Slug: south-africa-beat-australia-innings-second-test
Category: Sports
Focus keyphrase: South Africa Australia second Test
SEO title: South Africa Beat Australia by Innings in 2nd Test
Meta description: South Africa beat Australia by an innings and 31 runs in Gqeberha to level the series 1-1, with Temba Bavuma’s 179 earning Player of the Match.
Tags: South Africa, Australia, Test cricket, Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada, Travis Head, Gqeberha, series decider
Original element: own data point — we covered this series’ arc ourselves: Renshaw’s 190 in Australia’s first-Test win (Oct 10) and Bavuma’s 179 plus the declaration on day three of this Test (Oct 20); the result completes a story our readers have followed ball by ball.
South Africa Beat Australia by Innings in 2nd Test
GQEBERHA: Kagiso Rabada’s four-wicket haul in the second innings, following captain Temba Bavuma’s defiant 179, powered South Africa to an innings-and-31-run victory over Australia on the final day of the second Test at St George’s Park on Thursday, Geo Super reported.
The resounding win levels the three-match series at 1-1, setting up a decider in Cape Town from October 27 to 31.
Head’s hundred only delays the inevitable
Australia, bowled out for 99 in the first innings in reply to South Africa’s 425 for nine declared, resumed their second innings on 156 for four after lunch on the final day, with no play possible in the morning session because of a wet outfield. Travis Head and nightwatchman Scott Boland stretched their fifth-wicket stand to 59, and Head brought up his 13th Test century.
Wiaan Mulder broke through in the 21st over of the day, dismissing Head for 121 off 190 balls with 15 fours. Steve Smith managed only three off 20 balls before Rabada sent him back, and Australia slipped to 225 for six. Boland’s stubborn 40 off 166 balls carried the visitors to tea at 253 for six, but he fell in the second over after the break, again to Mulder.
The tail folded quickly after that. Australia were bowled out for 295 in 107.1 overs, with Alex Carey unbeaten on 37. Rabada led the attack with four for 77 in 23 overs, Mulder took three, Simon Harmer claimed two and Marco Jansen chipped in with one.
Bavuma’s 179 sets up the win
The foundation for the victory was laid two days earlier. Our day-three report covered Bavuma’s career-best 179, which rescued South Africa from 92 for five to 425 for nine declared in their only innings. For that monumental knock, which lifted his side from 92 for five to a match-winning total, the captain was named Player of the Match.
Rabada’s starring role carried its own subplot: the spearhead had been ruled out of the first Test, which Australia won, and his return has transformed the home attack.
Decider in Cape Town
The series is now perfectly poised. Australia had taken the first Test, built on Matt Renshaw’s 190, after Renshaw and Pat Cummins rescued the tourists in that game. South Africa’s response in Gqeberha, an innings victory sealed inside five days despite losing a full morning session, was as emphatic as it gets. The decider at Newlands, starting October 27, will settle one of the most keenly contested series of the season.
Frequently asked questions
What was the result of the second Test between South Africa and Australia?
South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs on the final day at St George’s Park, Gqeberha, levelling the three-match series 1-1.
Who was Player of the Match?
Temba Bavuma, for his 179 in South Africa’s only innings, which lifted the hosts from 92 for five to 425 for nine declared.
When is the series decider?
The third and final Test begins in Cape Town on October 27 and runs to October 31.
*Source: Geo Super, October 22, 2026*
