Simon Harmer Racks Up Huge Bowling Records With Cape Town Masterclass Vs Australia

Aakash Saini

Simon Harmer [Source: @ProteasMenCSA/x]

South Africa walloped Australia by 176 runs to win the third Test against Australia in Cape Town. Simon Harmer bagged the ‘Player of the Match’ award for collecting 10 wickets in the match, including six in the decisive Australian innings on Day 5.

Harmer’s spell also helped him rack up a slew of unique bowling records, and he joined some of the greats of the game in exclusive clubs.

Simon Harmer registers record figures for South Africa

Simon Harmer bulldozed Australia in the second innings by picking up their final six wickets to claim sensational figures of 6-16 from his 21.1 overs with 14 maidens. The spell now marks one of the best bowling figures ever recorded by any South Africa cricketer in Cape Town.

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Best Bowling Figures for South Africa in Cape Town in a Test Innings:

7/63 - Alf Hall vs England, 1923
7/95 - Gobo Ashley vs England, 1889
6/16 - Simon Harmer vs Australia, 2026, This Innings*
6/26 - Jimmy Sinclair vs England, 1899
6/30 - Shaun Pollock vs Sri Lanka, 2001

Harmer now also holds the record for notching up the fifth best bowling figures by a South Africa bowler in a single Test innings against Australia. He is also one of only a handful of South Africa bowlers to complete six wickets in a single innings against Australia in Tests.

Best Bowling Figures for South Africa vs Australia in a Test Innings:

7/23 - Hugh Tayfield, Durban, 1950
7/81 - Hugh Tayfield, Melbourne, 1952
7/87 - Shaun Pollock, Adelaide, 1998
7/91 - Joe Partridge, Sydney, 1964
6/16 - Simon Harmer, Cape Town, 2026, This Innings*
6/21 - Vernon Philander, Johannesburg, 2018

Additionally, the 37-year-old has recorded the fourth best match haul by any South Africa cricketer in a Test match in Cape Town. Apart from taking six wickets in the second innings, he also collected four Australian wickets in the first innings to complete 10 for the match at an expense of just 120 runs.

Here is a look at four best bowling figures recorded by South Africa bowlers in a Test match at Cape Town.

Best Match Haul for South Africa in Cape Town in a Test:

11/112 - Alf Hall vs England, 1923
11/196 - Sydney Burke vs New Zealand, 1962
10/92 - Kagiso Rabada vs Sri Lanka, 2017
10/120 - Simon Harmer vs Australia, 2026, This Match*

Simon Harmer also registered the fourth-best match haul by any South Africa bowler in Test history against Australia. Moreover, his match haul of 10-120 now marks only the second-best by a Proteas bowler in Tests against Australia in the 21st century.

Best Bowling Figures for South Africa vs Australia in a Test Match:

13/165 - Hugh Tayfield, Melbourne, 1952
11/150 - Kagiso Rabada, Gqeberha, 2018
10/116 - Charlie Llewellyn, Johannesburg, 1902
10/120 - Simon Harmer, Cape Town, 2026, This Match*
10/123 - Fanie de Villiers, Sydney, 1994

Simon Harmer’s magnum opus in Tests help him achieve several “firsts”

Harmer has become the first South Africa cricketer to take a five-wicket haul in Cape Town since the year 2018. The last Proteas bowler to attain the feat was former fast bowler Morne Morkel, who snared five wickets against Australia back in 2018.

The 37-year-old is also the first spinner to take a five-fer in a Test match at Cape Town since 2013. The last spin bowler who scaled the feat was Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal with his figures of 6-96 against South Africa over a decade ago.

Moreover, Harmer has become the first South Africa spin bowler to snare a five-fer in a Test match at Cape Town in nearly two decades. Paul Harris was the last South Africa spinner to do so, by claiming figures of 6-127 against Australia way back in 2009.

Additionally, he is also the first South African spinner to take a 10-wicket match haul in a Test at Cape Town, with his exceptional magnum opus Test figures of 10-120 driving Proteas to a remarkable series win in October 2026 over Australia.