Tea Australia 149 for 6 (Labuschagne 37, Renshaw 32*, Nortje 2-26) vs South Africa

Australia’s bid for a competitive first innings total rests with Matt Renshaw, shifted down to No.5 after Maddinson was surprisingly selected as an opener. He had only filled the position four times previously during the 2023 tour of India with modest results.

Renshaw battled hard and received support from skipper Pat Cummins as they batted through to tea.

Maddinson’s misery ended when he got a thick inside edge to an attempted cut shot off Jansen that knocked back the off stump, his Test average dropping to 5.4.

It has been a disappointment for Australia, whose batting frailties have been under the spotlight for a long time.

With allrounder Cameron Green ruled out with injury and Maddinson selected over the ill Cooper Connolly, all 11 Australia players were 30 and above to further raise questions about the team’s future.

Australia had hoped for a better start in sunny conditions after Cummins had no hesitation to bat when the coin fell in his favour.

All eyes were on Maddinson, who played all three of his previous Tests almost a decade ago and returned to first-class cricket after 579 days, having last played in March 2025.

Without Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, Jansen loomed as South Africa’s talisman but he could not initially find his radar in a relief for Maddinson, who constantly fell across to the off side.

Maddinson had a major slice of luck in the fourth over when he was hit on the pads by Mulder but South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma decided not to review, believing there had been an inside edge. But Maddinson did not hit the ball and ball-tracking confirmed that it would have smashed into leg stump.

With Maddinson unable to score, the pressure fell on opener Travis Head, who had been mostly watching from the non-striker’s end. He could not find rhythm and fell in disappointing fashion on a successful review for a relieved Bavuma.

After Maddinson’s 50 minutes of torture ended, Labuschagne and Smith steadied Australia with a 60-run partnership during a dominant passage before the lunch break.

Smith had walked out to little hostility from the sparse fans in the terraces in low-key scenes after the hype over Australia’s Test return to South Africa since the infamous sandpaper scandal in 2018.

Smith counter-attacked by whacking frontline spinner Keshav Maharaj for a couple of sixes and his presence rubbed off on the much-criticised Labuschagne, who clung on to his spot in the XI having not made a Test century since the 2023 Ashes tour.

Labuschagne settled nicely after a shaky start until he fell on the last ball before lunch when he was trapped lbw by Mulder. He trudged off the field having reviewed unsuccessfully and Australia slumped further on resumption when Smith was caught in the gully having been roughed up the ball before by a pumped-up Jansen.

Renshaw and Alex Carey were forced to dig deep during an attritional period of play. Carey battled to 1 off 20 balls, while Renshaw survived a brute of a delivery from Jansen with South Africa’s appeal for caught behind unsuccessfully reviewed.

Carey and Renshaw tried to put the foot down against spinner Simon Harmer, selected to support Maharaj, as the shackles were finally broken.

But the return of a fired-up Nortje produced an edge from Carey to second slip before he had Beau Webster caught behind two balls later following a successful review to put South Africa in a position of strength.