Elgar stands firm as Cummins leads Aussie revival

Pat Cummins celebrates the wicket of Temba Bavuma AFP

South Africa 266 for 8 (Elgar 121*, De Villiers 64, Cummins 4-64) v Australia
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

It wasn't the worst collapse in Test cricket today - after all, England's all-out 58 in Auckland is one of the all-time greats of the genre - but South Africa's afternoon capitulation in Cape Town was still quite a sight to see. On a day when Dean Elgar patiently compiled his 11th Test hundred and AB de Villiers coasted to a half-century, South Africa looked perfectly set at 220 for 2. Faf du Plessis had won his first toss of the series and everything was going swimmingly. Within minutes, it was all going drowningly.

By stumps, South Africa were 266 for 8. Elgar was still at the crease on 121, but a parade of partners had been bundled out for single-figure scores, and he was left with Kagiso Rabada on 6 and only Morne Morkel still to come. And it had all started with Pat Cummins, whose afternoon spell of 4 for 12 from eight overs turned the day's play in Australia's favour. South Africa still had a solid platform, but it was at risk of remaining just a platform. On a pitch offering little for the bowlers, Cummins had somehow found a way.

The key breakthrough was that of de Villiers, who had breezed to an 80-ball half-century and played some typically imperious strokes along the way. His partnership with Elgar was worth 128 when Cummins struck with the first over of his spell, a catch driven on the up to David Warner at mid-off. The dismissal was so much against the run of play, so unexpected that the Newlands crowd was stunned into silence. And the rest of the South Africa batting order never quite recovered its composure.

Du Plessis' lean run continued when he, having moved down to No.5 to allow the in-form de Villiers to push up the order, edged Cummins to Steven Smith at second slip on 5. It meant du Plessis has now gone seven innings in Test cricket without passing 20, his scores in that time being 8, 2, 15, 4, 9, 2* and 5.

Then came Temba Bavuma, and then went Temba Bavuma. Back in the side after recovering from injury, but having not played a competitive match for more than two months, Bavuma looked understandably rusty, and sent another edge to Smith in the cordon off Cummins for 1. Cummins' fourth wicket arrived when Quinton de Kock tried to pull a short delivery and only feathered a catch through to Tim Paine for 3.

The wickets kept coming. Vernon Philander tickled a catch behind off Mitchell Marsh for 8, and Keshav Maharaj continued his penchant for brainless batting with a well-set specialist still at the crease, lobbing a catch up to cover off Mitchell Starc for 3. By the close of play, Elgar was in with a serious chance of carrying his bat for the third time in Test cricket, a feat so far achieved only by Desmond Haynes.

As is his way, Elgar batted and batted and batted. No man has faced more deliveries in Test cricket in the past year than Elgar, but here he added fluency to his game, scoring all around the wicket, using his feet against the spin of Lyon, lofting him for a six down the ground and also striking 17 fours. His fifty came from 97 balls and his hundred from 178, with a boundary worked through the leg side off Mitchell Starc.

It was Elgar's first century of 2018, and once again highlighted his importance as a consistent presence in this South Africa line-up. Australia missed a couple of opportunities to send Elgar back to the dressing room, most notably on 53 when Lyon put down a straightforward chance at point off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood, and later an edge off Mitchell Marsh flew just past the fingertips of Smith at slip.

There was precious little success for Australia's bowlers in the first two sessions, with just one wicket falling before lunch and one more before tea. Hazlewood had broken through in the fourth over of the match with a textbook new-ball delivery, moving the ball away on a good length to take the edge of Aiden Markram's bat on the way through to Smith at second slip.

Markram's 11-ball duck ended the opening partnership at 6, but the ensuing partnership between Elgar and Hashim Amla was worth 86 as they steadied South Africa and took them to a good position at lunch. Amla fell soon after the break for 31, when he failed to control a hook off Hazlewood and saw his top edge taken by Cummins in the deep.

That left South Africa at 92 for 2, but Elgar and de Villiers ensured there was no further loss during the session. The final session, though, was a different story.