CAPE TOWN: South Africa beat Australia by 176 runs at Newlands on Saturday to win their three-Test series 2-1, with Simon Harmer taking a career-best six wickets for 16 runs.
Chasing 288, Australia were dismissed for 111 before tea on the final day. The victory lifted South Africa above the tourists to the top of the Test rankings for the first time since January 2016.
Kagiso Rabada set up the collapse with three wickets for 39 runs. He reached 350 Test wickets in 13,808 deliveries, fewer than Dale Steyn’s 14,719 and Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis’s 14,905. Harmer finished with match figures of 10-120, his first 10-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Australia’s chase unravelled immediately. Rabada dismissed Matt Renshaw without scoring, caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton, before trapping Marnus Labuschagne leg before wicket for four in the opening over.
Travis Head then edged to Marco Jansen at gully, becoming Rabada’s milestone victim.
First-innings centurion Josh Inglis was run out for four while attempting a quick single. Harmer subsequently worked through the remaining batting as Australia slipped to 62 for eight.
Captain Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon resisted through a ninth-wicket partnership lasting 17.2 overs. However, Harmer trapped Cummins leg before wicket and bowled Josh Hazlewood to finish the match, leaving Lyon unbeaten on 33.
Harmer attributed his success to consistency and adjustments in pace and trajectory, rather than a single approach. “That is the stuff of dreams for a spinner,” he said.
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Cummins acknowledged that Australia had lost control of the chase within the opening hour. He maintained his confidence in the team but accepted that South Africa had proved too difficult to beat away from home.
Earlier, the hosts had recovered from a 100-run first-innings deficit. South Africa made 329 before Australia replied with 429.
Centuries from Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder then helped South Africa reach 387 in their second innings. Rickelton contributed 101 and Mulder 115 to establish the final-day target.
The result keeps South Africa in contention to defend their International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship title in 2027. They defeated Australia at Lord’s in the 2025 final.
(With additional input from Reuters)
