Opener Usman Khawaja was 51 not out and Marnus Labuschagne was on 73 at the Sydney Cricket Ground after home captain Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat.
The Proteas celebrated as Simon Harmer claimed a catch on the ground and umpire Paul Reiffel gave a “soft signal” that Labuschagne was out. Cummins earlier completed a perfect home summer with the toss, calling it correctly in five out of five tests and putting his much-changed team in to bat on a pitch that offered turn for at the end of the first session.
Paceman Josh Hazlewood, recalled after recovering from a side strain, replaced the dropped Scott Boland, while left-arm spinner Ashton Agar was picked for his first test since 2017.
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Anc managed to drag cricket to Bafana level