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Mark Boucher of South Africa and Michael Clarke of Australia during day 1 of the 1st Test match between South Africa and Australia at Sahara Park Newlands.

First Test, Day 1 of 5

Australia first innings 214/8

Australian captain Michael Clarke doesn’t bother winning tosses. In fact, he has not won a single one of the current tour of South Africa. Instead, Clarke gets down to the serious business of batting, and responding to a challenge when his team need him most.

And he performed both duties with distinction against a fire-breathing South African bowling attack yesterday. There’s a suave elegance that Clarke sends out when he is in control. He presents the full face of the bat when driving down the ground, pulls and cuts savagely when the ball is short, and caresses the ball through the covers.

It was one of these glorious cover-drives, his 16th boundary of the innings, that took Clarke (107 not out off 114 balls) to his second successive Test century after earlier also passing 5 000 Test runs. It was an innings of the highest quality, and it was all that was going to suffice after Graeme Smith had routinely called the toss correctly, and inserted the visitors.

Table Mountain was beautifully covered with a white cloth, and after rain had postponed play by an hour, the Newlands pitch was sufficiently juiced up for Dale Steyn and Co.

After the first six overs of the day, Smith would have been cock-a-hoop that the coin had fallen in his favour. Shane Watson had already had his technique thoroughly examined during Vernon Philander’s first over in Test cricket, before Steyn showed the debutant exactly how it’s done.

Steyn (4/31) may have been a bit out of sync thus far this summer, but back in the “peppermint white” of the Proteas Test team, he looked every bit the World No 1 bowler that the ICC rankings affirm.

In the first session, the north-westerly wind blew perfectly over Steyn’s right shoulder in the direction of the slips, which aided his away-swinger, and that is exactly how Watson perished.

The wind had nothing to do with Ricky Ponting’s dismissal, though. It owed more to the technology of the decision referral system instead. Steyn hit Ponting on the pads, West Indian umpire Billy Doctrove said not out, only for the DRS to overrule, and the former Australian captain was left cursing all the way back to the pavilion.

Sandwiched between Steyn’s double strike, Philander (3/54) also had the gratifying pleasure of celebrating his first Test wicket. It was well deserved too, as the local boy had done enough in his opening spell to vindicate the surprising decision to hand him the new ball ahead of Morné Morkel.

Bowling from the Wynberg End, Philander moved it away from Phil Hughes just enough for the left-hander to feather a catch behind to Proteas wicket-keeper Mark Boucher – his 500th in Test cricket.

Steyn, a crocodile hunter in his spare time, was zoning in on Clarke, though. But even with him reaching speeds close to 150km/h, the visiting skipper counter-attacked at every opportunity.

He received support from the ever-improving Shaun Marsh, and the pair added 103 valuable runs for the fourth wicket as the Proteas meandered through the second session.

Jacques Kallis was primarily the culprit, with Clarke feasting upon a barrage of half-volleys from the all-rounder, while Morkel and South Africa’s other Test debutant, leg-spinner Imran Tahir, failed to drive home the early ascendancy.

But like Clarke answers his team’s call, so does Steyn for South Africa. The Phalaborwa Express trapped Marsh (44) in front, before Brad Haddin slashed straight to Ashwell Prince in the gully.

Philander closed a satisfactory day for him personally, and South Africa, with two further wickets in the final session that would leave Clarke reassessing how he is going to approach his lone act of defiance today. - Cape Times