Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, South Africa's leading bowlers in the Gqeberha Test, were struggling with stomach cramps and back stiffness respectively on day two at Newlands, where Australia took the lead.
The new-ball pair, who each took six wickets in match two last week, were off the field after tea, with Australia on 191 for 4 and the ball 54 overs old. Both returned during the third session and they shared the second new ball, but Rabada left the field again as the close approached. He is expected to be back on day three.
"He's got some stomach cramps, so he came off the field. I don't know if it's related to last week. It's just something that came about today," Piet Botha, South Africa's bowling coach said. "He wasn't at his best today, so hopefully he'll recover soon. We're not quite sure what it is yet."
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Rabada made a return to Test cricket after a year and recovery from a serious hamstring injury in the St George's Park Test where he looked back to his best. He bowled 35 overs across two innings and has had to make a quick turnaround to this match, where he has sent down 18 overs so far, conceded 81 runs and gone wicketless. His pace was noticeably slower than last week, where he maxed out at 154.5kph and averaged in the 140s. In this match, he has been bowling in the mid to upper 130s and has struggled to find the right lengths but South Africa do not yet know how serious his illness is.
Jansen also did not come out immediately after tea but returned within a few overs and stayed on the field. He bowled 14 overs on the day, took 2 for 37 and was more his usual self than Rabada, while he also does not seem hampered by anything other than normal fast-bowler aches and pains. While Botha said Marco had a back rub during the tea break, Cricket South Africa confirmed it was only for some stiffness and not any serious pain, in what is a sign of the times for a team returning to the longest format after a lengthy break.
"We're three weeks into the Test season, so you can expect guys to be getting a little bit of a pain here and there because of, maybe, bowling a lot of overs. I don't think it's serious at this stage," Botha said.
South Africa have not played a Test since their tour of India late last year and last played a three-Test series in Australia in the 2022-23 season. By asking Australia to follow-on in Gqeberha, they bowled 149.4 overs over two days and had a four-day turnaround to Newlands, with only one change to the XI. Anrich Nortje, who pulled up with a groin injury in the St George's Park Test, was replaced by Gerald Coetzee, who had not played a Test in nearly two years for this match.
Coetzee has bowled 14 overs so far, with a return of 0 for 54 and lacked the control South Africa may have wanted from him. "Gerald is a genuine quick bowler. He's obviously lacked a bit of cricket for a long time, but we felt that with what Gerald can offer us and with his pace, he can put batters under pressure," Botha said. "He bowled a couple of good bouncers, which is part of what we want. But he lost his control a little bit between that. It's probably a little bit of lack of match practice. So hopefully as he plays, he'll find a bit more control."
Australia are already in the lead in the first innings, with six wickets in hand.