Renshaw's 190 Rescues His Comeback and Puts SA on the Ropes

For Matt Renshaw, the past few days have been the stuff of a cricketer’s dreams. His return to the Test side had begun in the worst way, a single innings that ended with an edge to slip for eight. Then came the flight to South Africa, where his role shifted without warning from opener to number five. What followed in Durban has rewritten his comeback entirely: a patient 190 across the first two days to rescue Australia, then, on day four, another top score of 82 to hammer in the nails on a declaration. Australia pulled out at 316 for six, set South Africa 421 to win, and by stumps had taken four wickets for 102. Aiden Markram, unbeaten on 45, now stands as the main obstacle between Australia and a series lead heading into the final day.

The most striking thing about Renshaw’s match has been the contrast between his two innings. The first was built on calm and accumulation, risk kept to a minimum. The second, played with a target in mind, was dynamic and inventive. He swept and reverse-swept regularly, leaving South Africa’s keeper and slip guessing. Kyle Verreynne was so distracted that he conceded four byes, while Markram tried to emulate Steve Smith by running across at slip, only to watch Renshaw sweep the ball through the gap Markram himself had just vacated.

Additional reference context is available at https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/oct/12/matt-renshaw-australia-south-africa-durban-test-day-four-report.

For a while, as he cleared the ropes against South Africa’s spinners, Renshaw looked on course for the rare feat of twin centuries in a Test. What stopped him was one of the odder dismissals on record. Keshav Maharaj fumbled the ball half a dozen times, accidentally bounced it off his own head, then held a return catch while prone on the pitch. The numbers still tell a remarkable story: a strike rate of 82 in the second innings against 47 in the first, and a match tally of 272 runs, close to the record by an Australian against South Africa. He finished three runs behind Phillip Hughes, who made twin tons at the same ground; eight behind David Warner’s two centuries in Cape Town in 2014; and 27 short of Donald Bradman’s famous 299 not out, an innings ended when the No 11, Pud Thurlow, was run out trying to come back for a second.

Renshaw was not the only Australian whose second innings looked nothing like his first. Nic Maddinson, after a painful duck, came out swinging with 48 from 38 balls. He had thrown the bat for 17 not out the previous evening and continued in the same vein even after Travis Head was caught off a leading edge for 11. Maddinson slashed three boundaries through the cordon, middled one through cover and belted Simon Harmer for a straight six, before missing an equally straight yorker from Anrich Nortje, his back foot twitching out of the way as the low full toss arrived at pace.

Meanwhile, that impetus was consolidated by double-figure scores throughout the order. Steve Smith was hit on the helmet by Nortje before going on a hitting spree of his own, eventually holing out down the ground for 27 after optimistically trying to hit Harmer over Marco Jansen twice in one over. Marnus Labuschagne made an identical score to his first innings, 37 from 58 balls, and looked in good touch before driving a flighted Maharaj ball to cover for Temba Bavuma’s second catch. Nortje later had Alex Carey edge a drive onto his stumps for 24. By then the lead was 311, and it became a relative cruise as Renshaw stretched it to 376 before Beau Webster, with five fours, and Pat Cummins, with four sixes, iced the cake. The captain’s 32 from 12 balls was an emphatic finish, and Australia declared just before the tea break rather than bother timing it to unsettle South Africa’s openers.

The relaxed preparation initially worked for the bowling side too. Josh Hazlewood extended his hold over Ryan Rickelton, who edged a pull to the keeper on two. As in the first innings, David Bedingham put together a solid stand with Markram, and as in the first innings he fell short of a half century, leg before to Hazlewood for 46. Then the tone shifted. Cummins handed Renshaw the ball late in the day, and the part-timer duly removed Bavuma, the South African captain, at bat pad. That wicket opened the door for Cummins to have Tristan Stubbs nick a drive to Carey. At the close, South Africa needed 319 more runs, or more realistically needed to survive as much of the fifth day as bad light will allow.

The way Renshaw lifted Labuschagne in celebration of his first Test wicket might prove symbolic. The essence is simple: the returning player has done all he can to carry his reclaimed team to victory. Whether Markram and the South African tail can deny him on the final morning is the question that now hangs over Durban.