DURBAN – Nathan Lyon led a strong Australian start with the ball, as his two wickets helped reduce South Africa to 55 for three, at tea on the second day of the first Test at Kingsmead.
The off-spinner removed both Dean Elgar (7) and Hashim Amla (0) in his opening over, as he immediately showed what a threat he will be in the series. Aiden Markram, the South African opener, worked his way to a positive 32, before he was ousted by Pat Cummins to signal tea.
Earlier, Australia had finally been bowled out for 351, with spinner Keshav Maharaj claiming the final wicket, to complete a memorable five-wicket haul on his first outing at Kingsmead for the Proteas. Maharaj (five for 123) received handy support from Vernon Philander (three for 59) and a much improved Kagiso Rabada (two for 74).
At tea, AB de Villiers was the not out batsman, on 16, with South Africa 296 runs behind.
The teams are:
South Africa: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis (capt), Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wk), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel.
Australia: David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (capt), Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.