{"id":714,"date":"2026-10-24T07:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T06:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/24\/sa-vs-aus-2026-travis-head-backs-steve-smith-for-a-big-performance-in-cape-town-decider\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T07:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T06:34:14","slug":"sa-vs-aus-2026-travis-head-backs-steve-smith-for-a-big-performance-in-cape-town-decider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/24\/sa-vs-aus-2026-travis-head-backs-steve-smith-for-a-big-performance-in-cape-town-decider\/","title":{"rendered":"SA vs AUS 2026: Travis Head backs Steve Smith for a big performance in Cape Town decider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Updated on 2 days ago by Charbel Coorey<\/a><\/p>\n

Steve Smith returns to Cape Town with a few storylines hanging over him ahead of the deciding Test against South Africa. <\/p>\n

The obvious one is a return to the scene of sandpapergate, but Smith\u2019s form this series is another key talking point. He is yet to cross 30, suffering a concussion scare in Durban before being hampered by a neck issue in Gqeberha. <\/p>\n

However, his second innings dismissal was not met with sympathy<\/a> from fans as Australia were trying to hold on for a draw. Smith attempted a pull shot to a Kagiso Rabada delivery outside offstump, only managing to sky a catch to Matthew Breetzke at midwicket. The visitors went on to lose by an innings and 31 runs in a Test heavily affected by rain.<\/p>\n

Travis Head backs Steve Smith to deliver after quiet first two Tests against South Africa<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Travis Head has backed Australia \u2013 and Smith in particular \u2013 to bounce back. The great batsman, who notched up his 11,000th Test run, has often stepped up when the stakes are at its highest. Head also expects Smith to handle any crowd attention with minimal fuss.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be fine. I think he showed that in \u201919 in England [the Ashes],\u201d Head said of Smith, as quoted by cricket.com.au<\/a><\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019d be nice to have a crowd. I\u2019m hearing good things about Cape Town \u2013 a good atmosphere is always good.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support him. I think he\u2019s been through a lot in that space. I think he handles it well. Sometimes it brings the best out of him, as we\u2019ve seen in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he\u2019s been in the wars. He\u2019ll rest up in the next few days, and I think he\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s batting is in the spotlight once again. Their performance in Gqeberha<\/a> is arguably this group\u2019s most disappointing, losing 19 wickets in the final two days to surrender their series lead. <\/p>\n

Also, Australia have struggled to produce runs as a unit in recent times. If their last four Tests are anything to go by, it\u2019s usually one player standing out with a bigger score, whether it\u2019s Cameron Green (Darwin and Mackay), Matt Renshaw (Durban) or Head himself in the last Test.<\/p>\n

The opener revealed that a more collective effort is a key topic of discussion within the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve spoken as a group going into this series that we\u2019ve sort of had one individual each time \u2013 and they\u2019ve always been different individuals \u2013 but we haven\u2019t been able to get that collective batting day that we would desire as a team,\u201d Head said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look through it \u2013 you look at Greeny in Darwin, Mackay, we batted once and (210) was enough for two innings (to win). Then you look at last week with \u2018Renners\u2019 (Renshaw) and the game he had.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game (in Gqeberha) I was able to step up and get runs \u2013 but it\u2019s always been one individual at a time and we haven\u2019t been able to get that collective. We talked about that (going) into this series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia have a huge task on their hands to win the Cape Town Test. South Africa will be buoyed by their victory in Gqeberha<\/a>, and the Aussie top order in particular has a key role to play in setting up a platform.<\/p>\n

The post SA vs AUS 2026: Travis Head backs Steve Smith for a big performance in Cape Town decider<\/a> appeared first on CricBlog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Updated on 2 days ago by Charbel Coorey Steve Smith returns to Cape Town with a few storylines hanging over him ahead of the deciding Test against South Africa. The obvious one is a return to the scene of sandpapergate, but Smith\u2019s form this series is another key talking point. He is yet to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricketkidunyya.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}