That’s the end of our live coverage. Read Geoff’s report below. The liveblog team will be back for the second Test in Gqeberha on Sunday. Bye!

“It’s amazing, on such a crumbling pitch, how little Nathan Lyon was required,” says Gervase Greene. “He might have taken 571 Test wickets, but seeing Nick Maddinson and Matt Renshaw bowling darts at the death would suggest the sun is setting not only on Durban…”

I wouldn’t worry about Gary just yet. It’s unusual for him to be wicketless in the fourth innings of a Test victory, but I thought he bowled excellently when Australia turned the screw on the third afternoon. And he’s desperate to win a series in England.

Matt Renshaw’s game in numbers

• 190 (397 balls)

• 82 (99)

• 13-2-30-2

Never give up on your dreams. Renshaw spent most of his twenties wondering if he’d ever play Test cricket again. Now, at the age of 30, he has a long Test career ahead of him.

This is Temba Bavuma’s first defeat in 13 games as South African captain. They looked rusty and let the tortoise get away form them when Australia were 124 for 6 in the first innings. I suspect we’ll see a more competitive South Africa at Gqeberha, and not only because Kagiso Rabada will be back in the side.

86th over: South Africa 201-9 (Maharaj 0, Nortje 0) “I was surprised to see Simon Harmer in this Test and had to school myself on the ending of the Kolpak rule, one of the great results of Brexit in an uncrowded field,” says Eamonn Maloney. “He’d have to have a shout of being the county player of the last decade? In spite of appearing to come in off about two steps and turn it the width of a ha’penny. You only need to turn it a bat width or so I guess.”

He’d be in the conversation. He was particularly good when Essex won the championship in (I think) 2017 and 2019.

85th over: South Africa 201-8 (Markram 75, Maharaj 0) A double-wicket maiden from Hazlewood, who will be sniffing Test-best figures. At the moment his best is 6 for 67 against India at Bengaluru in 2016-17.

84th over: South Africa 201-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 35) Lovely stroke from Jansen, a flowing cover drive for four off Starc. Later in the over, Markram leaves a big inswinger from Starc that bounces over middle stump. That’s the first really dramatic movement we’ve seen with the second new ball.

83rd over: South Africa 196-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 31) Josh Hazlewood gets the first crack at Marco Jansen with the new ball. A slightly overpitched delivery is driven crisply down the ground for four. Australia won’t mind that as they have a gazillion runs to play with. Jansen is a talented strokeplayer but not somebody you’d choose to bat for your life.

82nd over: South Africa 191-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 26) Australia take the new ball. Mitchell Starc starts over the wicket to check if there’s any swing. There is not, but he almost strikes with a full delivery angled across. Markram chases it absent-mindedly and is beaten.

A maiden, the 22nd of the innings.

81st over: South Africa 191-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 26) Jansen helps himself to four more when Maddinson spears one outside leg stump. Maybe Australia think they can buy a wicket with Jansen playing a few shots off Maddinson, although he’s only really going after rank bad deliveries.

80th over: South Africa 187-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 22) The dead bat of Aiden Markram plays out another maiden from Webster. The new ball is due but Nic Maddinson is going to continue for now.

79th over: South Africa 187-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 22) Jansen moves into the twenties with another boundary, a controlled square drive off the back foot. With the new ball due at the end of the next over, Maddinson’s work is probably done. If so, he’ll finish with figures of 3-1-14-0.

78th over: South Africa 183-6 (Markram 75, Jansen 18) Webster is back. Markram softens his hands to drop the ball short of leg slip, then times a half-volley to the cover boundary.

South Africa are heading for defeat but this has been an exceptional innings from Markram and it would be nice if he a) made a century and b) carried his bat. The last South African to carry his bat in a Test was Dean Elgar – he did it three times, which is ridiculous, including twice in as many months against India and Australia in 2018.

77th over: South Africa 179-6 (Markram 71, Jansen 18) A long hop from Maddinson is mauled for six by Jansen, who drags the next ball through midwicket for four. The first shot was risk-free, pretty much, as it was a rank bad bad. But the second kept a bit low and could potentially have gone back onto the stumps.

76th over: South Africa 169-6 (Markram 71, Jansen 8) Pat Cummins, a fan of the one-over spell, brings on Renshaw for Webster. Three from the over. Any wickets before the second new ball will be a gleeful bonus for Australia.

75th over: South Africa 166-6 (Markram 69, Jansen 7) Now it’s Nic Maddinson’s turn to bowl some left-arm spin. His first ball is an absolute ripper that beats Markram, and the rest of the over is pretty good too.

Why do Australia produce so many good occasional bowlers? It’s been a recurring theme of my cricket-watching lifetime. I’m still not over Rob Key batting magnificently against Brett Lee on a Perth flyer in 2002, only to be bowled by Damien Martyn.

74th over: South Africa 166-6 (Markram 69, Jansen 7) A maiden from Webster. That review was comically bad.

Jansen is not out! Missing off? It was barely in the same postcode as off. A weirdly appalling review from a team who normally use DRS so well. Might even be the worst Australian review since Headingley 2019. But it won’t be as costly.

Australia review for LBW against Jansen! Beau Webster starts after lunch, his first bowl of the innings, and has a big LBW shout turned down when Jansen offers no stroke to his third ball. Missing off, I reckon.

In other news, England have picked an 18-year-old for a tour of Australia. He’s really good.

“Hi Rob,” writes Ruth Purdue. “I think Cummins is going to bundle these 4 wickets one way or another. The amount of times he bends a match to his will is almost unmatched. He is still my favourite out of the cartel.”

Mine too. A 21st-century Gary Cooper.

Arf, thanks Geoff. Those two wickets just before lunch have extinguished South Africa’s hopes of an Adelaide 2012 homage, and this could be a quick kill. This Australian XI have 435 Test victories between them; it’ll soon be 446.

We’re having a lunchtime handover here as well, because I have a match report to prepare. Would you please welcome with a warm round of applause, Test cricket! And also Rob Smyth. Meanwhile …

“The wonder of Test matches is their unpredictability. Australia should win, a draw is probably the best result for South Africa but the fascination is what will happen. I love it.”

Amen, Michael Hall.

Tom Barrington writes in. “Just thinking about the criticism (rightfully) of the SA team selection – how much difference do you think losing the toss and bowling first made to this? Pitch is taking a lot of spin now and the scoreboard pressure when bowling second could have largely benefited the two spinners.”

A huge amount, is the answer. South Africa would have groaned when the coin came down for Pat Cummins and he chose to bat. Two spinners, you want to bowl last. Renshaw played them so well on day two when there wasn’t much going for them. Later in the piece… well, Renshaw has 2 for 27, so that tells you something.

They would expected more turn earlier in the game, but the surface hasn’t deteriorated much. I’d like to see people being less averse to choosing spin: nobody says it’s wild for a team to pick three quicks. And if your spinners are good enough, they can bowl at any time of the match, they just have to adapt their approach.

I don’t think it’s all about two spinners, either. Maharaj would have played had it been one spinner, and he went none-for in the first innings at four an over, and a couple of lucky poles second time around at six an over. That’s an issue of your premier spinner not having an effect, not selection. Lyon hasn’t had much effect for Australia yet, either, though he’s looked more threatening than Maharaj.

73rd over: South Africa 166-6 (Markram 69, Jansen 7) Lyon with the last over before lunch, after this extended session of two hours and fifteen minutes. That’s because of all the overs we’ve lost to light – we now have two extended sessions to start each day. Four bat-pad catchers in around the bat for the last few balls, but Markram sees out each one.

72nd over: South Africa 166-6 (Markram 69, Jansen 7) That can happen with part-time bowlers! Renshaw has the ball slip from his hand, sending down a full toss, and Jansen cross-bats it down the ground for four. A skimmer.

71st over: South Africa 161-6 (Markram 68, Jansen 3) Lyon with turn, Markram waits for that turn off the pitch and whacks it down to long on for one. He made 143 for South Africa in that 2018 match that I mentioned early, chasing 417, most of those runs coming with the team at five down. Today they’re chasing 421, and six down.

70th over: South Africa 160-6 (Markram 67, Jansen 3) Just wide of the silly mid off! Jansen that massive stride forward, Renshaw’s ball hitting some pad up near the splice and the gloves, rolling up the splice, lobbing into the air, and it high to the left of the bat-pad catcher on the off side. I believe in Afrikaans cricket parlance that position is called the falk, the hawk. I’m not looking that up, so correct my spelling if need be.

69th over: South Africa 160-6 (Markram 67, Jansen 3) No issues getting off strike for Jansen, glances Hazlewood’s first ball of the over. Gets another later in the over, squeezed behind point. He loves to clobber the ball, can he do something different today?

68th over: South Africa 158-6 (Markram 67, Jansen 1) Thus begins one more Ballad of Big Marco. Wicket the first ball of the over. Jansen leaves a few, then thumps one to deep cover for a run. An appeal against Markram as Renshaw gets turn, into the thigh via some glove or bat I fancy. That period of hopefulness for South Africa slides from view, now it’s Australia back in control.

67th over: South Africa 156-5 (Markram 67, Verreyne 1) Once again, it’s Hazlewood. Early wicket last night, then came back for an important one when the Markram-Bedingham stand threatened. Now he’s done it again. Goes past Fred Trueman’s 307 Test wickets, and he’s now one behind Morne Morkel and Lance Gibbs. A couple of big name Australians not far beyond that, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson.

Kyle Verreyne to the middle.

66th over: South Africa 154-4 (Markram 66, Mulder 28) Three catchers around the bat for Lyon: slip, short leg, leg slip. Crouched and waiting. Lyon shifts back around the wicket to Mulder, looking to straighten the ball down the line of the stumps, but Mulder is defending on the back foot with the straightest bat.

65th over: South Africa 154-4 (Markram 66, Mulder 28) Starc continues, hunting the gloves by going in at Markram’s hip, but he manages to drop hands and turn to evade the ball rather than following it and maybe gloving to the keeper down the leg side. When Starc goes off stump, Markram’s defence is perfect.

I don’t think South Africa are scoring 267 more runs today, but right now they look like a team that could bat out a draw.

64th over: South Africa 154-4 (Markram 66, Mulder 28) Lyon carries on, Markram getting a big stride out to defend off the front foot. The spinner swaps to around the wicket, bowls a skidder that goes on outside the off stump, on the angle. Then back over the wicket to have Markram defending on the back foot. Wider goes Lyon, Markram steps across and drops the ball behind point for one. Mulder defending to leg, the risk of bringing those bat-pad catchers into play, and the Australians are interested.

63rd over: South Africa 153-4 (Markram 65, Mulder 28) Starc, long and lanky, still hunting for something from around the wicket. A lot of his deliveries are being let go. Patience required. The battle of attrition is in full, slow, quiet, swing. Markram gets a run off his pads.

62nd over: South Africa 152-4 (Markram 64, Mulder 28) Lyon wide of off, Mulder stepping right across to defend with a straight bat. Lyon is looking for the left-armer’s footmarks, from Starc and Jansen. Finally lands one! It goes sharply, serious turn. A big burst of dirt comes up with the ball. Mulder gets on top of it and knocks it down to leg, gets a run. He’s been excellent today.

61st over: South Africa 150-4 (Markram 63, Mulder 27) Starc to Mulder, from around the wicket. This is how he did all that damage here in 2018: around the wicket, vicious swing away, the one that took Faf du Plessis’ edge to the keeper stays in the memory. There’s not the same sense of imminent threat today. Mulder sees off another over, and taps a run to cover from the last ball.

The South Africans have seen off 20 overs so far. The draw is firming.

60th over: South Africa 149-4 (Markram 63, Mulder 27) Maiden for Lyon to Markram.

Kenrick Riley writes in. “If the old bogey score was 87 (13 short of a 100), is Marnus’ nemesis his most common recent score of 37 (13 short of a 50)? Asking for a friend!”

Well, he is more inclined to believe in the devil than his teammates – I suspect he’s the only one with a Bible in his luggage. But… better to make 37 than 7? Not many Test batters even averaging 37 these days. He looked good in both innings, I thought, so I wouldn’t get too hung up on the dismissals. Compare that to other points of the last few years when he was really in a rut, couldn’t score at all.

59th over: South Africa 149-4 (Markram 63, Mulder 27) Cummins keeps working away, past the edge a couple more times with the ball moving away. He hasn’t bowled the lbw ball for a while, wonder if he’s working on this as a long-term setup. We saw Hazlewood jag on in, but it’s the only one today.

58th over: South Africa 148-4 (Markram 62, Mulder 27) Back to spin after drinks, Lyon getting good bounce as he tests out Mulder. Defending on leg stump, defending outside off stump, he’s moving around the crease a lot in an attempt to combat the spinner.

57th over: South Africa 148-4 (Markram 62, Mulder 27) Is Cummins hiding the ball while running in? Can’t quite tell, I can only see his back during the run-up, but it looks like he has his hands together on the approach. A little reverse swing coming into the equation, this is an abrasive ground. He gets an inside edge from Markram that goes too square to threaten the stumps, instead hitting pad. Then comes around the wicket to the right-hander, this is an interesting ploy for a right-armer, and after smashing the thigh pad, is very interested in an appeal for lbw! Brilliant yorker from around the wicket, spears in, maybe swings in a touch as well? Would have knocked over a few players, but Markram is in such good touch that he gets the toe of the bat onto it before it hits his toe in front. Next, the comeback from Markram, length ball and punched away off the back foot for four. Drinks.

56th over: South Africa 144-4 (Markram 58, Mulder 27) Suddenly, runs! And from Hazlewood, the last one you’d expect. Too full to begin, and Mulder nails a cover drive, perfect execution. Then the line is wrong and he almost gets another four, this one to fine leg, where only a very good Starc save in a tangle of limbs keeps him to two. And Hazlewood makes another error, leg side again, this time pinging off the thigh pad to the rope for leg byes. It never makes sense that a leg bye like that, purely from bowler error, doesn’t go against the bowler. That’s 11 from the over, though only 7 of them credited as going against Hazlewood.

On Renshaw earlier, John Starbuck ponders. “Cricket, perhaps more than most other sports, can stand or fall by the dictum of doing what your opponent least expects. Obviously, it doesn’t always pay off, but it might explain why Australia have begun the day like this.”

I think that’s true… up to a point. Your opponent doesn’t expect you to bowl 20 overs of slow head-high full tosses, but it’s not to your advantage if you do. Didn’t mind one over of Renshaw at the start, but before batters are settled you surely want your best operators testing them.

55th over: South Africa 133-4 (Markram 57, Mulder 21) Cummins so close! This pitch is not a home for demons, but there’s still some bounce for the right delivery, and this one takes off. Decent length, sharp bounce past the shoulder of the blade, Mulder pushing at it but totally flummoxed by the zing. Maiden over.

54th over: South Africa 133-4 (Markram 57, Mulder 21) Hazlewood really putting in some effort here, you can hear the grunt through the stump mics. He’s shaping the ball slightly, too, swinging away from Mulder. Normally only a very subtle swinger of the ball, if at all. Hazlewood relies on seam movement. Bouncer to Mulder, down under it. Mulder has not been sucked into any Stubbs-style shots. Finally scurries a single.

53rd over: South Africa 132-4 (Markram 57, Mulder 20) Cummins works away at the top of off stump. Bowls a no ball, which is unusual for the Australian captain. Mulder knocks a run to point. He’s still having some trouble with that shoulder that he hurt yesterday, landing heavily on it while fielding on the boundary.

52nd over: South Africa 130-4 (Markram 57, Mulder 19) Indeed, Hazlewood has now swung around to the far end. He’s giving Markram a good long stare after a leave just outside the off stump. A couple of singles, the pull and the glance. The pitch doesn’t look too hard to play on, but a couple of balls have done something. The Australians are sweating on that one variation that will draw a mistake in their favour.

51st over: South Africa 128-4 (Markram 56, Mulder 18) Now Cummins replacing Hazlewood! What’s going on? Cummins does like to rotate bowlers, but Hazlewood looked good. Maybe just changing ends. Good over from Cummins, anyway, beating Mulder’s edge and forcing him under a bouncer. Nothing scored.

50th over: South Africa 128-4 (Markram 56, Mulder 18) Singles from Lyon.

“What mind game is the OBO playing by displaying the score as 120-1 when 4 wickets are down?” asks Krishnamoorthy. “Does that give SA a better chance?”

On It is the ancient mind game known as manual scorelines, which means that one typo in a source post can be copy-pasted across multiple posts before anyone notices. Hot tip to all if you do notice an error on the OBO – how rare those days must be! – first try refreshing your page. It may have already been corrected, but that won’t be visible until you reload.

49th over: South Africa 125-4 (Markram 55, Mulder 16) Here’s the quick change from Cummins: three overs from Starc, looking out of sorts, and he’s replaced by Hazlewood. Who immediately beats the edge! Third ball of the over. Markram is furious with himself. He sees width and can’t help driving, but the length isn’t there, not full enough. Big whooshing drive, it misses, and Markram’s bat swishes like the tail of an annoyed cat.

Two balls later, nearly bowled! My word, that ball jags back in and misses the off stump by a centimetre. Markram left it, and was watching with heart in mouth.

Last ball of the over, driven straight for four. This one is full enough, and straighter, and Markram will allow himself to play that shot and not be self-castigated for it.

Great contest.

48th over: South Africa 120-4 (Markram 51, Mulder 15) Lyon again suggesting that he’ll be threat. Big turn into the pads, one ball gets squeezed past short leg by Mulder.

47th over: South Africa 119-4 (Markram 51, Mulder 14) Starc still isn’t getting the radar into that threatening zone. Goes off side, goes leg side, easy enough to leave a lot balls. A couple of singles from the over, a couple more wides. Starc was the destroyer eventually in that 2018 match, with the ball reversing.

45th over: South Africa 112-4 (Markram 49, Mulder 10) Some more wild stuff from Starc across the right-hander. We’ve spent so much time in this match watching left-handers bat, it now feels weird when both batters are the conventional way. No run from the over, Markram leaves alone a lot of it.

44th over: South Africa 112-4 (Markram 49, Mulder 10) Markram gets to face his first ball of the day, and soon enough he’s easing the ball through square for two, then another one. Hot hand and all, but I’m not convinced by starting a Test day with Renshaw. Surely you go to your best bowlers, your best options, not the guy who had momentum yesterday afternoon. Lyon will be more danger to a batter starting their day afresh.

43rd over: South Africa 109-4 (Markram 46, Mulder 10) Renshaw gets taken for a respectful single, but Starc gets clipped for four first ball of the day! This is a strange world. There’s a wide in there as well, on the off side. Starc has bowled some wild balls in this Test, a tendency that he had earlier in his career, but had fixed up in the last few years with adjustments to his technique. Not sure what’s gone on the last few days.

42nd over: South Africa 105-4 (Markram 46, Mulder 6) And it’s not a bad first over, either. So Renshaw will bowl spin ahead of Nathan Lyon this morning? That is curious. Mulder sees it out, and carefully drives the last ball for one.

We begin, and… first over of the day goes to Renshaw?!

Word from the ground is that Steve Smith did the warm-ups, so that’s good. He got a head knock from Anrich Nortje while batting yesterday, so they kept him from fielding as a concussion precaution.

(The revolution will be delayed for bad light.)

“10 quality dot points!” comes the praise from Nick Jones. “A communication guide would have it at four, or even three for the 1-2-3 A-B-C crowd. But a shining ten, a ten of great quality and weight. And none requiring a sub bullet. C’mon Aussie c’mon.”

Thank you, Nick. I consider mine to be in the vein of freeform jazz improvisational dot points. We are telling a story in dots, riding a river of dots. What are newspaper photographs if not images conveyed in a torrent of tiny dots, their force made evident only when they join together as one? Join together, people! Rise up!

The predicted sun is not really in evidence yet, I should add.

The weather! Tell us about the weather. The projected high is 25 in the good money, Doctor Fahrenheit’s monster is not welcome here. The forecast says sunny and pleasant… until 3pm. Then thick clouds are predicted to roll in, and we’ll probably be off again for the light.

You want the match report with a side dash of analysis? Well, do I have the cricket writer for you. Enjoy the word of some guy.