Starc's Four Wickets in Six Balls Wrecks South Africa for 329 in Cape Town Decider

Mitchell Starc produced a spell for the ages to drag Australia back into the deciding Test against South Africa at Newlands, finishing with six wickets for 72 runs as the hosts were bowled out for 329. The series stood at 1-1 going into the Cape Town match, and for much of the first day it looked like South Africa would seize control.

Openers Marques Ackerman and Aiden Markram put on 158 for the first wicket after captain Pat Cummins chose to bowl first. Ackerman, aggressive from the start, fell five short of a maiden Test century for 95 off 94 balls, while Markram made 78. When Nathan Lyon broke through, the innings began to unravel, with South Africa losing five wickets for 29 runs either side of tea.

Ryan Rickelton and Marco Jansen rebuilt with a 95-run seventh-wicket stand, Rickelton making 42 and Jansen 52, and South Africa looked set to push beyond 350. Then Starc returned with the second new ball and changed the match. He trapped Rickelton leg before, bowled Jansen with an inswinging yorker two balls later, then removed Gerald Coetzee for a golden duck and Kagiso Rabada leg before to complete four wickets in six deliveries across two overs.

It was Starc's 20th five-wicket haul in Test cricket, and it left Australia chasing 329 in a series decider. The visitors were also without Steve Smith, ruled out with a neck injury, as their reply began on day two.