South Africa vs Australia 2018: 1st Test, day 1 - 5 things we learnt from the day

#2 Maharaj comes into his own on slow first day wicket

Maharaj led the Proteas attack on a slow wicket

There were talks of South Africa preparing slow, turning tracks for the Australian series to negate the trio of seamers in the visitor's side. A brownish Durban surface confirmed their plans and du Plessis reinstated the same by stating that Maharaj will have a lot of bowling to do this Test match at the toss.

The left-arm spinner was brought into the attack ahead of Kagiso Rabada as early as in the 11th over and almost immediately trapped David Warner in front with sharp turn off a foot mark. Steven Smith's nimble feet put him off early on and he was smashed for boundaries through mid-on and mid-wicket. A persistent du Plessis continued to probe Maharaj against Smith and eventually, the move paid off as the Aussie skipper nicked to the cordon.

The South African spinner returned after the tea break to eke out another edge off Shaun Marsh to cap off a fabulous day on a slow surface.