Australia clawed its way back into the third Test, but big challenges await

Fri, 11 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 117, AAW 4/121

Mon, 14 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, ZIM 235, AUS 8/294

Mon, 14 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 7/148, AAW 2/178

Wed, 16 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 161, AAW 5/168

Thu, 17 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, ZIM 272, AUS 6/356

Thu, 17 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INU 6/182, AUU 7/175

Thu, 17 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, WAU 9/238, SAM 0/58

Fri, 18 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, QUE 7/335, VIC 7/339

Sat, 19 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, ZIM 8/271, AUS 9/272

Sat, 19 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 6/239, AAW 235

Sat, 19 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, WAU 115, TAS 1/117

Sun, 20 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INU 7/341, AUU 239

Mon, 21 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, QUE 358, NSW 6/359

Tue, 22 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 6/338, AAW 8/341

Tue, 22 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INU 4/255, AUU 254

Tue, 22 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SAM 7/383, TAS 8/376

Wed, 23 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SAF 8/297, AUS 230

Thu, 24 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 6/364, AAW 9/362

Thu, 24 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INA 334 & 199, AUA 171 & 200

Thu, 24 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, VIC 212, NSW 257

Sat, 26 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SAF 9/365, AUS 333

Mon, 28 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, INU 494, AUU 217 & 229

Mon, 28 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SYW 4/168, QUW 167

Mon, 28 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, VIW 8/293, SAS 7/290

Mon, 28 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, WAW 6/236, TAW 232

Tue, 29 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SAF 4/145, AUS 9/322

Wed, 30 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, IAW 364 & 257, AAW 176 & 164

Wed, 30 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, SYW 174, QUW 4/285

Wed, 30 Sept, 11:00 pm, Final score, WAW 7/273, TAW 7/299

Thu, 1 Oct, 2:00 pm, Final score, VIW -, SAS -

Thu, 1 Oct, 11:00 pm, Final score, INA 167 & 9/310, AUA 358 & 4/173d

Tue, 6 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, INA 149, AUA 274

Tue, 6 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, QUW 9/266, BAW 7/196

Wed, 7 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, INU 315 & 0/11, AUU 174 & 151

Fri, 9 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 3/168, BAW 166

Fri, 9 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, INA 206, AUA 275

Sat, 10 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, VIC 244 & 224, SAM 508

Sun, 11 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 1/222, BAW 6/220

Sun, 11 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, INA 275, AUA 226

Sun, 11 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, NSW 9/500d, TAS 245 & 5/402

Sun, 11 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, WAU 175 & 8/201, QUE 307 & 68

Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, VIC 241, SAM 311

Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, HHW 7/127, ACM 100

Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SSW 3/136, BHW 90

Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, MRW 7/138, PSW 4/139

Mon, 12 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW 3/79, MSW 78

Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SAF 284 & 206, AUS 390 & 6/314d

Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, NSW 158, TAS 203

Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, WAU 246, QUE 261

Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SSW 3/78, ACM 7/77

Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, ASW 4/183, PSW 8/182

Tue, 13 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW -, BHW -

Wed, 14 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 2/175, BAW 172

Wed, 14 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, MRW 4/180, MSW 6/179

Wed, 14 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, ASW 5/165, HHW 8/136

Fri, 16 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, BHW 4/86, ACM 83

Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SAM 7/397, QUE 271

Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, HHW 5/136, PSW 8/166

Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW 5/122, MRW 9/121

Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, ACM 4/129, MSW 6/132

Sat, 17 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SSW 9/105, ASW 6/143

Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 8/165, NZW 2/162

Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, MRW 2/132, HHW 8/129

Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, BHW 129, ASW 6/139

Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW 2/93, PSW 92

Sun, 18 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SSW 8/155, MSW 5/158

Sun, 18 Oct, 7:15 pm, Live score, AUW -, BAW -

Tue, 20 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW 7/167, NZW 8/127

Tue, 20 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, ASW 6/116, PSW 5/118

Tue, 20 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, STW 9/152, SSW 6/153

Tue, 20 Oct, 7:15 pm, Live score, AUW -, BAW -

Wed, 21 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SAM 203 & 145, QUE 238 & 4/114

Wed, 21 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, PSW 7/134, SSW 8/149

Thu, 22 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, SAF 9/425d, AUS 99 & 295 f/o

Thu, 22 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, AUW -, NZW 2/11

Thu, 22 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, TAS 241 & 236, VIC 207 & 266

Thu, 22 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, WAU 339 & 9/244, NSW 6/440d & 5/262d

Thu, 22 Oct, 7:15 pm, Live score, AUW -, BAW -

Sat, 24 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, TAS 137, VIC 7/304

Sat, 24 Oct, 12:00 am, Final score, WAU 293, NSW 8/371

Tue, 27 Oct, 12:00 am, Live score, SAF 329, AUS -

Wed, 28 Oct, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAM versus WAU

Thu, 29 Oct, 3:40 pm, Game not started, MRW versus STW

Thu, 29 Oct, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MSW versus HHW

Fri, 30 Oct, 10:30 am, Game not started, TAS versus NSW

Fri, 30 Oct, 11:45 am, Game not started, AU6 versus ONG

Fri, 30 Oct, 7:05 pm, Game not started, EN6 versus AU6

Fri, 30 Oct, 7:10 pm, Game not started, BHW versus SSW

Sat, 31 Oct, 11:00 am, Game not started, QUE versus VIC

Sat, 31 Oct, 3:40 pm, Game not started, ASW versus MSW

Sat, 31 Oct, 7:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus MRW

Sun, 1 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, STW versus BHW

Sun, 1 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, SSW versus HHW

Mon, 2 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MSW versus PSW

Wed, 4 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, HHW versus MRW

Thu, 5 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, ASW versus BHW

Thu, 5 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, STW versus PSW

Fri, 6 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MSW versus SSW

Sat, 7 Nov, 2:30 pm, Game not started, WAU versus ENG

Sat, 7 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, MRW versus ASW

Sat, 7 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, BHW versus HHW

Sun, 8 Nov, 1:40 pm, Game not started, SSW versus STW

Sun, 8 Nov, 5:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus MSW

Tue, 10 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, HHW versus ASW

Wed, 11 Nov, 10:30 am, Game not started, NSW versus SAM

Wed, 11 Nov, 10:30 am, Game not started, VIC versus WAU

Wed, 11 Nov, 11:30 am, Game not started, QUE versus TAS

Wed, 11 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus STW

Thu, 12 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, MSW versus BHW

Thu, 12 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MRW versus SSW

Fri, 13 Nov, 2:30 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG

Sat, 14 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, HHW versus BHW

Sat, 14 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus ASW

Sun, 15 Nov, 11:00 am, Game not started, SSW versus MRW

Sun, 15 Nov, 2:30 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG

Mon, 16 Nov, 10:00 am, Game not started, NSW versus SAM

Mon, 16 Nov, 11:00 am, Game not started, QUE versus TAS

Mon, 16 Nov, 2:00 pm, Game not started, VIC versus WAU

Mon, 16 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, STW versus MSW

Tue, 17 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, ASW versus SSW

Wed, 18 Nov, 2:30 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG

Thu, 19 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, HHW versus PSW

Thu, 19 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, BHW versus STW

Fri, 20 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, ASW versus MRW

Sat, 21 Nov, 12:00 pm, Game not started, HHW versus STW

Sat, 21 Nov, 3:30 pm, Game not started, SSW versus PSW

Sat, 21 Nov, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG

Sun, 22 Nov, 10:30 am, Game not started, NSW versus QUE

Sun, 22 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, BHW versus ASW

Sun, 22 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MSW versus MRW

Mon, 23 Nov, 1:30 pm, Game not started, WAU versus TAS

Tue, 24 Nov, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAM versus VIC

Tue, 24 Nov, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG

Wed, 25 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, MRW versus BHW

Thu, 26 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, STW versus ASW

Thu, 26 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, SSW versus MSW

Fri, 27 Nov, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG

Fri, 27 Nov, 9:10 pm, Game not started, PSW versus HHW

Sat, 28 Nov, 3:40 pm, Game not started, MRW versus MSW

Sat, 28 Nov, 7:10 pm, Game not started, STW versus SSW

Sun, 29 Nov, 12:00 pm, Game not started, BHW versus PSW

Sun, 29 Nov, 3:30 pm, Game not started, ASW versus HHW

Sun, 29 Nov, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG

Tue, 1 Dec, 7:10 pm, Game not started, versus

Wed, 2 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, AUS versus ENG

Thu, 3 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, NSW versus WAU

Thu, 3 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, VIC versus QUE

Thu, 3 Dec, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAM versus TAS

Thu, 3 Dec, 7:10 pm, Game not started, versus

Sat, 5 Dec, 7:10 pm, Game not started, versus

Wed, 9 Dec, 1:20 pm, Game not started, AUS versus NZL

Sat, 12 Dec, 8:10 pm, Game not started, MER versus PER

Mon, 14 Dec, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAS versus WAW

Tue, 15 Dec, 10:00 am, Game not started, ACM versus SYW

Tue, 15 Dec, 3:00 pm, Game not started, SLW versus AUW

Tue, 15 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, BRI versus SYS

Wed, 16 Dec, 11:00 am, Game not started, SAS versus WAW

Wed, 16 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, SYT versus ADE

Thu, 17 Dec, 10:00 am, Game not started, ACM versus SYW

Thu, 17 Dec, 11:30 am, Game not started, AUS versus NZL

Thu, 17 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, HOB versus BRI

Fri, 18 Dec, 3:00 pm, Game not started, SLW versus AUW

Fri, 18 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, MES versus ADE

Sat, 19 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, TAW versus VIW

Sat, 19 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, SYT versus SYS

Sun, 20 Dec, 3:00 pm, Game not started, SLW versus AUW

Sun, 20 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, PER versus HOB

Mon, 21 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, TAW versus VIW

Mon, 21 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, MES versus BRI

Tue, 22 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, SYS versus MER

Wed, 23 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, ADE versus SYT

Thu, 24 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, MER versus HOB

Sat, 26 Dec, 10:30 am, Game not started, AUS versus NZL

Sat, 26 Dec, 6:05 pm, Game not started, SYS versus BRI

Sat, 26 Dec, 9:15 pm, Game not started, PER versus MES

Sun, 27 Dec, 7:15 pm, Game not started, SYT versus MER

It was, in the final analysis, close to the perfect day of Test cricket: ebbing, flowing, intriguing, with 10 wickets falling and 329 runs-worth of enterprising batting fulfilling Les Favell's trusty old criteria for an entertaining day on the hill.

There was a six-fer for Mitchell Starc, another bundle of tantalising, shot-filled knocks from South Africa's underappreciated batting stars and a pair of remarkable sequences in which Australia took 5-29 and 4-2. Both sides will, in some ways, feel they got the better of the other for telling periods.

The nagging doubt, after day one of the third and deciding Test, is how badly Australia's chances had been damaged before a ball had even been bowled. Not sufficiently recovered from his neck injury, Steve Smith withdrew. Not sufficiently superior to his colleagues in most facets of the game a week ago, Scott Boland was dropped for Nathan Lyon.

Then there was the toss. The minute Pat Cummins won it and elected to bowl first under sunny skies, on a perfect-looking pitch — not exactly a ringing endorsement of Australia's remade top six — it was hard to stop one's mind from wandering away from Newlands and back through time in search of precedents.

The obvious destinations were Edgbaston in 2005, the scene of Ricky Ponting's ill-fated decision to bowl first in that classic nailbiter, and Brisbane three years earlier, when poor old Nasser Hussain got it even more horribly wrong.

By lunch at Cape Town, Cummins's Australians were fighting an unwelcome omen: South Africa's domineering 0-140, obtained with a procession of boundaries off the most credentialed bowling attack in world cricket, comfortably shaded both England's 1-132 at Edgbaston in '05 and Australia's 1-125 in Brisbane in '02. Was Cummins coming similarly a cropper?

Cricket history tends to write inconvenient facts out of these stories. Few remember that in the immediate aftermath of Nasser's nightmare, for instance, Australian skipper Steve Waugh admitted he probably would have bowled first, too, albeit with a caveat. "The significance of the toss is overrated," Waugh explained. "Whatever you do first, you've got to do it well."

To say Australia didn't bowl or field well in the first session of this crunch game is an understatement. The vaunted quicks misfired early. To staunch the bleeding, Lyon had to be deployed in just the 11th over. Normally apt to suffocate opponents with sharp fielding, tight lines and partnership bowling, Australia managed only two maidens in the first 25 overs.

Proteas opener Marques Ackerman, who'd never batted at the top of the order in first-class cricket until his Test debut last week, attacked the bowling like prime David Warner, clubbing 12 fours and two sixes in his run-a-ball, thrill-a-minute 95. With Aiden Markram, he raced to South Africa's first 150-run opening stand in nearly a decade.

Of particular concern for Australia was the captain's bowling performance, the tone of which was set in his first over when Markram freed his arms, swivelled into position as though the ball was travelling in slow motion and cross-batted Cummins over the fence at cow corner. Cummins would finish the day with 0-73 from 18 overs, having extracted almost nothing from the pitch he'd so liked the look of in the morning. South Africa played him as though intent on showing a competitive disrespect.

But at first, slowly, and then in two manic bursts, Australia did pull things out of the fire somewhat from their dismal early position.

Lyon, whom Ackerman had taken a particular liking to, kept his head amid the onslaught and had the left-hander stumped, later roaring back into the game at a critical juncture and sneaking one past Temba Bavuma to bowl the Proteas skipper for a duck. Australia stemmed the flow of easy runs — from 5.18 an over in the first session, down to 3.11 in the second.

Reprieved on 39 when Travis Head dropped a sitter at short cover, Markram had doubled his score but looked set for even bigger things when he fell into a trap set by Hazlewood to be caught on the fine leg boundary. Matthew Breetzke was too casual against Cooper Connolly's spin, the left-armer reviewed an LBW shout cannily to claim his first Test wicket.

In the above-mentioned half-hour of head loss, South Africa lost 3-13 and squandered its momentum. Immediately after tea, the Proteas were even more culpable for failing to resist what appeared to be a very obvious temptation: an outer ring of catchers scattered around the boundary from fine leg to deep mid-wicket and Starc banging it in short.

David Bedingham, who'd reached 50 without much trouble, was the first to fall for it, hooking recklessly to be cleverly caught on the fine leg rope by Hazlewood. Two balls later, Wiaan Mulder tried an equally daft hook and feathered an edge to Carey behind the stumps.

If South Africa is destined to win this match and with it the series — and unfortunately for Australia, there is an air of destiny about that result at the moment — perhaps the Proteas' 97-run seventh-wicket partnership will be looked back on as a critical period. Ryan Rickelton, out of form with the bat until that point, contributed a patient 42 as all-rounder Marco Jensen battered a typically confident half-century.

The latter fun, which threatened to take the game back away from Australia entirely, ended when Starc took the second new ball. Calling it a clinical demolition of the tail would undersell him: with 4-2 in the space of seven ruthlessly full and straight deliveries, the Australian paceman took his 20th Test five-wicket haul and finished with 6-72 from 16.3 overs.

Once the day's surges of chaos were done with, a comment by Cummins before play seemed worth revisiting. Boland's omission, the Australian captain claimed, was that great cliché of cricket team selection: "a good problem to have".

But is it? Perhaps Cummins was implying something else, that Australia's other selection problems — replacing three of its top-six batters with players assuredly not in the same class as Boland — are bad ones to have. Ones that may shape this game more than what happened on day one.

Which brings us to another of cricket's enduring clichés: don't judge a pitch until both teams have batted on it.