Mulder and Jansen leave Australia four down after Maddinson's record duck in Durban

South Africa took four Australian wickets either side of lunch at Kingsmead, where Nic Maddinson's long-awaited Test return ended in the longest duck by an Australian opener on record

Australia won the toss and chose to bat on the first morning of the opening Test in Durban, and were 84 for 3 at lunch from 26 overs. Three balls into the afternoon they had lost a fourth.

Wiaan Mulder, handed the new ball alongside Marco Jansen, did most of the damage, returning 2-17 from eight overs by the interval.

Steve Smith was the one Australian batter to settle, and he fell in the first over after the break without adding to his lunchtime score.

A decade's wait ends in 33 balls

Maddinson, 34, was playing his first Test since the Boxing Day match against Pakistan in 2016, and only the third of his career. He was called into the squad after Josh Inglis fractured a finger, and into the XI after Cameron Green was ruled out with an abdominal strain.

Named on Friday morning, he was then promoted to open with Travis Head rather than bat in the middle order. He faced 33 balls without scoring before inside-edging a cut from Jansen onto his stumps.

It is Australia's longest duck by an opener on record, and the third-longest by any opener in Test history. Only Mike Whitney, who survived 42 balls against England at Old Trafford in 1981, has lasted longer for nought in an Australian Test innings.

He had survived one scare: on his 15th ball South Africa declined to review an lbw appeal from Mulder that ball-tracking later showed would have been out.

Maddinson had not played a first-class fixture for more than 18 months, having undergone chemotherapy for testicular cancer last year. "It may not have been obvious for others, but we felt like he was the player that we needed," Australia coach Andrew McDonald said of the recall.

Mulder rewarded with the new ball

Temba Bavuma had backed Mulder to share the new ball on the eve of the match, and the all-rounder justified it inside the first hour.

Head was his first victim, caught behind for 9 off a glance down the leg side. Umpire Richard Kettleborough gave it not out, South Africa reviewed, and the replay showed the edge.

Mulder's second came with the last ball before lunch, Marnus Labuschagne trapped in front for 37 from 58 balls with six fours. Ball-tracking returned umpire's call on impact, so the on-field decision stood.

Smith and Labuschagne rebuild, then fall

Australia's one period of control came through the third-wicket pair, who added 60 in 96 balls.

Smith took the attack to Keshav Maharaj on the spinner's introduction, lifting him back down the ground for two sixes in the same over. Maharaj was the most expensive bowler of the session, conceding 30 from five.

Smith was unbeaten on 25 at lunch and did not add to it, falling in the first over after the resumption to leave Australia four down with the score unchanged.

South Africa field a new-look attack

Kagiso Rabada was not passed fit for the opener after a hamstring problem, and Lungi Ngidi is also unavailable. Anrich Nortje and Simon Harmer came in for them, the only two changes from the side that beat Australia in the 2025 World Test Championship final.

Nortje, playing his first Test in more than three years, beat the outside edge several times in five wicketless overs.

Jansen's eight overs brought 1-15 but were untidy in places, one delivery being called both a wide and a no-ball.

What is at stake in Durban

This is the first of three Tests, with Gqeberha to follow from 18 October and Cape Town from 27 October, on Australia's first Test tour of South Africa since 2018.

South Africa lead the World Test Championship standings from Australia, and the series is a rematch of the 2025 final, which South Africa won.

Kingsmead has favoured seam since cricket resumed after the pandemic, and Australia had won their past three Tests there, a run stretching back to 2006.

Scorecard: Australia 84 for 4 (26.3 overs; Labuschagne 37, Smith 25; Mulder 2-17) v South Africa, first Test, Kingsmead, day one.

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