Marnus downed on the stroke of lunch | 01:51
Dane Heverin from Fox SportsOctober 10th, 2026 1:26 am
A fighting partnership from Matt Renshaw (46*) and captain Pat Cummins (33*) saved Australia from embarrassment before bad light brought an early end to the opening day’s play of the first Test against South Africa in Durban at 3.22pm local time.
The tourists reached stumps, which were called at 3.58pm local time, at 6/187 with 65.2 overs bowled on day one as Australia’s recent batting woes once again reared their ugly head following the shock call to pick Nic Maddinson ahead of youngster Cooper Connolly backfired.
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Renshaw and Cummins’ unbroken 63-run partnership ensured that Australia were not skittled too cheaply after Cummins won the toss and chose to bat on a surface that is expected to spin as the match goes on.
MATCH CENTRE: Scorecard from the first Test
South Africa picked two tweakers in Keshav Mahraj and Simon Harmer, but their three quicks – Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder and Anrich Nortje – nabbed two wickets apiece as the Australians, who have been bowled out on day one six of the last seven times they have batted first in a Test match, crumbled again.
Travis Head was the first to go, caught down the leg side on review for 9.
Then his new opening partner – his third in as many Tests – fell 15 balls later for a painstaking 33-ball duck when he attempted to cut Jansen and chopped onto his own stumps.
It was the third longest duck by a Test opener ever and the second longest ever by an Australian – only eclipsed by Mike Whitney back in 1981.
Maddinson dealt 33-ball duck in return | 00:45
Former Australian leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe even quipped on Fox Cricket that Maddinson really suffered a pair as he should have been out for a 15-ball duck with the hosts failing to review an lbw shout off Mulder.
Maddinson, who had not played a first-class match for 18 months due to a battle with testicular cancer, endured the longest gap of any Australian between opportunities to don the baggy green as Australia has played 90 Tests since he last featured in the 2016 Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.
The wait will feel even longer when the 34-year-old tries to get off the mark in the second innings.
Australia appeared set to take the ascendancy into the lunch break, however, as Marnus Labuschagne (37) and Steve Smith (25) combined for a 60-run stand before Labuschagne was trapped lbw by Mulder on the final ball before lunch.
The pair’s intent to keep the score board ticking over made for a gripping contest as they brought up their 13th 50-run stand in Test cricket.
Labuschagne, who scored a century in the warm-up game, struck six boundaries as he impressively clipped the quicks through the leg side, while Smith launched left-arm spinner Maharaj over long on and long off in the same over to ensure the player of the ODI series did not settle into his groove.
In doing so, Smith overtook Steve Waugh (10,927) and moved into third place on Australia’s all-time Test leading run scorers list – behind Allan Border (11,174) and Ricky Ponting (13,378).
But the Proteas clawed back the momentum as the caterers were plating up lunch.
Labuschagne shut up shop, invited the pressure and he was unable to be saved on review with umpire’s call for impact meaning the on field decision of out stood.
Maddinson exposes selectors ‘gamble’ | 01:18
Three balls after the break, the hosts turned the day on its head when Jansen found Smith’s outside edge after wrapping him on the gloves the previous delivery.
The towering left-arm quick’s around the wicket ploy worked wonders as his extra bounce created an uncomfortable angle for Smith – who was not given an overly hostile reception by the Durban crowd in his first Test in South Africa since Sandpapergate in 2018.
South Africa’s ability to land double blows was crucial as Nortje removed Alex Carey (14) and Beau Webster (4) in the space of three balls to capitalise on a fiery spell in the middle session where the speed gun was regularly pushing above 145km/h.
Carey was caught in the slips, while Webster became the second Australian to be sent packing caught behind on review.
From then on, it was the Renshaw and Cummins show.
The former surprisingly slid down to No.5 with Maddinson taking the opening spot he had occupied upon his return to the Test side in Mackay in August, but looked at home in the middle order – where he has been a success for Australia in white-ball cricket in the past year.
Renshaw struck only three boundaries on the first day as he took 115 balls to compile his unbeaten tally of 46 with old-fashioned patience and a willingness to defend.
Cummins showed the same spirit.
The skipper was hurried up by Nortje when he first came to the crease, but gutsed it out to ensure his team was not in a disastrous position heading into day two.
“Who is going to open the 2nd innings!” | 00:27
Watch it live: On Fox Cricket (channel 501), and streaming on Kayo, from 5.30pm (AEDT)
Australia: Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
South Africa: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, David Bedingham, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje.
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Source: www.foxsports.com.au
