Carey and Inglis lift Australia to 330-4 at close in Cape Town
Alex Carey and Josh Inglis rebuilt Australia’s innings to finish on 330 for four at the close of day two in Cape Town, giving Australia a one-run advantage over South Africa’s first-innings 329 all out. The pair’s stand left Australia with six wickets in hand to begin day three.
South Africa had earlier produced heavy scoring on the first day when Aiden Markram and Marques Ackerman added 140, setting a platform Australia sought to counter on day two. Travis Head and Matthew Renshaw opened for Australia, with Head hitting seven boundaries and contributing 41 runs of a 58-run phase while Renshaw adopted a cautious approach against the new ball. The article records an opener’s average of 49 for Head, with a breakdown of 23 in the first innings of a match, 43 in the second, 71 in the third and 60 in the fourth, and notes Head has been bowled eight times in his last 15 dismissals, up from 20 out of 66 before that span.
Simon Harmer removed Head, bowling him through an awkward cut that represented another instance of the batter chopping onto his stumps, and then struck again in the same over to dismiss Marnus Labuschagne for a duck. The piece describes Labuschagne’s dismissal as tentative, saying he had both feet planted and poked at a ball that would have passed the stumps, and adds that it may be Labuschagne’s last chance at Test cricket before selectors consider a replacement during the Australian summer.
Cameron Green arrived to begin a rebuild but Australia suffered a reprieve when a third‑umpire review denied what replays suggested was a caught-and-bowled from Gerald Coetzee; Simon Harmer at second slip appeared convinced and the article says the replays looked identical to precedents where a player with fingers flat on the ground gets the ball to bounce up into their palms, yet the decision was not given. Australia then added 85 before that partnership ended, including an over in which Green hooked the returning Rabada for six, six and four.
Renshaw was initially given not out to a ball that drifted across and spun past the edge before striking his back pad, an umpire’s call for height, but Marco Jansen later ended Australia’s frustration by using the third umpire to show extra bounce had nicked the top edge. In Jansen’s next over Harmer completed a catch at slip to remove Green; the article records that just before tea Australia’s set pair had been removed for 74 and 65.
The innings was steadied by the wicketkeeper-batters Inglis and Carey, described respectively as adopting a counterpunching approach and a more defensive, creative mode between scoring shots. Harmer was worked for runs, Rabada was described as remaining ineffective, and after Inglis passed 50 he struck sixes off both bowlers and followed with consecutive fours cutting Gerald Coetzee; there were moments of risk, including a ball from Harmer that nearly uprooted Inglis’s off stump and a couple of top edges that fell safely. The partnership had reached 145 by stumps, with Carey on 51 and Inglis on 85, and the article notes that after captain Pat Cummins chose to bowl on day one the new batting configuration produced the desired result on day two.
Day three will decide whether Australia can convert their six wickets in hand into a decisive lead or whether South Africa will be able to rein them in.
