South Africa National Cricket Team batter Marques Ackerman launched a stunning attack on Australia National Cricket Team’s legendary fast bowler Mitchell Starc on Day 1 of the third and final Test at Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday (October 27).

The left-handed batter smashed Starc for four consecutive boundaries in a single over, leaving Australia under pressure just before lunch on Day 1 of the ongoing three-match Test series decider. Earlier, Steve Smith ruled out of Cape Town Test, Josh Inglis comes in.

Marques Ackerman goes beast mode, smashes Mitchell Starc for 4 consecutive fours

Marques Ackerman looked in great touch and did not show fear while facing one of Australia's most experienced fast bowlers, Mitchell Starc, at Newlands in Cape Town. Ackerman attacked the fast bowler with four different shots, hitting four fours off the first four balls of the 25th over.

The assault began when Starc bowled a delivery outside off stump, allowing Ackerman to cut it through backward point for four. The South African batter then hit a fuller delivery over midwicket before playing a clever ramp shot to send the ball over gully for another boundary.

Starc offered more width on the fourth ball, and Ackerman attacked again. Although the ball came off the toe of his bat, it flew over the gully and raced away for four, completing a remarkable sequence of four boundaries in four balls.

Starc gave him more room on the fourth ball, and Ackerman attacked again. The ball took the toe of his bat but still flew over the gully and raced to the boundary. With the shot, the Proteas star completed four fours in a row and put Starc and Australia under serious pressure.

Marques Ackerman 4,4,4,4 vs Starc Give Him Some Respect my boy 😭, he's Test Legend. https://t.co/tGl1kYQGD1

— Yash Jain (@yashjain4163) October 27, 2026

Ackerman's fearless batting became one of the biggest talking points of the morning session, as he made it clear that he was ready to take on Australia's pace attack and then continued his assault.

Marques Ackerman falls 5 runs short of century

Unfortunately, Marques Ackerman missed out on a well-deserved century after getting out for 95 runs against Australia in the ongoing third Test in Cape Town.

Ackerman played an incredible knock of 95 runs off 94 balls, hitting 12 boundaries and two sixes against the Kangaroos in Cape Town. Amid this, Shreyas Iyer left awestruck by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma's carnage hitting in 3rd T20I.

The South African batter stepped out of his crease to attack the Australian spinner Lyon and tried to hit the ball straight down the ground. But Lyon bowled the ball wide and gave it enough flight and dip, making it difficult for Ackerman to connect.

Nathan Lyon and Alex Carey end Marques Ackerman's explosive knock in Cape Town

The ball went past the outside edge of his bat, and Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey quickly collected it and removed the bails before Ackerman could return to his crease. While Lyon gave Australia an important breakthrough, Ackerman fell just five runs short of his century.

Ackerman had also appeared to be struggling with cramps in the overs before his dismissal, but it was not clear whether that affected his shot; his explosive batting was the biggest highlight of the opening day of the Test series decider as he batted at a remarkable strike rate of over 101.