Starc takes six as Australia dismiss South Africa for 329 at Newlands

Mitchell Starc took six wickets as Australia dismissed South Africa for 329 on the opening day of the third Test at Newlands on Tuesday. The innings lasted 82.3 overs, with Starc finishing on 6-72 as the teams reached stumps in Cape Town.

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Cricbuzz’s scorecard recorded a late burst that removed South Africa’s final four batters for two runs. Starc trapped Ryan Rickelton lbw for 42, bowled Marco Jansen for 52 and Gerald Coetzee for a duck, then dismissed Kagiso Rabada lbw without scoring. Rickelton and Jansen had put on 95 for the seventh wicket before that closing collapse.

Earlier, Marques Ackerman made 95 from 94 balls before Alex Carey stumped him off Nathan Lyon. Aiden Markram contributed 78, while David Bedingham reached 50 before becoming Starc’s first wicket. South Africa slipped from 203-1 to 232-6, losing captain Temba Bavuma and Wiaan Mulder for ducks during that passage of play.

Lyon returned 2-71, with Josh Hazlewood and Cooper Connolly taking one wicket apiece. Starc’s six-wicket haul included both Bedingham and Mulder in the same over, before the Rickelton-Jansen partnership interrupted Australia’s progress. Pat Cummins went wicketless in 18 overs, conceding 73 runs, after choosing to bowl first.

The morning had offered a very different picture. TimesLIVE reported that South Africa reached lunch at 140 without loss, with Ackerman unbeaten on 82 and Markram on 56. Australia also began the match without Steve Smith because of a neck injury. Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Connolly and Lyon came into a side showing four changes from the previous Test, while Smith, Beau Webster, Nic Maddinson and Scott Boland were left out.

The match is the deciding Test of a series that arrived in Cape Town level at 1-1. Cricket Australia’s series information records a 214-run Australian victory in Durban followed by South Africa’s response, an innings-and-31-run win in Gqeberha. The hosts’ first innings is now complete at Newlands, with Australia still to begin their reply after a day featuring two substantial South African partnerships and two sharp collapses.