“I think we got a bit skewed of where he was at the first two or three years by averaging 60. We thought we have another Steve Smith, but how many Steve Smiths are there?”
“I think you’ve got to put it in perspective,” Khawaja added. “Is he a 60 (average) player? Maybe not. But he should in the 40s and he hasn’t been there the last few years.”
While Labuschagne’s second innings self-inflicted demise came against spin, his struggles against the seamers have been most startling.
Speedster Anrich Nortje found his outside edge in the first session of day four.
It was a near replica of many of Labuschagne’s dismissals at international level in recent years, and Khawaja believes the South African-born batter simply has not found the answers to the new questions posed to him by opposition bowling attacks.
“He doesn’t really play it late,” Khawaja said.
“You look at past dismissals, he comes out and slices it in front of his front pad. That’s the way he likes to play balls.”
Former Australian leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe added: “Now, he flirts so much on seventh or eighth stump. He’s nicking all the time,” O’Keeffe said.
“They’ve seen what the stats say and they’ve kind of honed that,” Khawaja replied.
“At the start of his career, you’re not quite sure about how this guy bats, how he scores. He had a bit of luck too – a lot of dropped catches.
“And he obviously made hay with that luck – which is what you have to do as a good batsman, not taking away any credit.
“But it’s the nuance of Test cricket. You score for a little while, but you can always stay doing the same things. Bowlers will figure out what your weaknesses are and hone in on that.
“Then you’ve got to keep evolving with it.”
Meanwhile, Travis Head showed he can evolve his game with a fighting half-century.
Head endured a lean run of scores with 14, 11, 9, 22, 17 and 22 – since the start of the Bangladesh series in the Top End – before Australia’s second innings.
His struggles sparked debate about the left-hander returning the middle order, but Head showed he can grind and find other ways to score his runs.
“I’ve seen the Bangladeshis bowl to him and I’ve seen the South African bowl to him, and noticed how many balls are going down leg side,” Khawaja said.
“They are not giving him any room. There’s lots of balls going down leg side because they know how strong Head is square.
“If you bowl off stump to him, he’ll cut you, he’ll square drive you. He’s so strong there.
“They’re willing to bowl down leg side to him now to stay straight. That’s why you’re seeing a lot more chop ons, lbw.”
“They realised that England tried to bowl corridor to him in the Ashes and got nailed,” Khawaja added.
Khawaja: ‘Opening is a specialist spot’ | 02:36
EX-AUSSIE OPENER CALLS FOR SPECIALISTS
There might be no better time to be an opening batter in Sheffield Shield cricket with aspirations of wearing the baggy green.
Of course, they have to put their name forward.
Sam Konstas sent a reminder of his talents with an unbeaten 151 for New South Wales at the WACA on Wednesday, but regardless of who it is, former Australian opener Usman Khawaja believes the selectors must turn their attention to specialists.
“We should fill that opening spot first,” Khawaja said on Kayo Sports.
“Plenty of guys can score runs in the middle, but we don’t have many guys who can bat at the top.”
After Australia’s top order crumbled in their first innings Gqeberha, Khawaja urged selectors to abandon their experiment of make-shift openers.
Khawaja noted that after David Warner’s retirement in early 2024 – Australia never bedded down a regular opening partner for him across the next two years.
Khawaja opened alongside Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney, Sam Konstas, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne in that stretch.
The merry-go-round has continued with Nic Maddinson, Matt Renshaw and Jake Weatherald all partnering Head in Australia’s last four Tests.
Khawaja believes it is time for the selectors to search the nation for a candidate well versed in tackling the new ball, and “pick and stick”.
“Yeah, I think there needs to an experienced opening batter,” Khawaja said.
“People don’t realise this. They look at my case and they say Uzzie was batting four for Queensland when he got picked.
“But I opened my entire life in juniors. I only started batting 3 for New South Wales when I first debuted. All my under age cricket was opening, even my white-ball cricket for New South Wales and Queensland, I opened the whole time.
“So, I knew what opening was about. I wasn’t like I just got thrust in there.
“I believe it is a very specialised position.
“Maddinson has 100% opened, but I’m not convinced that anyone can just go up there because opening is more of a mental game than anything.
“You have to go out sometimes with four overs left at night when it’s a horrible time to bat, and you have to face their best bowlers every time, with the new ball.
“It’s really, really tough mentally and the biggest thing about opening is, you know you’re going to get low scores.
“If you get in, you need to cash in because you’re going to get there those low scores.”
Nic Maddinson felt the force of the brutality of those testing periods Khawaja spoke of.
The left-hander, who was recalled in Durban after not playing a Test match for a decade and not having played a Shield game for 18 months due to a battle with testicular cancer, nicked off to Kagiso Rabada for a fourth ball duck late on day three.
Rababa found his outside edge again when Australia followed on and Maddinson was caught behind for 8.
He poked at a good length delivery outside off stump after chasing a fuller, wider ball in the first innings.
“He would be looking at that shot, thinking I probably should have left that,” Khawaja said.
“As an opener, if I got out playing a drive like that, I’d be a bit frustrated.
“Because I probably should have waited for a ball to be a foot closer to me.”
Khawaja added: “In fading (light) conditions, that shot becomes even more difficult because you pick it up that fraction later.”
Bavuma scores a career-best 179! | 04:16
BACK-UP AUSSIES CAN’T PICK
Khawaja’s call for specialist openers may have to wait for the home summer against New Zealand, however, with the ex-Australian batter stressing that there will not be a “knee jerk reaction” from the selectors after being rolled for 99 in Gqeberha.
On that note, Khawaja dismissed a suggestion of radical change to the top three from former Australian leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe for Cape Town.
O’Keeffe’s proposition would include a debutant at the top of the order, a new No.3 and return to No.5 for Travis Head.
“If I threw this to you, Uzzie: Renshaw, Harper, Inglis, Smith, Head, Green, Carey. Is that a seven that you contemplate for the third Test if Australia go down in this one?” O’Keeffe asked on Kayo Sports.
“No, not (Sam) Harper,” Khawaja replied.
“I like Harper, but he’s a wicketkeeper batsman. He’s not an all-out batter and he never has been.
“He’s done pretty well – and I’m not being disrespectful, Harper is a terrific player – but he’s not an all-out batsman.”
Victorian gloveman Sam Harper burst into national calculations following scoring twins tons at the WACA opening the batting last Sheffield Shield season.
The Big Bash’s player of the tournament was reborn as an aggressive opener by Victorian coach Chris Rogers.
But having spent the majority of his first-class batting at Nos.6 and 7 – Harper scored a century for Australia A in India last month at No.7 – the 29-year-old is still a make-shift option in Khawaja’s eyes.
He instead would like to see Matt Renshaw return to the top of the order, in place of Nic Maddinson, like he did after initially batting at No.5 when recalled during the 2021/22 Ashes.
He scored twin tons at the SCG, but when Head returned from having Covid, Khawaja moved to opening in place of Marcus Harris for the series finale under lights in Hobart.
The former stylish left-hander wants to see a similar move, saying that his former Queensland and Australia teammate “could have got 250” in Durban if he opened the batting.
“Renshaw is an opener,” Khawaja said. “He’s a terrific leaver of the ball. You can see it when he blocks it. He blocks it really late, under his eyes.
“He’s got a technique for the new ball. That’s why he’s been opening the batting for Queensland.
“It’s very hard to teach people those skills of leaving well and playing the ball late, which Renshaw has.”
Former Australian fast bowler Brendon Julian joked in response that Renshaw might not be keen on moving to the top.
“That’s what I’d been thinking. I was trying to bat five for ages,” Khawaja said with a laugh.
“But they kept putting me at the top. I got two hundreds the last time I batted there. Give me a chance. I average like 200 down there.”
Bavuma’s rise in form since captaincy | 08:50
PROTEAS SKIPPER’S GAMBLE PAYS OFF
As Bavuma batted on in brilliant fashion on Tuesday, there were plenty pondering whether the Proteas captain had delayed the follow on for too long given the hosts needed to win.
In Durban the Proteas managed to snare only 16 Australian wickets and given the way South Africa’s tail handled the bat, surely it would be too big a task to snare 20 in two days?
But as the Proteas captain told Kayo Sports before play on Day 4, there was a reason to keep batting, with local knowledge coming to the fore.
“I was a bit hesitant, to be honest with you, with the light,” Bavuma told Kayo Sports’ Mark Howard.
“I kind of knew that as soon as the sun settled under those deep clouds, we wouldn’t have much with the fast bowlers.
“I was quite content to actually go the whole way and I think mentally, as a team, kind of get our minds around that the majority of the next two days would be in the field.
“With that being said, you know we made the decision and we were able to get that wicket late last night. So we have another opportunity here (and) we’ve got a fresh new ball.”
Bavuma made another point. With Rabada back leading the bowling attack, “hopefully we can do something special with that ball.”
So it proved, with the South Africans following his masterful lead with a masterpiece with the ball, helped admittedly by some Australians spilling paint all over themselves, so to speak.
Rabada was superb in his first Test in 12 months. But it was Jansen who was dynamic, following his incredible knock with the bat at No.8 with a blazing bowling performance.
He was fast, hostile and accurate. And that was with his mouth as well as his bat. No Aussie looked settled against him. And there was no bluster behind his approach. He was deadly.
After Simon Katich declared the South Africans would be an even more formidable side if his batting continues to improve when likening him to Jacques Kallis, former Protea champion Dale Steyn delivered a bouncer when declaring Jansen “the best player in the world”.
PROTEA FIRE STUNS AUSSIES
Marco Jansen was bristling with fire, bellowing to Beau Webster as the “Slug” from Snug made the lonely walk back to the pavilion after snaring the wicket of the tall Tasmanian.
So fired up was the menacing quick, it looked as though he needed to be restrained by his teammates as he gave both barrels to the departing Australian No.8.
As he assessed the wreckage of Australia’s diabolical opening innings, former Test star Simon Katich said the Proteas had every right to be amped by their performance.
“They have every right to be chirpy, South Africa, because they have got themselves into this position through grit and determination,” he said on SEN.
“Now they have the right to be giving it out every time a new batsman comes to the crease.”
Temba Bavuma led with his deeds on Wednesday. And when Kagiso Rababa is in the team, it seems the Proteas walk a step taller as well given his brilliance and bravado.
After he knocked over Nic Maddinson on Tuesday night, the Proteas arrived at St George’s Park on Wednesday sensing the Australians were vulnerable to a pillage. And so it proved.
Rabada was on a rampage. Jansen had them jumping. Anrich Nortje delivered heat early and Wiaan Mulder was irrepressible. And their aggressive intent was clear across the field.
“They’ve got their game face on too. The chumminess in Durban is out the door,” Kayo Sports expert analyst Kerry O’Keeffe said at lunch on Day 4.
“Jansen’s having a yap to outgoing batters. It’s feisty now and South Africa are applying the pressure.”
Having let Australia ease their way out of pressure in Durban, once the South Africans had their foot on the throat in Gqeberha, they kept pushing down to demonstrate their class.
“This is why they are the World Test Champions. They might have been humbled in Durban but they have found a lot of spirit here to fight back,” Katich said.