Matt Renshaw produced a herculean 190 and powered Australia to an unlikely first-innings total before Josh Hazelwood dismissed South Africa opener Ryan Rickelton for a duck late on day two of the first Test in Durban. Australia had their backs to the wall at 124 for 6 in familiar batting woes but Renshaw rescued the innings with his 397-ball marathon effort.

Renshaw fell short of what would have been a maiden double ton after being dismissed two balls into the final session, caught at slip off the bowling of offspinner Simon Harmer. His only other Test century was against Pakistan at the SCG in January 2017, when he made 184.

After 137.2 overs in the field, South Africa openers Rickelton and Aiden Markram faced a tough challenge under increasingly gloomy skies. A weary Rickelton did not fare well after edging Hazlewood to third slip in the second over, having attempted a lavish drive to a full delivery.

But Markram and new No. 3 David Bedingham were unruffled, and hit several attractive boundaries before bad light ended the day’s play just 8.4 overs into South Africa’s innings.

Having been on the back foot for much of the opening day, Australia were on top after day two as Renshaw produced the fourth highest score by an Australian in South Africa. Remarkably, he scored 174 of his runs with the last four batters, the most anyone has scored in a Test innings while batting with the tail since 2002.

Renshaw received strong support from the lower order, marked by an 86-run seventh-wicket partnership with Pat Cummins and a 134-run stand with Nathan Lyon, the second-most for the ninth wicket for Australia in their Test history.

Cummins and Lyon faced a combined 190 deliveries – that was 27 more than Australia’s top four batters – although batting became easier on a surface that on day one produced steep bounce and seam movement.

It has been a tough journey for Renshaw, who might have resurrected his Test career after providing a major tonic for Australia’s reshuffled batting order. He reached his century just before the lunch break with a boundary through the leg side, and raised his arms in delight and took off his helmet, showing off a beaming smile.

Highly disciplined but also showing a knack of going through the gears, Renshaw became the first Australia batter to face 300 balls in a Test innings since Usman Khawaja scored 232 against Sri Lanka in Galle in early 2025.

Renshaw has relished moving down to No. 5 after Nic Maddinson’s surprise selection as an opener, along with Cameron Green missing the match through injury. He had only filled the position four times previously – thrice during the 2023 tour of India, and once on the 2017 tour – with modest results, although has enjoyed success with Queensland there.

Renshaw had returned to Test cricket after three-and-a-half years as an opener against Bangladesh in August. While Maddinson’s selection has initially backfired, Renshaw looked at ease in the middle order, and equally untroubled against the seamers and spinners.

Having dominated much of the shortened first day, South Africa were left frustrated with their attack blunted by Renshaw. Seamers Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje took nine wickets between them but struggled to consistently threaten on day two.

Spin duo Harmer and Keshav Maharaj claimed just one wicket from 48.2 overs, with Renshaw negating their influence, although the surface is expected to spin significantly later in the match. It was a disappointment for the sparse crowd in Durban, with the atmosphere rather subdued for Australia’s first Test series in South Africa since the 2018 sandpaper scandal.

Earlier on day two, Australia resumed their first innings on 187 for 6 after just 65.2 overs were bowled on a truncated opening day due to bad light. Renshaw and Cummins aimed to build on their unbeaten 63-run partnership from overnight. It did not take Renshaw long to reach his fourth Test half-century after edging Nortje through third slip and gully as he celebrated the milestone for the first time since March 2017.

Nortje, who played a starring role on day one after a three-and-a-half year exile from Test cricket, once again unfurled vicious short deliveries but occasionally tried to outfox Cummins by pitching up. A focused Cummins was unfazed, and pounced on a rare overpitched delivery with a beautiful square drive to the boundary. He had a fourth Test half-century in his sights – and the first since January 2024 – until, on 43, he edged a good-length delivery from Mulder to second slip.

Renshaw, meanwhile, showcased his much improved play against spin, reverse sweeping Maharaj with good effect to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Much like Cummins, Mitchell Starc was intent on solid defence, and had a slice of luck when he edged Harmer through the hands of Markram at first slip as the ball flew to the boundary. South Africa had no hesitation in taking the second new ball, and Mulder capitalised when he clean bowled Starc with a cracker of a delivery that pitched on middle before crashing into the off stump.

But Renshaw kept South Africa at bay, and put the foot down in the back end of the elongated session. He hogged the strike after lunch as South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma deployed Maharaj and Harmer in tandem. The game went through a lull until the reintroduction of Nortje, who delivered a 143kph thunderbolt that whacked Renshaw on the grill of the helmet.

But Renshaw gave an immediate thumbs up and continued with his indefatigable effort after receiving medical attention. He reached 150 with a reverse sweep off Maharaj – and quite fittingly so, given his mastery of the stroke through the innings.

Lyon appeared set to bat through the entire second session before being trapped plumb lbw by a full delivery from Jansen, who was rewarded for a hostile spell before tea. The session was extended, but Hazlewood held firm with the bat before making an impact with the ball before stumps.

Scores:
South Africa 27 for 1 in 8.4 overs (Aiden Markram 15*, David Bedingham 12*; Josh Hazlewood 1-9) trail Australia 390 in 137.2 overs (Matt Renshaw 190, Pat Cummins 43; Marco Jansen 3-68, Wiaan  Mulder 4-68, Anrich Nortje 2-88 ) by 363 runs

[Cricinfo]

Pope Leo XIV has declared that the death penalty is “inadmissible” while his home country, the United States, announces plans to livestream an execution by firing squad.

Marking World Day Against the Death Penalty on Saturday, the pope reiterated the Catholic Church’s teaching on capital punishment, writing on X that it was “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”.

“The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment,” his post said.

“Effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption,” added the leader of the Catholic Church.

The American Pope’s comments come days after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan on December 3 will be livestreamed.

Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in 2009.

Pope Leo did not specifically refer to the planned execution, or last month’s botched execution attempt on Christa Pike,  who survived two doses of the lethal injection in Tennessee.

But his post came hours after his top deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, told Vatican News that the plan to livestream Hasan’s execution was “unacceptable”.

It was Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, in 2018 who first amended official Catholic teaching to declare capital punishment “inadmissible” in all circumstances.

[Aljazeera]

The latest attack on King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital has injured several people, according to the country’s Civil Aviation Authority.

Operations at the airport in Riyadh were temporarily suspended after the attack on Saturday afternoon, said the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). Its statement added that officials were assessing the damage and determining the exact number of injuries.

On Thursday, at least three Saudi citizens, including a pilot, were killed in Houthi attacks at the airport, according to GACA.

Those attacks were launched by Yemen’s Houthi group, which is at war with Riyadh and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in Aden.

Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from Yemen on Saturday, said the Houthis have yet to claim responsibility for the latest attack.

But the Iran-backed group has warned aviation companies to avoid using Saudi airspace, saying any aircraft operating there – except over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina – is a target.

Earlier on Saturday, King Khalid airport urged passengers to contact their airlines directly and check their flight status before heading to the airport amid reports of disruptions to air traffic. The airport did not specify the cause of the disruptions in its initial advisory.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also instructed Saudi citizens travelling to the kingdom to contact local embassies if their travel itineraries have been disrupted following the attack.

Following reports of the latest attack, President Donald Trump was asked by reporters outside the White House whether the United States planned to join Saudi strikes on the Houthis.

[Aljazeera]