South Africa captain Dean Elgar sounds broken.

It is not easy at the moment. It is bit of a hammering but we haven’t been up to speed with regards to the kind of intensity of play that Test cricket deserves. We’ve got to do a lot of reflection going forward. I thought we were good in periods. There are a few positives but not a lot.

Call a spade a spade, the inexperience is killing us – especially with the bat in hand. You’ve got to hit reality on the head as well. We lost a lot of batters the last few years. I think that’s got a role to play. But in saying that, there’s opportunities for guys to come in and play and make spots their own. Unfortunately, that inexperience at this level is really hurting us at the moment.

Mitchell Starc is understandably delighted with the victory, especially considering his battle with his injured finger.

There is a bit going on. But you need to adapt. Our team prides ourselves on that over the last 18 to 24 months. Another good week.

It is not the prettiest thing but it was good enough. It was a Test match. Especially with Greeny going down. His injury is a bit worse than mine but I think he’ll come back quicker. I didn’t want to leave the boys one down so it was nice to contribute and play a role which was nice.

67th over: South Africa 197-9 (Nortje 7, Ngidi 13) Starc continues to drop short against South Africa’s bunnies, but the tail-enders bob and weave effectively, Nortje even managing to deflect a boundary over the keeper’s head. Tea has been delayed, for uncontroversial reasons.

66th over: South Africa 192-9 (Nortje 2, Ngidi 12) Nortje reverse sweeps straight to the fielder, then advances, slogs, but only earns one. Ngidi shows him how it’s done, throwing the kitchen sink at a slog that lands in the cheap seats over midwicket! Maybe South Africa will make 200 after all?

65th over: South Africa 182-9 (Nortje 1, Ngidi 4) Starc has been given license to rough Nortje up, but he failed to land a blow in his previous over, and again he’s off target before the South African paceman bunts a single to get off strike. Then there’s a delay in play because Lungi Ngidi has forgotten his arm guard. It’s a good job he asks for it to be brought out because Starc targets the big quick’s body time and again until slipping in a rapid swinging yorker that almost uproots Ngidi it was sent down with such force. He tries again next ball but South Africa’s No 11 reaches it on the full and times it sweetly back for four beautiful runs.

64th over: South Africa 177-9 (Nortje 0, Ngidi 0) Put the VBs on ice.

63rd over: South Africa 177-8 (Rabada 3, Nortje 0) Australia have managed to drag the over-rate back to parity while pummelling South Africa in the past hour or so. Captain Cummins can do it all. Just the single to Rabada from a Starc over that promises much but delivers little.

62nd over: South Africa 176-8 (Rabada 2, Nortje 0) Never mind the close, South Africa will be lucky to reach tea. Another shambolic self-inflicted collapse.

61st over: South Africa 175-7 (Bavuma 65, Rabada 1) Goodness me, the replays really highlight how shambolic that run out was. It was a simple three but Bavuma cooked his partner midway through the third, who became the second South African today to not even dive for his ground. That compounded the lack of intent and ball-watching in the preceding two runs. Awful, awful, awful. By contrast, the desperation of Labuschagne in the deep and the awareness of Starc to throw down the stumps at the striker’s end after fielding the throw at his stumps, was superb.

60th over: South Africa 172-6 (Bavuma 65, Maharaj 11) Lyon has switched ends, which means no more Steve Smith, but Maharaj is happy to face Australia’s off-spinner, again profiting from that long-handled off drive. Bavuma again only has one delivery to face, and again he sends his shot skyward, but his top-edged sweep is never in danger of finding a fielder.

59th over: South Africa 165-6 (Bavuma 63, Maharaj 6) With Maharaj on strike at the start of the over, Cummins throws the ball to Mitchell Starc, and the tail-end destroyer almost bags his prey second ball with the No 8 pushing just wide of short leg. Maharaj survives five deliveries, including a single that allows Bavuma a delivery at the crease, that he uses to aim a massive hoick at a length delivery that only just clears midwicket.

“I can’t bear to watch this any longer,” emails regular correspondent Trevor Tutu. “I am going to the beach and look at the waves. You don’t have to worry, I am not going to throw myself in - the water is far too cold for that, as it comes straight from the Antarctic borne by the Benguela current. I would, however, be sorely tempted to throw the guys at the top of our batting order in though; and I would be in no hurry to pull them out afterwards.”

58th over: South Africa 162-6 (Bavuma 61, Maharaj 5) Smith continues, getting through his work quickly, just as the job description demands of him. Pretty tidily too, with five dots and just the one errant drag down that Bavuma pulls for two.

57th over: South Africa 160-6 (Bavuma 59, Maharaj 5) Bavuma nurdles Lyon for a single in another rapid over-rate chasing over.

56th over: South Africa 159-6 (Bavuma 58, Maharaj 5) Captain Cummins shows he’s not above the funky by introducing Steve Smith into the attack. The former skipper’s leg-spin has probably been called upon simply to boost the over-rate. At the fall of Janesn’s wicket they were nine minutes (or two overs) behind the count, and we know how costly that can be in the World Test Championship. Smith sends down filth for five deliveries but on the last teases a beautifully flighted leggie a whisker past Maharaj’s outside egde.

55th over: South Africa 154-6 (Bavuma 54, Maharaj 4) Maharaj aims the same long-handled off drive to his first two deliveries from Nathan Lyon, the second of which pierces the ring for four runs. Australia’s spinner changes his length and has his South African opponent defending awkwardly deep in his crease.

Thank you Geoff. Remember to retune your communication dials out there. This is my email, and here is my Twitter @JPHowcroft. It is here that I found the tweet to end Geoff’s preoccupation with height differences.

52nd over: South Africa 143-5 (Bavuma 47, Jansen 5) Nasty from Boland. He’s done that several times today, got a ball to rear off a length. This one again makes Bavuma flinch back as he defends. Doesn’t stop him getting on the front foot next ball, but it’s not nice. A few uneven spots coming into being on this MCG surface, perhaps? Bavuma glances a single near the end of the over, and makes it to drinks.

That’s me out for the day. The lead is 243, the weather is cool, and your special internet friend from here will be Jonathan Panjaram Howcroft.

51st over: South Africa 142-5 (Bavuma 46, Jansen 5) Continuing around the wicket is Cummins, looking to get in at the ribs to Jansen. The tactic only lasts four balls though, then he goes back over the wicket and gives away a leg bye off the thigh pad. That lets Bavuma send Harris for another jog to deep cover while they run three.

50th over: South Africa 138-5 (Bavuma 43, Jansen 5) Happy to see off the Boland over, is Bavuma. Defending still. What happens when Cummins and Boland get tired? We’re nearing an hour after lunch, following an extended 150-minute opening session.

49th over: South Africa 138-5 (Bavuma 43, Jansen 5) It could be seen as tiresome, but I find something quite soothing in how easily people are amused. Something as simple as two humans being different sizes: as a people, we will never not be entertained by that.

Jansen sees out another Cummins over after a Bavuma single first ball. Cummins comes around the wicket by the end, angling across Jansen who nearly nicks it.

48th over: South Africa 137-5 (Bavuma 42, Jansen 5) Another peach from Boland that decks past the outside edge. Another couple of runs for Jansen off the pads. This is the batting partnership with the highest exercise-in-contrast ratio in the world.

47th over: South Africa 135-5 (Bavuma 42, Jansen 3) On the way for Jansen, who drives a couple through cover, which they have left open to encourage that shot. Cummins goes for the pads and Jansen is equal to that with a glance for one. Throw in a no-ball too and the Australian lead is slashed, slashed I tell ya, to 251 runs.

46th over: South Africa 131-5 (Bavuma 42, Jansen 0) Major appeal for caught behind as Bavuma prods at Boland. Carey liked it, the slips loved it, Cummins accedes. They were all wrong, Umpire Kettleborough was right. Bavuma keeps playing at the ball, keeps slicing it off the outside half, to point, then cover. Lyon is back on the field, he must have just been winded after that heavy landing. Has a chat to Khawaja in the gully and then goes back to his spot. Another spotless over from Boland.

45th over: South Africa 131-5 (Bavuma 42, Jansen 0) Bavuma stays positive: on the front dog to Cummins, driving three through cover. A typically manic Labuschagne chase collects the ball. To Jansen, Cummins immediately follows the fast bowler’s code: have to bounce fellow bowlers. Can’t pitch it up to them, that’s not the way, even if everyone else has been nicking all day.

44th over: South Africa 128-5 (Bavuma 39, Jansen 0) What a response from Boland. Australia already one bowler down and one hampered, then they lose their spinner… and he takes a wicket three balls later. Jansen made a fifty in the first innings. Replicating that probably won’t help much at 258 behind.

Trouble for Australia here! Lyon is injured. Verreyne slashes hard at Boland, sends the ball flying through backward point. Lyon dives for the catch, it evades him by a couple of feet. But he lands heavily on his ribs on his left side, because his arm is flung out and can’t cushion his landing. Might have hurt the shoulder as well as the arm was pushed up on landing? The doctor comes out, Lyon comes off, and Lance Morris joins Harris out there as a sub fielder.

43rd over: South Africa 124-4 (Bavuma 39, Verreyne 29) Wasting no time, Verreyne: scored from his first ball from Boland, now his first ball from Cummins, a single to cover. Cummins hits the usual Cummins sweet spot bowling to Bavuma, drawing him forward to the angle in, then straightening past his edge, not once but twice in succession. Goes a little fuller and Bavuma gets bat to this one, defensively. We’ve been known to joke about his height, but it is harder to hit the perfect length to a shorter player. The target is smaller.

42nd over: South Africa 123-4 (Bavuma 39, Verreyne 28) Back around to the Shane Warne end for Boland, glanced by Verreyne first ball for a run. Bavuma drives though cover and gets sent back by Verreyne looking for a third. Would have got it comfortably, because sub fielder Marcus Harris loses his footing on the turf as he goes to pick up the ball.

Scott Boland to take us away after lunch…

Hussein Manack is a broadcaster and former South African selector, offering some thoughts on his country’s batting problems. Click through for the full thread.

Movement at the station after the break: the Australians are gathering by the boundary, having some chats, throwing some sort of football around, all of those things. The two South Africans are doing some shadow batting.

Not sure, but “Hey Dean, you’re a stupid-head!” would have been appropriate after his run out.

41st over: South Africa 120-4 (Bavuma 37, Verreyne 27) Stroke of luck for Verreyne, gets a quick delivery from Starc and chops it back past his off stump. No run there, but three from a back-foot punch through cover.

40th over: South Africa 117-4 (Bavuma 37, Verreyne 24) Bavuma has been playing Lyon better as the day goes on. An unruffled over, picks up two through cover.

39th over: South Africa 115-4 (Bavuma 35, Verreyne 24) Starc is not best pleased: sprinting in, full tilt, and a fellow in a white shirt wanders down the aisle next to the sight screen, causing Bavuma to pull away at the last second. The second attempt at that delivery sees Bavuma drop a single, and Verreyne lays into the next ball. Halfway short, at the body, and he pounds it across the line to deep midwicket. Hits a low full toss through cover to raise a 50 partnership from 70 balls. The deficit is 271.

38th over: South Africa 108-4 (Bavuma 34, Verreyne 18) Again the reverse sweep from Verreyne, another boundary off Lyon. Bavuma goes with the conventional option and slams it into short leg, getting a run with the ricochet.

37th over: South Africa 102-4 (Bavuma 33, Verreyne 13) Mitchell Starc is back. Remember when we used to hear that junk about his body language? Played all five Ashes Tests last summer, the full Pakistan tour on flat tracks, both Sri Lanka Tests, and everything so far this season, and today he’s bowling hampered. Gets another nick from Verreyne but it’s another that lands short of slip, Khawaja stopping it. Bowls wide to Bavuma who slices it through cover for four.

36th over: South Africa 97-4 (Bavuma 29, Verreyne 12) Another boundary for Bavuma, streatching forward to turn Lyon’s ball into a low full toss and sweeping it away with power. He has responded well since the run out.

35th over: South Africa 93-4 (Bavuma 25, Verreyne 12) The deficit is under 300 now. Verreyne hits double figures by shifting towards the line of a Boland short ball on off stump, and whacking it through backward square leg. Shot, four. Adds two more runs to midwicket. Up and running.

34th over: South Africa 87-4 (Bavuma 25, Verreyne 6) On Bavuma goes, pushing the spinner around for two, then one. Verreyne gives Bavuma some of his own medicine by calling him through for a very short single, though Verreyne was running to the danger end.

33rd over: South Africa 83-4 (Bavuma 22, Verreyne 5) Boland keeps Bolanding: tight line, fullish side of a good length, decent bounce nonetheless. One takes Bavuma near the splice as he yanks his hand away. Another gets the inside half and drags to mid on. Eventually he squeezes one out to square leg for a run.

32nd over: South Africa 82-4 (Bavuma 21, Verreyne 5) Using his wrists to come across the ball is Verreyne, working the off-spinner to the leg side. Gets a run in this fashion eventually.

31st over: South Africa 80-4 (Bavuma 20, Verreyne 4) A change of ends for Boland, with Lyon now making himself at home from the southern end. The MCC is at Boland’s back.

Speaking of Boland, “could he turn out to be a match winner in English conditions next summer?” asks Julian from Surrey. “Seems to me he could be ideal here too with his accuracy and nip. And do you know if any English counties are thinking to sign him? I wouldn’t want to face him on a green top on a cloudy day in May myself. But I’m not aware of any such discussions.”

He absolutely could prosper there, with the length he bowls as well. He did get offers last year but he was in the Australian squad for Pakistan in March and April and Sri Lanka in June and July, so it wasn’t really feasible. He’ll be in India for the Tests in February and March coming up, presumably, though most likely he’ll be a bench option as he was this year.

So that could leave him April and May to play some county matches before the Ashes in June, though he’s more likely to do whatever training program CA puts him on. He did say that he wants to play a full England season at some point, just to see what it’s like being the overseas pro.

30th over: South Africa 78-4 (Bavuma 18, Verreyne 4) He’s been out there a couple of overs, and now Verreyne gets to face a ball. We’ve seen him counterattack in previous innings, two fifties in three hits this series, and he starts the same way today, reverse-sweeping Lyon with power for four.

29th over: South Africa 74-4 (Bavuma 18, Verreyne 0) Make that 79 boundaries to go. Bavuma smokes Cummins through the covers. Maybe getting a little fired up will help his game.

Rohan O’Farrell writes in. “I’m very curious whether or not SA have the batting pipeline (clearly not at present) to be able to present a team that plays good cricket with both bat and ball. Given these things can by cyclical, it’ll be interesting to see whether that happens before this current crop of excellent bowlers leaves the side.”

The previous cycle was about 15 years of all-time greats: Graeme Smith, Amla, de Villiers, du Plessis, Kallis. So living up to that is tough. As for the broader picture of South Africa’s domestic production line, Daniel Gallan wrote well on that for us recently.

28th over: South Africa 70-4 (Bavuma 14, Verreyne 0) First ball of Lyon’s over, Bavuma whacks through cover for four. Needs about another 80 of those to wipe away the memory of wasting a wicket that his team can ill afford. He nearly nicks one to follow, straightening past the outside edge. Keeps the strike to end the over.

27th over: South Africa 65-4 (Bavuma 9) I wonder if there’s a bit of Mitchell Starc in that dismissal. I was just writing a note that Zondo has been very disciplined at the non-striker’s end, staying well in his crease while Cummins was bowling. Had he been wandering a metre out like de Bruyn then he might have had a chance of putting in a dive at the far end.

26th over: South Africa 65-3 (Bavuma 9, Zondo 1) Bavuma survives a loud appeal from Lyon, hit on the pad sweeping. Drives a single down the ground.

25th over: South Africa 64-3 (Bavuma 8, Zondo 1) Another scoreless over, Zondo batting with discipline against Cummins.

24th over: South Africa 64-3 (Bavuma 8, Zondo 1) It’s Lyon Time. The spinner will be doing a lot of the remaining work, you feel. Zondo is playing him by getting across his stumps to the off side, trying to step into the ball and smother it. Hitting the ball square to the off side. Gets his first run after a few attempts.

23rd over: South Africa 63-3 (Bavuma 8, Zondo 0) Cummins to Zondo, who still can’t score but gets off strike after being hit on the leg. Bavuma sees out the rest stoutly.

I strongly doubt this, Number 86, but that is the fun of predictions.

22nd over: South Africa 62-3 (Bavuma 8, Zondo 0) Another Boland delivery past the outside edge. But Bavuma hits back with a solid straight drive for four just before drinks.

21st over: South Africa 58-3 (Bavuma 4, Zondo 0) Cummins replacing Starc now, and beating the outside edge immediately. Bavuma plays drop-and-run to cover, as he did in Brisbane to good effect. The problem is staying out there long enough to build a score in that manner. South Africa still 328 behind.

20th over: South Africa 57-3 (Bavuma 3, Zondo 0) Could have had Bavuma before de Bruyn got out, too, nicking through the cordon. Now it’s Bavuma and Zondo, who batted well together for a little while in Brisbane.

19th over: South Africa 51-2 (de Bruyn 25, Bavuma 0) No run to Bavuma from the first over he faces, keeping out Starc despite being beaten once.

18th over: South Africa 51-2 (de Bruyn 25, Bavuma 0) Another escape for de Bruyn! The edges of his bat must have been blessed: Saint Nick. This time it’s over third slip, and Marnus goes up but can’t get it in his fingertips. Four runs too. Boland sighs and goes back to work.

16th over: South Africa 40-1 (Erwee 21, de Bruyn 14) Back to classic Boland this over: one run from it, and draws the edge from de Bruyn but it doesn’t carry to slip.

15th over: South Africa 39-1 (Erwee 21, de Bruyn 13) Another good one for Erwee! Gets the strike from de Bruyn, then cracks Starc down the ground for four. He’s had a couple of starts, maybe this is the day he goes on.

14th over: South Africa 34-1 (Erwee 17, de Bruyn 12) Modest crowd in today but they give a good cheer for Scott Boland when his name is called out. Runs from him early, inside edge and then outside edge, two and then three. Ugly batting from Erwee. A single out of the middle for de Bruyn, and Erwee comes to the party after that: nicely onto the front foot, presenting the full face through cover and it slows up enough that they can get back for four all run. Ten runs! That must be the most expensive over of Boland’s Test career.

13th over: South Africa 24-1 (Erwee 8, de Bruyn 11) And there’s the first alarm. Catch nearly taken off de Bruyn. Not a full chance, he gets a thick low edge into the cordon and Smith at second slip has to dive to his right and low. The ball hits the ground and his fingers at about the same time, with his hand on the ground.

12th over: South Africa 23-1 (Erwee 8, de Bruyn 11) No alarms as yet for South Africa. Not many runs, but no alarms. Another six balls defending and leaving Cummins for de Bruyn.

11th over: South Africa 23-1 (Erwee 8, de Bruyn 11) Erwee’s first run of the day, dropping the ball towards cover from Starc and taking off. Nice shot from de Bruyn to finish the over, timing the straight ball out through midwicket for three.

10th over: South Africa 19-1 (Erwee 7, de Bruyn 8) A bye will be South Africa’s first score of the day, as Carey fumbles a take from Cummins. Starc must have applied some superglue or something to that finger, he’s on the boundary below us now and there’s no blood on his uniform anymore. Runs for de Bruyn, a thick edge along the ground behind point for two.

9th over: South Africa 15-1 (Erwee 7, de Bruyn 6) Starc will start the day bowling, good news for Australia. Not sure how much of it he’ll be able to do with that damaged finger. He angles across de Bruyn for the most part, swings the last ball into the pads. No run.

8th over: South Africa 15-1 (Erwee 7, de Bruyn 6) They make it through the first over, Erwee seeing off Cummins with a stout forward defence. Almost gets beaten on the inside of the bat a couple of times. No runs.

Players and umpires heading onto the ground now. What’s the feeling out there? It seems to me that if a wicket goes early, we could be out of here around lunchtime. It would be good to see South Africa make Australia work though.

The southerly, I can attest, is very brisk, having just made my way to the ground from the north. It was up in my face like a nightclub bouncer.

Conditions: After glorious sunshine on day one, scorching heat on day two, and rain on day three, we now have cool blustery conditions at the MCG. How very Melbourne. Thankfully there should be no rain, but we’re looking at a top of about 20C with temperatures kept in check by a brisk southerly.

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