Stakes are high as for what is obviously, not just another game of cricket

Sandpaper. 47 all out. World Test Championship finalists. The no.1 and no. 2 teams in the world, each with a convincing win under their belts, to set up - a series decider.

“It was almost like it was inevitable it was going to be one-all,” Pat Cummins mused.

“t feels like the climax of a huge series. The cricket has spoken for itself in these first couple of weeks and it’s all come together here. It’s going to be huge,” added the Australian captain.

“Both teams have fired shots and you can’t wait for it to start. We’ve got, in terms of the Test team, almost two months until our next Test after this. This is your grand final for the next week. We’ll put everything into this week.”

His counterpart, Temba Bavuma agreed about the magnitude of the occasion. “It’s definitely not just another game of cricket,” he said.

“Some guys in (Proteas) group haven’t tasted a Test series victory over Australia. So it will be nice for them to experience what that means.”

Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj, have been part of two series wins against Australia - Down Under in 2016 and of course the infamous 2018 triumph in SA. Aiden Markram was part of that team eight years ago also.

For everyone else, the week provides an opportunity to claim a unique and valuable slice of history. The 3-1 series win in 2018 is SA’s only home series victory against Australia, post-isolation.

Bavuma played an enormous role in putting his team in this position, with a career-best innings at St George’s Park last week. “You come off such a high and I guess the challenge is to find a way to get yourself into the right mental space. I need to take whatever confidence I got from St. George’s, but make sure I’m really present here and locked in for the next five days.”

Both teams still look vulnerable with the bat. Where, Bavuma rescued his side from 110/6 in Gqeberha, with help from the lower order, so a week before Matt Renshaw had done the same for Australia from 120/6.

South Africa acted decisively after the loss in Durban, dropping Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne. Two new faces, Matthew Breetzke and Marques Ackerman, got to see the realities of Test cricket in Gqeberha, where under leaden skies, they were bamboozled by Scott Boland.

This week, it’s Australia’s turn to make changes, although on Monday afternoon, Cummins wasn’t ready to reveal yet what those would be. He, coach Andrew McDonald and selector George Bailey were taking one last look at the Newlands surface before finalising their 11.

Bavuma felt it would spin, and with the forecast for the week good, Simon Harmer will have a big role to play on Days 4 and 5.

Cummins said Australia was still weighing up whether to choose off-spinner, Nathan Lyon, who was axed in Geqeberha. If he does come back, then it seems like Boland, who took a fiver and batted for more than three hours in the follow-on innings at St George’s Park will have to sit out the decider.

With Nic Maddinson sent home to play in the Sheffield Shield, Renshaw will move to opener, a position he was originally selected for two months ago when he was restored to the Test team.

Cummins was “99% sure” Cameron Green would start, and probably bat in the middle order. Green made a century in the first Test against Bangladesh in August, but missed the first two matches of the current series after tearing an abdominal muscle in the last ODI in Potchefstroom.

Whatever combination the Australians settle on, the ramifications of the outcome for them at Newlands will be enormous. Win, and this group can probably continue into their home summer series against New Zealand. Lose, and jobs and careers may be on the line.

A loss won’t be as drastic for South Africa, but it will make the spotlight on the batting failures of the last few weeks that much harsher. There’s been too much chopping and changing. Bavuma knows that, and again outlined how keen he is for greater stability.

That may require him to don his cape again, like he did at St. George’s Park. “Newlands might present a slightly different challenge,” he said.

After years of neglect, Newlands looks like the picture perfect venue it has marketed itself as for so many years. It was starting to fall apart, mainly due to the haphazard decision by immature administrators, some of whom still serve on the Western Province Board.

It still has a sanction hanging over it, from the two day Test involving India in 2024. But the storied ground has received some much needed TLC. The outfield is a lovely green. It looks picturesque again. The Australian players, including Cummins, have given it the instagram tick of approval.

Hopefully the cricket, over the next few weeks, matches the aesthetics of the venue.