Mitchell Starc takes six as South Africa slide from 158 without loss to 329 at Newlands

Mitchell Starc took six for 72 to undo a 158-run opening stand and bowl South Africa out for 329 on the first day of the series-deciding third Test at Newlands

South Africa were 158 without loss at Newlands on Tuesday and looked set for a commanding first-innings total. They lost their last ten wickets for 171 and were dismissed for 329 in 82.3 overs, with Australia not required to bat before the close.

Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to field, a decision that looked questionable through the opening session and vindicated by the end of it. Marques Ackerman made 95 and Aiden Markram 78, but neither converted, and once the openers had gone the innings never regained its shape.

The series stands at 1-1. Australia won the first Test in Durban by 214 runs and South Africa levelled in Gqeberha by an innings and 31 runs, leaving Cape Town to settle it.

A stand that promised more

Markram and Ackerman batted through the morning without being separated, taking the score to 158 before the first wicket fell. It was the kind of start South Africa had not managed in either of the first two Tests.

Ackerman, a 27-year-old left-hander playing only his second Test after making his debut in Gqeberha last week, made 95 from 94 balls with 12 fours and two sixes. He was stumped off Nathan Lyon five runs short of a maiden Test hundred.

Markram made 78 before he was bowled by Josh Hazlewood. Temba Bavuma was bowled by Lyon without scoring and Matthew Breetzke fell for 2, given out to Cooper Connolly on review.

Ackerman rues the shot

Ackerman was unsparing about the dismissal that cost him a century. "You live by the sword and you die by the sword," he said, adding that it was a lesson he had learned throughout his career.

He was clear about what had been left behind. "I left 100 out there, a Test 100," he said, framing it as motivation rather than regret.

On the collapse that followed, he offered no explanation. "I don't really have an answer for you, to be honest," he said, suggesting a handful of soft dismissals had done the damage.

Starc turns the day

Starc was expensive early, conceding 39 runs in his first seven overs on a surface that offered the seamers little. He finished with 6-72 from 16.3 overs.

His first intervention came in the middle session, when two wickets in an over helped reduce South Africa from a position of control to 232 for 6. David Bedingham had by then made 50 and Wiaan Mulder had gone without scoring.

The second new ball did the rest. Starc removed Ryan Rickelton for 42 and Marco Jansen for 52 in the same over, then took the last two wickets shortly afterwards to end the innings for the addition of two runs.

A rebuild that ended abruptly

Between those collapses, Jansen and Rickelton put on 95 for the seventh wicket and carried South Africa to 327 for 6. It was the one period after lunch when the innings looked settled.

Jansen's 52 was his most fluent contribution of the series, and Rickelton's 42 came at a tempo that suggested a larger score was available. Both fell to the same Starc over, and Gerald Coetzee and Kagiso Rabada followed quickly.

Lyon finished with 2-71, while Hazlewood and Connolly took a wicket each. Cummins, who had asked South Africa to bat, went another innings without one.

How the decider sets up

Starc was content with where the day had left Australia. "If we can delete that first session, I think we had a pretty good day," he said, having described the pitch as quite slow and offering less sideways movement than the tourists had expected.

Australia begin their reply on the second morning with the series level and a target in front of them that looked considerably larger at lunch than it did at stumps.

Scorecard: South Africa 329 all out (82.3 ov) — Ackerman 95, Markram 78, Jansen 52, Bedingham 50, Rickelton 42; Starc 6-72, Lyon 2-71. Australia did not bat.

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