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South Africa storm back to crush Australia by an innings in the second Test and level the series 1-1 with one to play.

⁠South Africa bowled out Australia for 295 to win by an innings and 31 runs in the last session of the second Test at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Thursday to level the three-match ⁠series, winning a race against looming bad weather.

The hosts’ pace trio of Wiaan Mulder, Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen took the last four wickets required as Australia’s resistance crumbled after a century from Travis Head and a doggedly defiant Test high 40 by ⁠nightwatchman Scott Boland.

Mulder, who earlier dismissed Head, then bowled Boland and castled Australia captain Pat Cummins to forge a breakthrough, with Rabada dismissing Mitchell Starc and Jansen finishing off the innings with Josh Hazlewood caught in the slips.

A result in the Test seemed far-fetched when most of the first two days’ play was washed out and South Africa, who were 110-6 when the sun came out on the ‌morning of the third day, looked in early trouble as Australia aimed to capitalise on their success in the first Test.

But a brilliant 179 runs from skipper Temba Bavuma led a fightback that saw South Africa declare on 425-9 and then turn the Test on its head by bowling Australia out for 99 and putting them in to bat again.

Head and Boland had resumed on 156-4 in the second innings after rain returned and wiped out the morning session and Head, who was 87 overnight, went on to score 121 before chopping onto his stumps a rising delivery from Mulder.

It was Head’s 13th Test century but only his second outside Australia, and his departure offered the home bowlers hope ⁠again after almost 90 minutes of frustrating attack without success at the start of the day’s action.

“We were scrambling a bit, not sure about the weather and Australia made us work hard for those last six wickets,” said Bavuma.

Steve Smith, who battled with a neck problem in the first innings on Wednesday, ⁠made three as he came in at number seven.

The former captain was tempted into pulling a delivery from Rabada, bowling with the second new ball, but only got a top edge to ⁠Matthew Breetzke, who juggled it at mid-wicket before holding the catch.

Boland, who batted for ⁠166 balls as he put a high price on his wicket, went soon after tea, when he was bowled through the gate. Then Cummins (4) played down the wrong line and was also clean bowled in Mulder’s next over.

When Rabada came back for a fresh spell as dark clouds loomed ominously overhead, he immediately ‌bowled Starc (11), leaving one wicket to get, which Jansen snagged as Hazlewood showed no sign of sticking around and nicked behind the first ball.

Alex Carey, who lasted only two balls in Australia’s first innings, was 37 not out, with Rabada taking 4-77 on his ‌return ‌after a lengthy injury layoff, and Mulder 3-64.

“I thought we showed some good fight, but it wasn’t quite enough. We were a long way from our best,” said Cummins.

The last Test at Newlands in Cape Town starts on Tuesday.

Second Test, Gqeberha (day five of five)

South Africa 425-9 dec: Bavuma 179, Jansen 85; Boland 5-81

Australia 99 & 295: Head 121; Rabada 4-77, Mulder 3-64

South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs

Scorecard

South Africa broke Australia’s resistance in the final session to complete a famous victory in the second Test and set up a series decider in Cape Town.

Travis Head made 121 for Australia and Scott Boland survived 166 deliveries for 40 runs in an attempt to escape Gqeberha with a draw – the tourists’ hopes also boosted by the first session being wiped out by rain.

But the Proteas stuck to their task to take the six wickets needed to win by an innings and 31 runs as the light faded late on the last day.

Premier paceman Kagiso Rabada finished with 4-77 while Marco Jansen, whose 5-33 on day four put South Africa in the ascendancy, took the final wicket as Australia were dismissed for 295.

But all-rounder Wiaan Mulder also played a crucial hand, bowling with accuracy and finding movement off the pitch to dismiss Head, Boland and Australia captain Pat Cummins.

Some of South Africa’s great Test wins have come against Australia – notably in the last World Test Championship final two years ago and a Test on this ground in 2018 in the infamous Sandpaper series. This must surely rank highly among them.

They were heavily beaten in the first Test in Durban and when 40-4 and 110-6 in their first innings of this Test, there appeared only one winner in this series.

Instead, the contest has been turned on its head by Bavuma’s epic 179 and South Africa twice dismissing Australia, setting up a tantalising finale in Cape Town.

The third Test begins on Tuesday.

Data show a 42 percent drop in forest clearance from a year earlier, giving Lula a boost before the election run-off.

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1988, according to official figures that give a boost to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva days before a presidential run-off.

Brazil’s space research agency, Inpe, said on Friday that 3,335 square kilometres (1,288 square miles) of forest were cleared in the 12 months through July, about 42 percent less than the year before.

The previous record low was 4,571 sq km (1,765 sq miles) in 2011-12, while annual losses peaked at nearly 30,000 sq km (nearly 11,600 sq miles) in the mid-1990s, according to Inpe’s Prodes satellite programme, which measures from August to July because cloud cover is lower in mid-year.

“It’s an absolutely stratospheric drop…it’s like a dream,” Environment Minister Joao Paulo Capobianco said at a news conference in Brasilia.

Marcio Astrini of the climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima called the figures “a historic achievement” and said they show that “with political will, it is possible to curb deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions”.

President Lula wrote on X: “Our goal is to achieve zero illegal deforestation by 2030.”

Lula took office in 2023 pledging to end illegal deforestation by 2030, after clearing soared to a 15-year high under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. The Amazon lost about 11,600 sq km (about 4,480 sq miles) a year on average during Bolsonaro’s 2019-2022 term, almost 60 percent more than in the previous four years.

Deforestation has fallen every year since 2022 and is down 71.2 percent over four years. The AFP news agency attributes the drop to greater monitoring and stiffer penalties for illegal logging.

Lula faces Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in the election run-off on October 25, with polls showing them neck and neck.

Flavio pledged in his manifesto to strengthen environmental oversight in the Amazon, focus enforcement on organised crime rather than extractive workers and small farmers, and end “illegal deforestation” by 2029.

He has also praised his father, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for coup plotting, for opposing what he calls a “radical environmental agenda”.

Deforestation in the Cerrado savanna, south of the Amazon, also fell by about 24 percent, to 5,517 sq km (2,130 sq miles), the lowest since records began in 2001.

Some find success sweet but fleeting, others spend years building to the pinnacle, and then there are those whose lasting glory evolves into a dynasty.

After tearing Manchester City apart in large spells of their 4-2 Champions League victory on Wednesday, Paris St-Germain look well on track to join the latter bracket.

The back-to-back European champions sliced through City with astonishing ease to take a 3-0 lead into half-time, and were still able to score another despite a spirited second-half fightback from the Premier League leaders.

After obliterating Inter Milan 5-0 in the 2025 final before squeezing past Arsenal on penalties in last season’s showpiece game, Luis Enrique’s side are aiming to win a third consecutive European crown.

They would be the fifth team to do so going back to 1956, and just the second in the Champions League era.

“This PSG team are on a different level,” Chris Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live at half-time.

“They have just run all over Manchester City, who haven’t been able to string passes together. It’s been an absolute pummelling for Man City.”

To mark PSG’s latest display of attacking excellence, we’re looking at how the Parisians compare to those clubs who have enjoyed the most dominant eras in European competition.

Some will point out that football existed before the European Champion Clubs’ Cup began in 1955 – so apologies to Stan Cullis’ ‘world-champion’ Wolves outfit and the Mitropa Cup’s early Vienna heavyweights.

However, this top 10 debate is centred around winning European football’s grandest prize.

Paris St-Germain 2025-present

OK, straight in with the current champions, because this is a dynasty in the making.

Paris St-Germain are hoping to enter that bracket and the 4-2 win against Manchester City on Wednesday reminded the rest of Europe why you shouldn’t bet against them becoming continental champions for a third successive season.

PSG had a lacklustre start to the domestic season – they always do, don’t they? – but boast an uncanny ability to click into gear when it matters.

In Manchester, Luis Enrique’s side were at their unstoppable best. A ruthless blend of silky flicks and slick off-the-ball movement that saw a dazed City caught several frames behind.

“Unbelievable. PSG, what a team,” Sutton said.

“PSG’s press, I don’t think there’s another team that press with their intensity and ferocity.

“This [City] is one of the best teams in the Premier League getting an absolutely roasting. This is them [PSG] having a slow start to the season. Heaven help everyone.”

The Parisians have been France’s most dominant force since the arrival of Qatar Sports Investments 15 years ago, but it took a change of approach for the holy grail of continental success to arrive.

“It’s the end of the glitter,” professed president Nasser Al-Khelaifi after years of lavish spending, ushering out the “flashy, bling-bling” era.

Instead, Enrique arrived in 2023 intent on building a coherent team. There was still significant investment, but on younger players who could be moulded by his philosophy and discipline while given room to flourish.

The result was two scintillating Champions League triumphs.

Rising borrowing costs have pushed mortgage applications to lowest level since February 2025.

Mortgage rates in the United States have hit their highest level in nearly three years, as cost-of-living concerns weigh on Americans less than a month before the midterm elections.

The average cost for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped 19 basis points to 7.49 percent for the week ending October 2 , according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly report released on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, applications for mortgages tumbled 4.2 percent from the previous week, according to the report. Applications are at their lowest level since February 2025 and have fallen by almost half since the beginning of the year.

“Very few homeowners have an incentive to refinance at these rates, and the jump in borrowing costs has caused many potential borrowers to step back from the purchase market,” Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in a press release.

Mortgage rates are closely tied to US 10-year Treasury notes. Earlier this week, those hit a 24-year high of 5.3 percent amid surging oil prices tied to ongoing tensions with Iran.

Meanwhile, the yield on 30-year Treasury bonds rose to its highest level since 2002, at 5.7 percent on Wednesday.

Mortgage rates have jumped since late February, when the US and Israel first struck Iran. Since the strikes, mortgage rates have climbed 1.4 percent. Inflation, which has risen by 3.4 percent from a year ago, is also putting pressure on mortgage rates.

It comes as the cost of living is top of mind for voters as they approach the congressional midterm elections that could decide the balance of power in Washington, DC. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in late August, 47 percent of voters said that the cost of living was the single most important issue ahead of the midterms.

In a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll in September, 17 percent of voters said they approved of US President Donald Trump’s handling of cost of living-related issues.

The NFL Referees Assn. says the suspensions handed out by the league to two game officials this week went too far and that it will attempt to get them reduced.

On Monday, the NFL issued a two-game suspension for line judge Jeff Seeman and a one-game suspension for referee Adrian Hill for separate instances of “unprofessional conduct toward a player” during games they were working the previous day.

The NFLRA said in a news release Tuesday that it “believes the suspensions imposed by the NFL on two officials following incidents this past weekend were excessive and inconsistent with past precedent.”

“Given these concerns, the NFLRA will challenge the severity of those suspensions and meet with the NFL Officiating Department to discuss the League’s disciplinary standards,” the NFLRA said. “The association also plans to meet with NFL Players Association leadership to address on-field conduct and the growing levels of confrontation between players and officials.”

Late in the Arizona Cardinals’ 36-24 loss to the New York Giants, Cardinals tight end Trey McBride argued a non-call with Seeman. A video of part of the interaction between McBride and Seeman, posted on X by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, appears to show the line judge shouting profane language at McBride.

“This kind of behavior from an official towards a player is unacceptable,” NFL Players Assn. executive director JC Tretter wrote with a repost of the footage. “Players are consistently held accountable when the roles are reversed. We expect the NFL to hold officials to the same standard.”

Early in the Minnesota Vikings’ 15-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins, Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson appeared to be shoved into Hill, who was knocked to the ground. When Wilson attempted to help Hill to his feet, the official jumped up and appeared to yell at the player and point for him to move away.

“I ended up apologizing to him and explained the situation,” Wilson told reporters after the game. “He was cool about it. He understood what was happening. He just said he was trying to get me — he didn’t want us fighting apparently, me and the Dolphins guy. So he was just trying to break us up.”

NFLRA executive director Scott Green acknowledged that both officials “fell short” in conducting themselves professionally on the field, but he also suggested that players often do the same.

“Officials are routinely subjected to highly charged interactions and, at times, verbal abuse from players and coaches,” Green said in the association’s news release. “While that never excuses misconduct by an official, it shouldn’t be dismissed as simply part of the game. The League expects the highest level of professionalism from its officials, and it should demand the same from everyone on the field.

“We will defend the principle that discipline must be fair, consistent and proportionate,” Green continued. “Holding officials accountable while ignoring or minimizing the conduct directed at them is neither fair nor an effective way to address this issue. We look forward to working with the League and NFLPA toward that shared goal.”