South Africa v Australia, third Test: match preview

26 Oct 2026 Josh Schonafinger, in Cape Town

Get the broadcast info, latest team news, start times and more for the series decider

Colours of Cape Town: Series set for stunning decider

The series all comes down to this! With South Africa and Australia locked at 1-1, five days in Newlands will decide what's been a fantastic series.

Match facts

Who: South Africa v Australia

What: Third Test, Qantas Tour of South Africa

When: October 27-31, first ball 10:30am local (7:30pm AEDT)

Where: Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town

Live scores: Match Centre

How to watch: All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

How to listen: Both ABC and SEN will be broadcasting this series for those who prefer to listen over the wireless.

News and reactions post-play: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app. The Unplayable Podcast will also be dropping a new episode after each day's play during the series. Join hosts Josh Schonafinger and Louis Cameron to recap all the action and talking points from South Africa. And you can listen to the back catalogue of episodes below.

Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on iHeart Radio

Third Test session times

First Session: 10:30am – 12:30pm (7:30pm – 9:30pm AEDT)

Second Session: 1:10pm – 3:10pm (10:10pm – 12:10am AEDT)

Third Session: 3:30pm – 5:30pm (12:30am – 2:30am AEDT)

*An extra 30 minutes is available to complete daily overs, light and weather permitting

Full series schedule

First Test: Australia won by 214 runs in Durban

Second Test: South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs in Gqeberha

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

The squads

South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne

South Africa made several changes for Gqeberha and results followed, with the gamble to give Ryan Rickelton the gloves working wonders for the hosts. Batters Marques Ackerman and Matthew Breetzke didn't get the runs they were after for but Kagiso Rabada's inclusion made an immediate impact with big wickets in both innings.

Anrich Nortje only bowled 3.3 overs in the first innings before his match ended early with a groin injury and has now been officially ruled out of playing any further part in the series. His omission was the only change to the Proteas' squad for the Third Test confirmed on Saturday.

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

Cameron Green (abdominal strain) and Josh Inglis (broken finger) are back at full fitness and available for selection to give Australia more options at the selection table. Steve Smith endured a stiff neck throughout the Gqeberha Test but is expected to be fine to play in Cape Town.

On match eve (Monday) it was announced that Nic Maddinson and Sam Harper were to be released from the squad with the duo to return to Australia to play in the next round of the Sheffield Shield.

Aussies to flip openers again with duo released

The XIs

South Africa XI (confirmed): Aiden Markram, Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (c), Matthew Breetzke, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee

Gerald Coetzee was confirmed as Anrich Nortje's pace replacement on Monday, offering a like-for-like swap for the injured fast man. He got the nod over Corbin Bosch and Dane Paterson who both offer something a little different with their right-arm pace. Keshav Maharaj, SA's most-prolific spinner of all time, remains on the bench.

'Enforcer' Coetzee recalled as Proteas name XI for decider

Australia XI (possible): Travis Head, Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Australia won't want to make too many knee-jerk changes with the side's stability a feature of the Cummins-McDonald regime. However, Cameron Green will be a walk-up starter now that he is fully fit and ready to return to the top order. Josh Inglis returned to Perth mid-series and came back to South Africa after a broken finger so must also be in calculations for a Test return.

Steve Smith underwent a fitness Test on Monday and left the nets abruptly, adding intrigue to the seriousness of his neck issue. Pat Cummins said he hoped Smith would be right to play, even if not at "100 per cent fit".

Smith's match-eve frustration adds to selection puzzle

On the bowling side of things, the Aussies will again be faced with the Scott Boland-Nathan Lyon dilemma. Boland bowled and batted the house down in Gqeberha and there were moments where the tourists missed their champion off-spinner. Cummins spoke after the second Test about the challenge of trying to fit "five match-winners into four slots" and it won't get any easier this week.

Feature

The inside tale of 2014's epic Cape Town decider

Players to watch

Marco Jansen: The tall allrounder played a starring role in South Africa's win in the second Test with a blistering 85, a five-wicket haul and the winning wicket on the fifth evening. His contributions on the scoreboard were massive and he let the Australians know about it during the procession in the first innings. While he missed out on player-of-the-match honours, he will be a crucial figure in SA's hopes in the series decider.

Cameron Green: Speaking of tall allrounders, Green returns to the fray after recovering from an abdominal strain sustained during a One-Day International in Potchefstroom. The West Aussie is available for selection but won't be able to bowl if selected despite having a light bowl in the nets during the Gqeberha Test. He was Australia's best batter in the August series against Bangladesh - with a century in Darwin - and will slot back into a batting order desperate for a bit of stability. Where he slots in though is another question altogether.

'It was pretty innocuous': How Inglis broke finger

Local knowledge

Newlands Cricket Ground is probably South Africa's most famous venue. Nestled at the base of the stunning Table Mountain, Newlands has hosted Test cricket since the late 1800s. With grass banks and old grandstands, there's a lot of character and charm about the place.

Australia have a fantastic overall record here with 10 wins from 14 matches however South Africa have won three of the past four clashes between the countries here.

Recent meetings in Cape Town

2018: South Africa won by 322 runs

2014: Australia won by 245 runs

2011: South Africa won by 8 wickets

2009: South Africa won by an innings and 20 runs

Fast bowlers have historically loved playing here but especially so in the three Tests since Covid. Since 2020, quicks have taken 84 wickets to spin's 9. However, the hosts have picked left-arm off-spinner Keshav Maharaj in all those Tests.

Form guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, D: draw

South Africa: WLWWWLWWWW

The loss in Durban was the first under Temba Bavuma's captaincy but his side responded with a massive win in the second Test in Gqeberha.

Australia: LWWLWLWWWW

While Australia have now lost three of their past six Tests, they still sit on top of the WTC rankings. Prior to that, they had a six-match winning streak from the West Indies tour into the first half of the Ashes.

World Test Championship

It's no longer 1v2 as South Africa's loss in the first Test saw them drop below New Zealand into third spot on the standings.

But they are still in a strong position to qualify for the 2027 decider with two home series against Bangladesh and England to come.

Australia meanwhile need to continue banking wins. More dropped games against SA, or New Zealand and India to come, would see them slide down the rankings.

Rapid stats

Australia have not lost consecutive Test matches since 2023; the first two Tests of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Since then, they've won 24, lost 8, drawn 3.
Australia's innings loss in the second men's Test was the first they have suffered since an innings and 132 runs defeat against India in February 2023; although, they've won the subsequent match on two of the past three occasions after an innings defeat. South Africa, meanwhile, have lost the subsequent match on three of the past four occasions after winning a match by an innings margin.
South Africa have alternated between wins and losses in their past five men's Tests at Newlands, including a 10-wicket win in their most recent match against Pakistan (January 2025). Australia have lost three of their past four games at the venue (won 1).
Australian bowlers pick up a wicket every 21.1 balls when bowling deliveries that would hit the stumps in men's Tests since the start of 2025; however, only 14.6 per cent of their total deliveries are predicted to hit the stumps in that span, the third lowest rate of any team (England – 13.9 per cent, New Zealand – 14 per cent).
Australian batters have played an attacking shot on 31.5 per cent of their deliveries faced in men's Tests since the start of 2025, only England have attacked more frequently (34.6 per cent); South African batters have attacked 30.2 per cent of their deliveries in the same span.
Mitchell Starc (Australia) has bowled at an average speed of 141.2 kph in men's Tests since the start of 2025, the second highest rate among bowlers to have played more than one match (Nahid Rana – 141.9); he has taken 16 wickets at an average of 14.8 in his past three matches.
Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) has taken at least three wickets in five of his past six innings at Newlands; indeed, he has taken 52 career wickets at the ground, the second most fruitful venue of his career (59 wickets at Centurion Park).
Travis Head (Australia) has scored 1,145 runs at an average of 49.8 when opening in men's Tests; he has scored 3,663 runs at an average of 41.2 when batting lower down the order.
Dane Paterson has taken five-wicket hauls in each of his two most recent Tests: 5-71 against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha in December 2024 and 5-61 against Pakistan in Centurion later that month.

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket