Inglis and Carey lift Australia to 330-4 in Cape Town Test

Australia ended the second day of the deciding third Test against South Africa in Cape Town on 330-4, a lead of one run, after Josh Inglis and Alex Carey shared an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 145. Inglis reached stumps on 85 not out, with the tourists moving beyond South Africa’s first-innings total of 329, according to BBC Sport’s report from 28 October.

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The partnership followed a difficult start to Australia’s reply. Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne were both out with the score at 58-2, leaving the visitors to rebuild without Steve Smith, who had been ruled out of the match with a neck injury. Matt Renshaw and Cameron Green supplied the initial recovery, each passing fifty before South Africa struck twice shortly before tea.

Renshaw made 74, adding another substantial innings to the career-best 190 he had scored earlier in the series in Durban. Green contributed 65. Marco Jansen then removed the pair in successive overs, giving South Africa an opening before the interval. The left-arm bowler’s figures stood at 2-37 in the BBC’s day-two score summary, but his double breakthrough did not lead to a wider collapse.

Inglis and Carey instead kept South Africa from taking another wicket before the close. Inglis’s innings came despite limited recent red-ball preparation: the BBC reported that he had not faced a red ball since March and that a broken finger had restricted his preparations. His unbeaten stand with Carey left Australia with six first-innings wickets remaining as the match moved towards its third day.

Labuschagne’s dismissal provided a contrasting outcome. The number three faced five deliveries without scoring before edging spinner Simon Harmer to slip. It was his 48th consecutive Test innings without a century, which the BBC described as a record wait among batters in Australia’s top four. His last Test hundred came at Old Trafford during the 2023 Ashes.

South Africa’s total had been built around Ackerman’s 95, while Mitchell Starc took 6-72. Starc’s wickets on the opening day and Australia’s batting recovery on the second left the first-innings scores almost level at stumps, with Inglis and Carey still together and the tourists yet to complete their reply.