South Africa seamers on top as Australia struggle on Day 1 in Durban

On the first day of the first Test in Durban, South Africa, without Rabada, used their pace to take control early.

Australia chose to bat first on a surface that had some grass but was likely to crack later, bringing back Nic Maddinson after a ten-year absence. Marco Jansen attempted to angle pitches into both left-handers, but the first runs came off his pads. Wiaan Mulder, not Anrich Nortje, who also made his red-ball comeback in the absence of Rabada, received the new ball at the opposing end.

Both bowlers angled deliveries into the left-handed duo, even as Jansen shaped the odd one away from over the wicket, using the early movement and good carry. Maddinson’s strokes remained muted through the opening phase, surviving a stone-dead lbw call that was curiously not taken upstairs. When Travis Head fell to a leg-side feather edge, he hadn't run in 29 balls.

Marnus Labuschagne entered a pace attack with their tails up after his lack of runs was well-documented. Soon after, he joined Steve Smith when Maddinson's 33-ball runless streak ended with a possible rare attempt to force a shot with an inside-edge to Jansen.

Smith's entrance brought Anrich Nortje into the attack, giving him additional speed. Despite dealing with a couple of punches to the chest, Labuschagne appeared to maintain his positivity. He got going by driving straight through Jansen. While Nortje produced heat and bounce, he occasionally missed the edge, but his reward would come later.

Smith’s stodgy stance broke when Keshav Maharaj was brought in. Off his second over, Smith hammered two sixes as he looked to put on early pressure with turn in sight. He also beat another Steve with his knock, surpassing Waugh's run total to finish third among Australia's all-timers.

Labuschagne remained dodgy, collecting a few streaky boundaries, and was finally taken out by a Mulder nip-backer which was reviewed in vain. He has now gone 11 innings without getting a hit.

Smith used the round-the-wicket angle to create an edge that went low to the gully across Lunch and on to Jansen. Fresh off a break, Australia had two new batters in the middle.

When a Jansen snorter to Matt Renshaw came off the forearm, rather than the glove, as they suspected, South Africa lost their second review, but they kept their probing lines. In the 36th over, Simon Harmer made a late entry, but Nortje made the next set of breakthroughs.

In one over, he sent back both Alex Carey and Beau Webster, inducing edges that went behind with his tight off-stump channels. Renshaw settled in and carried them safely until Tea with Pat Cummins without causing any more harm.

The same amount of patience from Renshaw persisted into the final session. Cummins kept an eye on Kingsmead despite the growing clouds and successfully navigated the spin. The pair remained unmoved when Nortje returned to shake things up, resulting in the second fifty-plus stand of the innings.

Floodlights came on as it got darker, but the grind went on. By the 66th over, the light meters were out. Despite the fact that the final session was delayed by an hour due to Renshaw and Cummins' contributions, the hosts ended the day as the more contented team.