Australia vs South Africa LIVE: Bancroft hits Shield ton hours before Aussie bats face huge moment at Newlands

Mitchell Starc’s status as a clutch bowler has again come to the fore, with his six-wicket haul helping Australia avoid adding another chapter to their history of Cape Town disasters.

Starc bagged 6-72 at Newlands on Tuesday to have South Africa all out for 329 at stumps on the opening day of a third and deciding Test that for a while looked to be all the Proteas.

On a chaotic morning, Steve Smith first ruled himself out with a neck injury to make for four Australian team changes from last week’s loss, then Pat Cummins sent South Africa in on a flat wicket.

The Proteas reached 0-158 as Cummins began copping criticism for his decision, before Nathan Lyon kicked off a collapse of 5-29.

Pristine morning in Cape Town and Newlands looks as beautiful as ever on day when Australia need to make batting hay while the sun shines.

Recent history is not entirely promising for the Australian batting lineup, but it should be noted that they made big scores when needed in Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney during the Ashes last summer.

Of course the main question will be how much better they can handle Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada, who cut through the tourists with ruthless efficiency in Gqeberha apart from when they were temporarily held up by Travis Head and Scott Boland.

It’s a huge day, too, for Marnus Labuschagne, having been granted yet another chance to get the big score that has eluded him in Test cricket since 2023.

Here are the session times and weather for day two of this Test.

First session: 7.30pm to 9.30pm AEDT

Second session: 10.10pm to 12.10am AEDT

Third session: 12.30am to 2.30am AEDT

AccuWeather says Cape Town is forecast to have a mostly sunny day with a high of 24 and a low of 15 in the evening.

G’day everyone and welcome to our live blog for day two of the third Test in Cape Town.

I’m Roy Ward and I’ll be tapping the keys for today’s play along with our Daniel Brettig, who is on the ground in South Africa.

Australia will begins its batting innings after bowling South Africa out for 329 late on yesterday.

Play is set to start at 7.30pm AEDT, please enjoy the evening to come.