Renshaw's Career-Best 190 Lifts Australia to 390 as South Africa Stumble Late in Durban

Matt Renshaw turned a faltering Australian innings into a position of strength on the second day of the first Test at Kingsmead, making a career-best 190 before South Africa lost an early wicket and bad light brought the day to a premature close.

Australia, who had resumed on 187 for 6, were eventually dismissed for 390. South Africa reached 27 for 1 in reply and trail by 363 runs.

An innings built with the tail

Renshaw's 190 came from 397 balls and was his second Test century. What made it remarkable was the company he kept: 174 of his runs were scored while batting with the last four batters, the most by anyone in a Test innings alongside the tail since 2002.

The centrepiece was a 134-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Nathan Lyon, who made 27 before Marco Jansen trapped him leg before. Earlier, captain Pat Cummins contributed 43 before edging Wiaan Mulder to second slip, and Mitchell Starc was bowled by Mulder for 6.

Renshaw finished ten runs short of what would have been a maiden Test double century.

Mulder leads the home attack

Mulder was the pick of the South African bowlers with four wickets, while Jansen and Anrich Nortje kept up a testing short-ball examination through the afternoon. For long periods, though, the home side had no answer to Renshaw's patience.

Late blow for South Africa

The hosts' reply began badly. Opener Ryan Rickelton drove loosely at a wide delivery from Josh Hazlewood and edged to third slip, where Beau Webster held the catch, sending him back for a duck.

With the light fading, the umpires took the players off and stumps were called early.

What it means

• Australia have a total that looked unlikely at 187 for 6 on the first evening.
• South Africa need a long first innings on day three to stay level in the match.
• Lost overs to bad light may be made up with early starts on the remaining days.

Photo: Matt Renshaw batting against South Africa in 2016 (file photo). Credit: davidmolloyphotography.com, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).

Second photo: Nathan Lyon, who shared a 134-run ninth-wicket stand with Renshaw (file photo, 2024). Credit: Neb, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped; shared under the same licence).