South Africa vs Australia 2018: 3rd Test, day 1, 5 things we learnt from the day

What was turning out to be a great day for South Africa turned sour as the red cherry started losing sheen and reversing. Dean Elgar and AB de Villiers stitched together a century stand before Cummins struck back with venom to slice through the middle-order with four wickets.

Elgar remained solid amidst the ruins, composing a fine 11th Test hundred as South Africa ended the day at 266/8. The opener was a forlorn figure as others around him failed to come to terms with Cummins' breezy spell.

Earlier, South Africa lost Aiden Markram early before Hashim Amla and Elgar resuscitated the Proteas. Hazlewood had the last laugh against Amla but it only brought de Villiers to the crease and he appeared in ominous touch as he and Elgar ground down Australia. However, most of the hard work was undone after Cummins' spell.

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#5 Theunis de Bruyn and Lungi Ngidi dropped

Despite showcasing immense composure, de Bruyn hasn't gotten enough runs

A toe injury to Lungi Ngidi perhaps paved way for Morne Morkel's return to the Test side in his last series. Morkel, who was surprisingly dropped for the Port Elizabeth Test, made a return despite his replacement Ngidi putting up a really good show with the ball in the second Test.

The same cannot be said of Theunis de Bruyn, who showed maturity and technique in a tough second innings at Durban. Runs just seem to not come to him and as such Temba Bavuma, as impressive, if not more, with his grit and temperament came straight back into the Test side after an injury.

#4 Elgar - Amla frustrate Australia again

Elgar and Amla have an unmistakable camaraderie

Two batsmen who play time and balls rather than make runs share a wonderful bond in South Africa's batting line-up are Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla. After their dedicated efforts at Port Elizabeth which earned words of praise even from the tight-lipped Australian coach, Darren Lehmann, Amla and Elgar were back to doing what they do best.

After Markram's duck, Elgar and Amla strung together a fabulous 86-run partnership that halted Australia's progress into the host's batting line-up. Elgar was ugly as always but played with immense concentration while Amla appeared in much fluent touch than he has been in this series. Hazlewood, though, broke the pair with a wonderful short ball to Amla, dismissing him yet another time.

#3 Dean Elgar wages a lone war

Elgar smashed an eleventh Test hundred

A composed, fluent Dean Elgar grit it out on day 1 at Cape Town to smash a fabulous ton, his 11th in Test cricket, even as wickets tumbled around him against the old ball. Pat Cummins took over the responsibility of reversing the ball and suddenly found things working in his favour.

Elgar, however, was batting on a different surface and barely gifted any chance except when Nathan Lyon dropped a sitter at point. The left-handed opener had struggled against Lyon in the first two Tests but appeared in far better touch on day 1, confidently taking on the spinner and flourishing in the company of AB de Villiers.

#2 Cummins finds his groove with the old ball

Cummins ripped through the Proteas middle-order

A sensational spell by Pat Cummins with the old ball helped Australia get back into the match after a Dean Elgar - AB de Villiers partnership gave South Africa an ominous advantage under the scorching sun. Cummins broke through with the big scalp of AB de Villiers, who chipped the ball through mid-off.

He then proceeded to get rid of Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock as the cream of South Africa's middle-order succumbed to Cummins' spectacular spell. With Starc getting rid of Maharaj, South Africa lost six wickets within 37 runs with the bulk of the damage being done by Cummins.

#1 du Plessis' returns slimming

South Africa's skipper has been struggling with the bat

8, 2, 15, 4, 9, 2*, 5.

While Faf du Plessis' captaincy is earning rave reviews, his batting returns have gone spiralling down. The series of single digit scores since the last Test against India shows how tough run-scoring has been for South Africa's skipper.

With the ball reversing wildly, Cummins was wrecking havoc and du Plessis fell prey yet again. Unlike his usual demeanour of composing himself and taking time at the crease, du Plessis fell chasing a wide one from Cummins.

He wafted at a wide one from the Australian seamer and edged to the cordon. du Plessis needs to get back to form to shore up South Africa's middle-order woes.