South Africa closed day two of the second Test against Australia at St George's Park in Gqeberha on 97 for 5, with Temba Bavuma unbeaten on 41 after another session lost to rain left the hosts still searching for a first-innings total that can keep them in the match. It is a step on from the 20 for 2 South Africa were on when day one was abandoned, but Scott Boland has again set the tone for Australia.
Boland removed overnight batter Marques Ackerman early in the day before Mitchell Starc had Matthew Breetzke caught behind for 4, leaving South Africa slumped to 40 for 4. Boland finished the day with 4 for 31, extending the damage he did with the new ball on day one, while Starc took 1 for 27.
Bavuma and Ryan Rickelton added 52 runs for the fifth wicket to drag South Africa back into the contest, before Rickelton fell for 31, brilliantly caught at first slip by Matthew Renshaw. Wiaan Mulder was unbeaten on 2 alongside Bavuma at the close, with the lower order still to come on a pitch that has offered Australia's seamers plenty throughout.
More than 140 overs have now been lost to weather across the two days of this Test, compressing the time both sides have to force a result. With Australia already 1-0 up after their 214-run win in the series-opening Durban Test, the lost overs work against South Africa's hopes of engineering the win they need to keep the series alive.
South Africa must win in Gqeberha to avoid losing the series with one Test still to play at Newlands from October 27. Boland's two four-wicket mornings across the first two days have put Australia in control of the one lever South Africa most needed to pull — time — and the hosts now need a substantial lower-order contribution just to get back to parity.
Play resumes on day three with South Africa 97 for 5, five wickets in hand but still well short of a total that would trouble Australia's batting order on a surface that has so far rewarded the seamers in every session play has been possible.
Live scores and ball-by-ball updates from Gqeberha are available on SportGod's live matches page, with data-backed match forecasts on SportGod's predictions page.
Scores and figures in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting as of October 20, 2026.
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