For a hundred minutes at Newlands on Saturday, Australia’s Test side came apart. They needed 288 to win the series and were 42-6 within the first hour. They went to lunch at 60-7 and were all out for 111. South Africa won the third Test by 176 runs, took the series 2-1 and went top of the Test rankings for the first time since January 2016. Simon Harmer took a career-best 6-16 and finished with 10-120 in the match.
England had good reason to watch closely. They host Joe Root’s first series back as captain in South Africa from 17 December, and Australia arrive for the Ashes next June. Both of England’s main Test opponents for the next year have just shown their strengths and their weak spots.
Cummins under pressure
Pat Cummins finishes the tour with more questions against him than at any time in his five years as captain. He chose to bowl first at Newlands on a pitch offering little movement, and South Africa’s openers reached lunch on day one at 140-0. Australia still took a 100-run first-innings lead, thanks to Josh Inglis’s century in their 429. But Ryan Rickelton (101) and Wiaan Mulder (115) put on 154 for the sixth wicket on day four, and Australia never got control back.
Cummins stood by the toss decision afterwards. He also accepted that changes may be coming. “Within the first hour the game was away from us and we did not give ourselves a chance,” he said. “We came here thinking we were good enough to win but we couldn’t do it.”
The bigger worry is the pattern of the series. Australia won the first Test in Durban by 214 runs. They then lost in Gqeberha by an innings and 31 runs and were beaten heavily at Cape Town. Cummins said before the series that Australia needed to “handle the Test grind better”. Instead they let a winning position slip. Australia have not won a Test series in South Africa since Michael Clarke’s side in 2013-14.
Fitness is the other concern. Cummins managed a lumbar stress reaction for much of the past year and missed the T20 World Cup because of it. He will be 34 when the Ashes start at Trent Bridge on 18 June. England will want to know how much bowling he has left for a five-Test series packed into seven weeks.
Weaknesses England can target
Australia’s top order was a problem all series, and Newlands showed it clearly. Matt Renshaw was out first ball, caught down the leg side. Marnus Labuschagne was lbw for four after shouldering arms. Travis Head edged Kagiso Rabada to slip for 14.
Australia also struggled against spin. Harmer bowled round the wicket and found turn and bounce, and the Australian middle order had no plan for him. Alex Carey was caught reverse-sweeping, Cameron Green was bowled for 27 and Cooper Connolly made a two-ball duck. Australia need to fix this before England, who are likely to pick Shoaib Bashir.
The run-scoring numbers point the same way. Three of Australia’s six best partnerships in the series involved tail-enders. The top order is not scoring enough to protect Australia when their bowlers have an off day.
- Australia’s second innings at Newlands: 42-6 in the first hour, 60-7 at lunch, 111 all out
- Harmer: 6-16 from 21.1 overs, 10-120 in the match
- Rabada: reached 350 Test wickets in fewer balls than any other bowler (13,808)
- Series: Australia won by 214 runs in Durban; South Africa won by an innings and 31 in Gqeberha and by 176 runs in Cape Town
What South Africa will bring
England should not read too much into Australia’s problems, because South Africa look the stronger side. The world Test champions, who beat Australia at Lord’s in the 2025 final, are now ranked No 1. They have a reliable pace attack led by Rabada and a home spinner in Harmer who looks at his best.
Rabada will be the main threat to England’s top order at the Wanderers and at Centurion on Boxing Day. Harmer could decide the final Test at Newlands from 3 to 7 January, just as he did on Saturday. England’s batters have often struggled against off-spin on a wearing pitch, and Harmer’s record suggests he will exploit that.
South Africa have weaknesses too. They were beaten by 214 runs in Durban and conceded 429 in the first innings at Newlands. Their batting relies heavily on a few players, and Rickelton and Mulder had to rescue them from a big deficit. England’s seamers will see a chance there, especially early in the series on the faster Highveld pitches.
The one-sided finish will also stay with Australia. Former opener David Warner called the collapse “un-Australian” and “disgraceful” on Fox Sports. Australia now play four Tests against New Zealand from December, which gives them time to rebuild before the Ashes. That will probably mean new top-order batters and harder questions about whether Cummins’s bowling and captaincy can last another long series.
England get the first look, at South Africa in December. Australia come to England in June looking for their first Ashes series win there since 2001, and Newlands showed where they can be beaten.
—
I wrote this without seeing the BBC piece the headline appears to come from, so the angle is my own, built from verified sources. A few things to check before publishing:
– **Toss detail:** “Bowled first, South Africa 140-0 at lunch” and “Cummins stood by the decision” come from a search summary of a Cricinfo report I couldn’t open (it was blocked). The two Cummins quotes are verbatim from Sky Sports. The “handle the Test grind better” line is from a Reuters headline, not a full quote I read.
– **Cummins’s own form:** I couldn’t find his bowling figures for the series, so the article leaves them out. The back injury and missing the T20 World Cup come from a January 2026 report, not anything current.
– **Rabada’s figures** conflict between sources (3-14 in his opening spell, 3-39 for the innings), so I used only his 350-wicket record. His record is measured by balls bowled.
– **2027 Ashes start date:** I used 18 June at Trent Bridge, which most sources give. Wisden says 18 July.
– **England picks:** The Bashir selection is my speculation, as is the line about England batters and off-spin. The “first Ashes series win in England since 2001” claim comes from my own knowledge, not this research. Check it, because the 2023 series was drawn.
Sources:
– [Sky Sports – SA v Australia third Test report](https://skysports.com/cricket/news/13606064/south-africa-vs-australia-third-test-proteas-win-newlands-decider-to-take-series-and-soar-to-top-of-test-rankings)
– [Cricinfo – Cummins accepts change is on the cards](https://www.cricinfo.com/story/sa-vs-aus-newlands-test-cummins-accepts-change-is-on-the-cards-as-australia-come-up-short-again-1560893)
– [Reuters via The Star – Australia need to handle Test grind better](https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/cricket/2026/10/08/cricket-australia-need-to-handle-test-grind-better-cummins-says)
– [ECB – England men’s 2026/27 tour to South Africa fixtures](https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/4455456/fixtures-for-england-mens-202627-tour-to-south-africa-announced)
– [Sky Sports – 2027 Ashes dates confirmed](https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12340/13566178/the-ashes-england-vs-australia-mens-and-womens-dates-confirmed-for-2027-edition)
– [Wisden – England 2027 home schedule](https://www.wisden.com/cricket-news/england-home-schedule-for-2027-announced-complete-list-of-tests-odis-and-t20is-for-the-summer)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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