• Renshaw’s century was his first in Tests for nine years

• Lyon helps build second-highest ninth-wicket partnership

If the choice to ask Nic Maddinson to open in Durban was a bust, the upside for Australia was that it pushed Matthew Renshaw down to number five. From there, the Queenslander returned from 10 years on the periphery to the centre of the spotlight in the first Test against South Africa, with an innings of 190 that saved Australia from peril, settled them into stability, then lifted them to dominance.

Staunch support from the lower order was the other part of the equation, as Renshaw batted through two extended sessions until he was last man out, just after tea, with Australia’s 390 followed by South Africa’s 27 for one before stumps.

• Pat Cummins’ side resume their first innings at Kingsmead

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69th over: Australia 198-6 (Renshaw 51, Cummins 39) Jansen sees how Nortje is operating and he wants a piece too. The ball is old, why not? Unsociable bouncer at Cummins, who tries to get over it like he did previously but instead wears it inside the curve of his shoulder. Then good fielding behind point denies him a run from the yorker, which is how he escaped Nortje. All of that makes Cummins uncomfortable enough to play and miss outside off stump, but the edge doesn’t come. He’s not daunted though: fifth ball of the over, dropping back past the bowler, you could forgive a lower order player for not belting through for a single. But Cummins does.

68th over: Australia 197-6 (Renshaw 51, Cummins 38) Nortje is firing up, and Renshaw is staying cool. Cummins starts the over, getting a nasty short one that he just about rides the bounce of, then a full straight one that he squeezes out behind square well enough to get off strike. Renshaw though looks absolutely perfect as he defends a mid-level short ball, then goes under a bouncer, then swishes his bat over a wider line to leave.

• Opener’s painful duck gets tourists’ series off to bad start

• Renshaw and Cummins keep hosts’ attack at bay

If we accept that sporting tenures are results-based, then the Australian selectors George Bailey and Tony Dodemaide should be conferring with the coach Andrew McDonald to submit a mass resignation. The opening moments of the first Test in Durban were enough to return the predictable harvest of one of the most bizarre selection decisions ever made for the national XI, with Nic Maddinson bowled for a torturous 33-ball duck, early impetus for Australia’s slide to 187 for 6 by the time bad light ended play.

Maddinson should not have lasted half that long, nailed on the pad by Wiaan Mulder after 15 balls but spared by umpire error and a timid South African non-review. Even that huge slice of luck never looked like becoming anything more. His innings went nowhere, shuffling, defensive, missing opportunities on his legs, dealing in extras. His only shots were a few cuts hurled at wild width, all air-swings until the bottom edge that took out his stumps.

The Test series shapes as one of unforced errors and modest scores with both sides unconvincing with the bat and relying on their bowling attack

Lost among the looking back to Australia’s Test tour of South Africa in 2018, there lies a similarity to the team about to take on that challenge in 2026. The previous side relied on a primo bowling quartet of Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, along with David Warner’s power as opener and the middle-order ballast of Steve Smith. The rest of the batting was makeshift: Cameron Bancroft the recently added opener, Usman Khawaja with at that stage a parlous record away from home, and the Marsh brothers an entirely unknowable quantity at five and six.

This time around, the same four bowlers have burnished their careers by a further 998 Test wickets, the proven batting still consists of one aggressive left-handed opener plus Smith, and Australia otherwise remain makeshift.