Australia captain Pat Cummins says he is happy with how his side is going despite a humiliating 176-run series-losing defeat to South Africa in Cape Town which is their fourth loss in seven Tests.

Chasing 288 for victory on the final day, Australia crumbled to be all out for 111, with No.10 Nathan Lyon top-scoring with 33 not out, just as he did when Australia collapsed to 47 all out in Cape Town 15 years ago.

"I think we're a really good side," Cummins said at the presentation. "Tough opponents away from home. It's always really difficult. We came here very hopeful and thought we were good enough to win, but we weren't. We'll have a couple of weeks to digest it. A couple of big series coming up, but we're going back home, a place we obviously know well. But yeah, overall, relatively happy with how we're going."

After holding a 1-0 series lead following victory in Durban, Australia lost the second Test in Gqeberha by an innings and 31 runs after having South Africa 110 for 6 in their first innings early on day three. In Cape Town, Australia led by 41 with six first-innings wickets in hand on day three only to lose with a session to spare by 176 runs. They narrowly avoided being bowled out for under 100 twice in a series for the first time in nearly 50 years and only the eighth time overall.

The series defeat, including back-to-back Test losses for the first time since 2023, follows a nine-wicket home loss to Bangladesh in August as well as a home loss to England in December in the fourth Test of an Ashes series they won 4-1. They have slumped to third on the WTC table and have also been dethroned by South Africa as the No.1 ranked Test side on the ICC rankings.

Australia will head home to play three ODIs and five T20Is against England in November before their next Test assignment against New Zealand, a home four-match series starting in Perth on December 9.

Cummins and Australia's heirarchy will have some serious discussions about the batting unit after the failures in Cape Town and Gqeberha which continued a long-trend of sketchy batting performances. Marnus Labuschagne looks set to lose his place for a second time in 18 months after scores of 0 and 4 in Cape Town following 37, 37, 14, 39 across the previous four innings to extend his Test half-century drought to 16 innings and his Test century drought to 49 innings.

But Cummins will also be frustrated with the lack of application from his other batters with loose shots from Travis Head and Alex Carey and a needless run-out of Josh Inglis forming part of a stunning collapse on the final day.

"I think the trend of this game was once you got yourself in, you know there were runs to be scored there, and you could face lots of balls," Cummins said. "Probably within the first hour, really, the game was away from us, so just didn't really give ourselves a chance.

"I think most series that you miss out on, even just individual Tests, it always comes down to little moments. You just wish you had those little moments again, and maybe a catch went to hand or you opted for something different. It's never one big thing. I think throughout the series we had our little moments, but South Africa were better than us in those moments."

Cummins himself will not escape scrutiny for his decision to bowl first at the toss on day one which forced Australia to bat last on a spinning pitch against Simon Harmer, who took 6 for 16 and 10 for the match for the first time in his career.

Cummins' bowling form will also come under fire despite enormous credits in the bank. But his series return of six wickets at 54.66 made him the only seamer in the series, with the exception of Gerald Coetzee and Beau Webster, to average more than 30 with the ball.