Live: Australia battling to avoid defeat in second Test

South Africa are odds on to level the series with victory in the second Test, with Australia needing a monumental batting effort to salvage a draw in Gqeberha.Thu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:27pmThu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:27pmTalking about bacon made me hungryHello Simon, I want some Danish bacon after reading your recap of day 4 while hoping our remaining batsmen can do a 'full Monty' today.- MikeThere's a feeling perhaps that it's a bit too late for a couple of Australia's batters to save their personal bacon - but the game is still there to be saved, that's for sure.Thu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:24pmThu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:24pmWhat was the plan?Was there a plan?Watching Australia's batters flounder about on a pitch that, over the previous 24 hours, had proven to be as placid as they come, makes one think that whatever plan there was, it was not being applied.Here's Russell Jackson's analysis of another painful day for Australia's Test team.Thu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:20pmThu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:20pmSteve Smith expected to bat today(AP Photo)Australia was hampered yesterday by a neck injury to former skipper Steve Smith.The veteran batter was in clear discomfort throughout his first innings, changing his stance regularly to deal with the pain he was in before eventually being bowled.He was seen in the sheds with a warming blanket around his neck in a bid to loosen the muscles, and did not come out to bat as expected when Australia was following on.However, the Australian camp expect Smith to bat today."We felt it was best to hopefully get the batting unit through to tomorrow and then hopefully he's better placed," coach Andrew McDonald said."We've seen the physio working on him, so he'll bat tomorrow."It's not something that will rule him out of the innings, but it was just a little bit more time than we expected on the back of the first innings."Sometimes he changes his technique when he's fully fit too, but he was limited in what he could do."Thu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:17pmThu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:17pmMarco, Marnus and Smith's pain in the neckMarco Jansen was a pain in the neck for all Australia's batters on day four, while we all know Marnus Labuschagne can cause a crick in the most sturdy of spines at the best of times - which these most definitely are not.But it was the literal pain in the neck that felled Steve Smith on a tough day for Australia batters.Here's the quick hits from day four.Thu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:14pmThu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:14pmWhat happened on day four?(AP Photo)There's no hiding it, but day four represented a low point in Australia's recent Test batting history, bundled out for 99 and being asked to follow on for just the third time this century, before going on to lose four wickets in their second innings to put them on the cusp of defeat.Here's how it all went down.Thu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:07pmThu 22 Oct 2026 at 6:07pmGood evening(Getty Images)In the history of Test cricket, just four sides have ever responded to the ignominy of being asked to follow on by coming back and winning the match.Australia, in the 40 times they have been asked to do so, has never managed it.They have, however, drawn 11 pf those matches and that surely is the only hope that the Aussies have on day five at St George's Park.Hello everyone and welcome to the final day of the second Test from Gqeberha, as Australia stares down the barrel.My name is Simon Smale, Dean Bilton and Henry Hanson are with me and it's safe to say that if we are to be still with you for the entirety of the next seven hours or so, we're going to need a fightback of epic proportions from an Australian team that has wilted in the face of South Africa's fast-bowling.Travis Head is nearing a century but was streaky as Danish bacon at times, while Steve Smith has a literal pain in his neck and is likely to be under-strength as a result.The Aussies still trail by 170 runs. The situation is bleak.But stranger things than this have happened in Test cricket. I once saw Monty Panesar survive 35 balls alongside Jimmy Anderson in Cardiff save a Test.And, with all the respect and love for Monty in the world, if he can survive that long, then Australia's far more accomplished lower order batters can do their part too.