Nathan Lyon Dismisses Bavuma as Australia Strengthens Cape Town Grip

Australia Strengthens Position in Cape Town

Nathan Lyon on Thursday dismissed South Africa captain Temba Bavuma as Australia strengthened their position late on day three in the third ICC World Test Championship Test being played at Newlands, Cape Town. The hosts reached 140/4 in their second innings at stumps. South Africa hold a 40-run lead, with Matthew Breetzke unbeaten on 19 and Ryan Rickelton not out on eight.

Batting Dominance and Bowling Performance

Australia’s First Innings Lead

Earlier in the day, Australia were bowled out for 429 after resuming at 330 with six wickets in hand. Josh Inglis completed an impressive century, while Alex Carey contributed 80 runs to help Australia build a crucial 100-run lead. For the Proteas, Marco Jansen and Simon Harmer shared seven wickets between them. Harmer finished with figures of 4/104, while Jansen claimed 3/60. Jansen’s performance came after the left-arm quick rose to the top of both the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings and the Test All-Rounders Rankings.

South Africa’s Second Innings Struggle

Trailing by 100 runs in the first innings, the Proteas suffered an early setback when Mitchell Starc dismissed Aiden Markram in the third over. Josh Hazlewood soon followed up by removing David Bedingham, putting the hosts under pressure. Marques Ackerman and captain Bavuma then steadied the innings with a crucial 64-run partnership for the third wicket. Ackerman, South Africa’s highest run-scorer in the first innings, registered his second half-century of the Test. Starc broke the stand by dismissing Ackerman, bringing Australia back into the contest. Lyon then delivered another significant blow in the penultimate over of the day by removing Bavuma.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)