South Africa vs. Australia Third Test: Hosts Win by 176 Runs

Updated November 1, 2026: South Africa beat Australia by 176 runs in the third Test at Newlands, Cape Town, on Saturday, October 31. The hosts finished with 329 and 387, while Australia made 429 and 111. South Africa won the three-Test series 2–1. The ICC's final report and Cricket Australia's completed match listing confirm the result.

The earlier position of South Africa 140/4, leading by 40 runs, was an intermediate second-innings score. It has been superseded by the completed match. Australia ultimately needed 288 to win, but South Africa dismissed the visitors for 111 on the fifth day.

South Africa vs. Australia: third Test result and match details

How South Africa turned a 100-run deficit into victory

Australia's first-innings 429 gave the tourists a 100-run advantage over South Africa's 329. The hosts therefore had to erase that deficit before building a target. Their second innings eventually reached 387, leaving an overall lead of 287 and a winning target of 288. The final margin follows from those completed totals: South Africa scored 716 runs across both innings, compared with Australia's 540.

The decisive recovery came on Friday, October 30. South Africa resumed at 140/4 and later slipped to 181/5 before Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder added 154 for the sixth wicket. Rickelton scored 101 from 219 balls, while Mulder made 115 from 221. Those centuries changed the match from a position in which Australia held the initiative into a final-day chase with a substantial target.

Rickelton was run out by Josh Inglis, but Mulder continued with support from the lower order, including Kagiso Rabada. South Africa were eventually dismissed for 387 in 134.4 overs. Mitchell Starc finished with 3/65, while Cummins and Nathan Lyon took two wickets apiece. These details are documented in the ICC's fourth-day report.

Harmer and Rabada settle the final-day chase

Rabada struck twice in the opening over on Saturday, dismissing Matthew Renshaw and Marnus Labuschagne. He subsequently removed Travis Head, whose dismissal brought Rabada his 350th Test wicket. Australia were unable to rebuild sufficiently after those early losses.

Simon Harmer then took control with the ball. His second-innings figures of 6/16 helped dismiss Australia for 111, and he finished with ten wickets in the match. Rabada contributed 3/39. Cricket Australia's final-day match report confirms that South Africa completed the win before tea.

Nathan Lyon's unbeaten 33 was Australia's highest second-innings score. Cameron Green made 27 from 110 balls, and Cummins occupied the crease for 90 deliveries, but their resistance could not prevent defeat. The fourth innings ended with all ten wickets down, so the result is a victory by runs rather than by wickets.

What the result means for the three-Test series

The teams entered Cape Town level at 1–1. Australia had won the opening Test in Durban by 214 runs, and South Africa responded with an innings-and-31-run victory in Gqeberha. Winning at Newlands therefore gave South Africa the deciding second victory and a 2–1 series result.

The ICC's series wrap-up also confirms that South Africa moved to No. 1 in the men's Test team rankings. That ranking is separate from the World Test Championship standings; the two tables should not be treated as interchangeable.

Confirmed playing XIs and the toss

Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bowl first. Cricket Australia's match-day teams announcement identifies the following playing XIs. These are the players selected for this Test, rather than the full tour squads.

South Africa XI

Aiden Markram, Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (captain), Matthew Breetzke, Ryan Rickelton (wicketkeeper), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Kagiso Rabada, and Gerald Coetzee.

Australia XI

Matthew Renshaw, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, and Josh Hazlewood.

Australia made four changes, bringing in Inglis, Green, Connolly, and Lyon. Steve Smith was ruled out after a match-morning fitness assessment of his neck. Connolly replaced Beau Webster, while Lyon returned in place of Scott Boland. South Africa selected Coetzee for the injured Anrich Nortje. The same official announcement lists the wider squads for readers seeking the full selection pool.

Newlands start time and the five scheduled playing days

The ICC's original series schedule reserved five days for the third Test: Tuesday, October 27; Wednesday, October 28; Thursday, October 29; Friday, October 30; and Saturday, October 31, 2026. Newlands in Cape Town was the venue throughout.

The scheduled opening ball on October 27 was at 10:30 a.m. South African Standard Time in Cape Town (SAST, UTC+02:00), equivalent to 08:30 UTC on the same date. Cape Town did not observe daylight saving time during this period. This is the scheduled start time, not the timestamp of the final wicket or this article's update.

Official scorecards and match coverage

The ICC fixture page and Cricket Australia's completed series listing provide the final innings totals. Cricket Australia's third-Test coverage archive remains available for the match narrative. Earlier live or stumps snapshots describe stages of play; the confirmed final result is South Africa's 176-run win and 2–1 series victory.