Rickelton and Mulder share 154-run stand to give Proteas a chance

At the end of the day, Ryan Rickelton could afford to laugh.

He’d scored a hundred and so did his old school teammate, Wiaan Mulder. But …

“It was really special, until he ran me out. And then I was quite pissed off,” said Rickelton.

A collapse of 4/16 in six overs ensued after Mulder was caught ball-watching causing Rickelton’s dismissal.

But Kagiso Rabada showed exemplary discipline and a solid forward defence, to help usher Mulder to a fourth Test century, and crucially add 36 runs for the 10th wicket.

Those runs helped to lighten the mood, giving Rickelton the opportunity to revel in how special it was to share a partnership with someone he’s known since both of them were teens.

“We have played a lot of cricket coming through our teenage years together and obviously into the (DP World) Lions and for South Africa as well.

“We know each other’s games really well and we know the type of players we are. It was really, really special to have a very familiar face alongside, when I reached the milestone,” said Rickelton.

He’d have like to be there when Mulder reached his fourth Test hundred, but that didn’t happen. It was Mulder’s fault, but all was forgiven at the end.

“He’s a really, really classy cricketer. I mean, some of the shots he played today, not many can do. So really chuffed for him and really chuffed to represent each other really well, obviously South Africa and put on a really good partnership.”

Their sixth wicket stand was worth 154 runs and pushed South Africa to a point, where a win is a much more distinct possibility than was the case when Rickelton and Matthew Breetzke started on Friday morning.

“It was really just about trying to win the small moments. We knew that effectively starting 40/4 this morning, that they were going to come hard at us and it was just about trying to spend time at the wicket,” said Rickelton.

He and Matthew Breetzke extended their partnership to 50, but more importantly took 80 minutes out of the morning’s play.

Between Rickelton, Breetzke and later Mulder a lot of emphasis was placed on defence.

“They get frustrated sometimes when they’re not scoring. It was important to just hang in there. The runs will come and the longer we’ve grounded out, obviously the more Australia starts to feel it.”

That included for Rickelton, resisting the temptation to attack the short ball, something that accounted for Breetzke, Marco Jansen and Mulder - although for the latter after he’d scored 115 runs.

“We’ve seen a lot of short ball dismissals throughout the series from a South African batters’ perspective. I’m generally one that plays the short ball, but it wasn’t worth it for me, especially with a trap set.

“It just takes one to hold or go through a little bit quicker and the ball’s in the air. So I just parked it away, I was willing to take a couple on the body,” said Rickelton.

His own milestone continued a love affair with the venue that stretched back to 2022, when he scored 90 and 102, to help the Lions beat Western Province in a domestic Four-Day Series clash.

“He followed that with another hundred the following year and in his third first class match at Newlands, he batted for 10 hours to make 259 against Pakistan in the 2025, New Year’s Test.

“It’s obviously a special place, a lovely wicket to bat on,” said Rickelton. It’s not just the ground, but the essence of Cape Town itself that I really enjoy.

“It’s just a special place for me.”