South Africa level series with innings rout of Australia as Simon Harmer stars with bat, ball and in the cordon

Simon Harmer could hold the whole wide world in his hands — and at St George's Park this week, he very nearly did. South Africa crushed Australia by an innings and 31 runs in the second Test on Thursday, and Harmer, picked ahead of Keshav Maharaj, was the unlikely fulcrum of a complete team performance with bat, ball and in the field.

A career-best with the bat

After Temba Bavuma and Marco Jansen shared a 132-run stand that began at 110/6, Harmer walked to the crease and hammered a career-best 82, putting on 183 with Bavuma — a partnership central to South Africa's declaration at 425/9. As reported on October 21, that knock set a South African record for the highest score by a No. 9 or lower against Australia, eclipsing Dale Steyn's previous mark of 76.

"As a spinner, I love scoring runs. I feel like taking wickets is my job. I get a lot more gratification from scoring runs," Harmer said. "So I feel like I managed to contribute."

Catches to turn the game

Harmer then took three catches in Australia's first-innings reply of 99. The pick was a low, left-handed lunging grab in the gully that few would have attempted, removing Marnus Labuschagne off Anrich Nortjé. "It's instinctive; you either go or you don't," Harmer told reporters at St George's Park on Thursday. "It probably would have carried to Aiden [Markram at second slip], but when you go across like that you need to make sure that you take them."

Wickets when it mattered

With the ball, Harmer conceded just nine runs in 5.3 overs in the first innings. In the second dig — on a surface that did not wear as expected after rain wiped out more than a third of the scheduled overs — he dismissed Labuschagne and Beau Webster in 39 overs that cost 93. The quicks again did the damage, with Kagiso Rabada and Wiaan Mulder splitting seven wickets.

"What puts bread on the table is wickets. I would have liked to alleviate some of the pressure on the seamers today, especially on a day-five pitch," Harmer said. "But I don't think it was my finest performance with the ball. I'm not one for excuses, so I'll take it on the chin: I do believe I could have bowled better." He admitted the same had been true in the first Test at Kingsmead, where Australia won by 214 runs last Tuesday.

From Kingsmead to Gqeberha

Harmer was candid about the turnaround. "The most frustrating thing was knowing there were a couple of guys who had either come back into their Test team or were playing out of position, and we weren't able to exploit that. To be able to do that in Gqeberha and put the pressure back onto them, to be 1-0 down and turn it around [was good]."

The visitors had won the opener despite using batters out of their customary slots — opener Matt Renshaw, deployed at No. 5 in Durban, scored 190 and 82. "Durban was a tough few days for us. We knew we weren't at the level we wanted to be at," Harmer reflected. "Everybody felt like we let ourselves down. So there was a lot of motivation and fire burning in the belly."

The bounce-back, he said, owed much to a healthy dressing-room culture. "The guys spend a lot of time together away from cricket... It's a really fun group to be around. Even last week when it was difficult we sat after the game telling stories and laughing."

Local knowledge pays off

Harmer also drew on 23 first-class matches at St George's Park as an Eastern Province and Warriors player from February 2010 to April 2022. "The Eastern Cape is home for me," he said, citing the slope between the Duckpond and Park Drive ends and the breeze that funnels through the gap between the Old Stand and the Duckpond Pavilion. That wind, he noted, held up a Labuschagne shot towards long-on that might have gone for six on a calmer day, allowing Marco Jansen to take the catch.

Harmer has played only nine first-class matches at Newlands, where the series resumes for the decider on Tuesday. But with those two enormous hands, South Africa will expect him to have a say in the plotting and planning once again.