Australia’s Matt Renshaw produced a marathon 190 against South Africa at Kingsmead on Sunday, breaking Virat Kohli’s record for the most runs scored while batting with the tail in a Test innings.

Renshaw’s career-best knock spanned 397 balls with 21 fours and a six, and included 174 runs in partnerships with the lower order — eclipsing the 171 that Kohli made during his 235 against England in Mumbai in 2016. Australia, in deep trouble at 124 for 6, rode the left-hander’s innings to 390 all out on day two of the first Test.

A rescue act with the tail

Walking in at No. 5, Renshaw rebuilt the innings stand by stand. He added 41 runs in an 86-run partnership with captain Pat Cummins, who made 43, before a pivotal 134-run ninth-wicket stand with Nathan Lyon in which Renshaw contributed 100 and Lyon 27. Late cameos alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood carried the total towards 390 before Renshaw edged Simon Harmer to slip, just ten runs short of a maiden Test double century.

It was an innings of remarkable patience: Renshaw kept his concentration through long stretches of defensive cricket while wickets fell at the other end, then farmed the strike to shield the tailenders.

Into the record books

The 190 is the highest Test score by an Australian at Kingsmead, surpassing Phillip Hughes’s 160 in 2009, and the highest at the venue by a batter at No. 5 or lower, moving past Kusal Perera’s 153 not out in 2019. It is also the highest tally of runs made with the tail in a Test innings since 2002.

South Africa ended day two on 27 for 1, trailing by 363 runs — a commanding position for the visitors built almost single-handedly by one man. After being in danger of a modest total, Australia’s recovery stands as the cornerstone of a first innings that has put them firmly in control at Kingsmead.