Australia need eight wickets to seal a miracle 3-0 series win, after Josh Hazlewood led the home attack after lunch and allowed Pat Cummins to enforce the follow-on.
South Africa have 47 overs to survive in the last session and a half.
Australia will field the world-class trio of Pat Cummins, Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.
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17.04: THEY THINK EVERYTHING IS OVER…
…and it sure is now.
If the sight of Ashton Agar bowling in tandem with Marnus Labuschagne doesn’t scream “finish this test now”, I don’t know what does.
And yet, 10 overs to go. And Australia need eight wickets. It’s not over until it’s over!
16.57: THE END IS NIGHT – EXCEPT A MIRACLE
11 overs to go, and barring an impressive flurry of wickets, the only discussion to be had is between the captains: and bring an early end to this Test.
History shows that Australian captains tend to think they only need eight deliveries to take eight wickets, so don’t expect that conversation to happen just yet.
But perhaps with about five overs to go, we could see Cummins make that concession.
Australia relied on their spinners to bowl most of the overs, but it was Hazlewood and Cummins who took the only wickets in this second innings.
But they can’t bowl everywhere. I would break them.
And so South Africa’s almost six-year wait for the draw looks set to be over.
16.41: ONE HOUR LEFT – AUSTRALIA’S FINAL CHANCE FOUND
They are drinks. 15 overs to go. But, it is feasible, from this point on the captains can join together and call an early closing to play.
But Australia will always feel like they have a chance to cause a mini collapse against this South African team. They’ve been doing it all summer.
Josh Hazlewood had the ball reversing a touch earlier, before being dismissed. Cast another spell on him to see if he can do some magic.
Erwee (31) and Bavuma (6) have looked solid through their five-over partnership. At most, they have 15 more overs to survive. But if they can stay there for half an hour more… maybe that’s enough.
16.21: WICKET! HAZZLEWOOD WITH A JAFFA
Josh Hazlewood, absolute demon. This is a raw delivery.
Klaasan, who has lived a charmed life, it must be said, is knocked off his stumps by a flaming ball that comes through the door. Departs for 35. South Africa 2-75, and in comes Bavuma.
Hazlewood has got the ball rolling and when that happens he is an incredibly difficult customer to deal with.
20 envelopes left. What would WinViz say?
4.10pm: GUARD: OUT OR NOT OUT?
16.02: LYON DENIES AFTER ANOTHER CONTROVERSY FOR THE CAPTURE
It’s a portal! Just wait. No. It is more controversial because of a low catch…
Klaasen gets past Lyon at first slip where Steve Smith looks to take a good low catch. He claims it, Australia celebrate, but it looks very close to the catch he took yesterday that was denied by the third umpire.
After a five-minute review, the decision is overturned. Australia is baffled.
“I thought with the naked eye, he was putting his fingers under the ball. But the more forensically you look, the more you can find,” says Kerry O’Keeffe.
“And so… more guesswork about a capture.”
Former New Zealand Test star Ian Smith wonders if any of the three controversial calls were correct.
“In all three of these cases, you ask yourself: Was the right decision made?” he asked Fox Cricket.
O’Keeffe replied: “I’d have to say no … which is sad, isn’t it? I think he’s got that clearly.”
15.55: DRAW CLOSED AS THE AUSSIES GET THEIR IDEAS
25 overs left. Nine wickets to secure it.
Pat Cummins is trying everything to change things. An over from Travis Head here, one from Josh Hazlewood there, and now Steve Smith has received the ball.
One last roll of the dice? A concession that this is too big a task even for the team he said was the best he had ever played for last week?
15.35: SOUTH AFRICA ON THE WAY TO BURY AN INCREDIBLE STATISTICS
They have waited until the final day of the tour, but South Africa have a chance to end one of the most remarkable runs in this country’s illustrious cricketing history.
With 30 overs remaining in the day, South Africa are poised to secure their first draw in a remarkable 47 Tests.
As our Crash Craddock revealed last week, South Africa haven’t played a drawn Test since March 2017 when they faced New Zealand at Seddon Park.
That’s almost six years of cricket, a period that has seen 23 wins and 23 losses. A perfectly matched cast that could, in a matter of hours, be booked by lotteries.
South Africa are 1-48, with Klaasen on 18 and Erwee on 20.
3.10pm: THE EQUATION: WHAT AUSTRALIA NEEDS TO WIN
32 overs left. Australia need nine more wickets. It’s that simple.
But how much gas is left in the tank? Josh Hazlewood bowled so well after lunch to give his captain Pat Cummins a chance to enforce the follow-on, but he has had just two overs since then.
Returning from a side strain, has the workload taken its toll on Hazlewood? Or is it being saved for a final push after tea?
Ashton Agar has bounced back after two expensive first overs, but the wickets and chances have yet to come. A lot will fall on his shoulders – and Nathan Lyon – in a grueling final session.
“It’s about creating some pressure and momentum, hopefully we can create that,” David Warner told Fox Cricket.
15.00: WATCH – THE TERRIBLE END OF THE TERROR SERIES
2.43pm: WICKET! ELGAR STRANGLED AT THE LEGS AGAIN
How many times has this happened to Dean Elgar in this series? Choke down the leg side, gloved bouncer by Pat Cummins to Alex Carey.
He goes for 10, and seems genuinely distressed about it. I had done well to get through the opening half hour of this innings…and then it falls so gently.
His series average of 9.33 tells much of the story. It’s been a terrible summer.
It’s also less than half an hour until tea. It’s a frustrating dismissal for the Proteas captain. They are 1-27 and still trail by 193 runs.
2.30pm: AUSSIES BURN FIRST REVIEW
This is a review for Australia, with Pat Cummins chasing Dean Elgar’s scalp.
Cummins never looked super-convinced of this review, and the ball tracker supports his suspicions by showing the ball sailing over the stumps.
It was Cummins’ first ball of the second innings, with Ashton Agar opening the bowling at the Randwick End.
Elgar remains, the 8.
14.15: CUMMINS IS FUNKY WITH CAPTAIN
Pat Cummins will have to be funny with his captaincy to get the most out of his four-man attack and push Australia to victory.
And he has already done his first trick, opening the bowling with Ashton Agar, alongside Josh Hazlewood.
It’s almost a master stroke – two balls in and he has Erwee past Steve Smith at first slip.
But Cummins must find a way to stay fresh and off Hazlewood for the remaining 47 overs. The agar has to come in with overs…and ideally wickets.
13.57: WICKET! LYON FINISHES THINGS, PROTEA TO FOLLOW
And that’s it! Wow! When things happen, they happen fast.
Nathan Lyon gets Kagiso Rabada caught and bowled – a good effort, really – to end South Africa’s innings on 255.
This gives Pat Cummins a chance to apply the follow-up, and he has. Australia’s slim chances of victory continue here.
Four wickets down, 10 to go.
South Africa have 47 overs to face for the rest of the day, and need to score 225 or more to potentially set Australia a target to chase.
13.54: WICKET! HAZLEWOOD IS WANDERING AGAIN!
He is too good. Josh Hazlewood finally removes Simon Harmer, just shy of his half-century.
That’s a huge margin, with South Africa still 21 from the next mark.
It’s a beautiful delivery, building up again and getting an edge on the stumps.
It’s Hazlewood’s fourth wicket of the innings and he’s really been Australia’s best over the last couple of days.
The tracking app suddenly comes back into play. Would Cummins consider it, after Australia have spent more than 100 overs on the field?
1.45 p.m.: LYON TWICE DENIED BY ARBITRATION CALL
Nathan Lyon has twice been cruelly denied an LBW, with twice a review favoring the umpire’s call, meaning the not-out decisions stood and Simon Harmer survives.
In the first over, balltracker got the ball to take a decent chunk of leg, after it hit the bat and hit it in line, but not enough to overturn.
The second was a double call by an umpire: hitting right in line with touch off and only taking a piece of leg stump.
But then again, Paul Reiffel isn’t out of the game, and former Australian great Mike Hussey thinks that’s a good thing.
“I think it’s excellent umpiring by Paul Reiffel,” Hussey told Fox Cricket.
“With the ball spinning that much, it’s going to have to hit you just outside the line of the stumps… or with that amount of spin it has to spin past the stumps.”
Australia is hunting. But the little things aren’t quite working for them at the moment. South Africa need 21 runs to avoid the follow on.
13.34: FALL! AGAR SPILLS STRONG OPPORTUNITY
Fallen! This is the chance Australia wanted. Rabada nails Hazlewood at mid-wicket, where Ashton Agar patrols.
It’s a sharp, high chance, but for a player of Agar’s quality, you hope they stick around.
He’s had a tough time with the ball, but that catch might have ignited something inside Agar.
“Ashton Agar would normally catch it,” says Mark Waugh on Fox Cricket.
13.22: WICKET! HAZLEWOOD STRIKES AFTER LUNCH
Bang! When all hope is lost, turn to Josh Hazlewood.
The ever-reliable Aussie seamer hits his first over after the lunch break, catching Keshav Maharaj in front and sending him on his way to 53.
Maharaj calls for a review, hoping to have snuck his bat in front of the pad, but it’s a futile effort, and he gets three reds.
A great partnership comes to an end for South Africa, just 23 runs short of the follow-on mark.
Australia can take something from…