Australia take charge in Durban as Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon share nine wickets

Australia reduced South Africa to 284 in the first innings and were 33 without loss in their reply by the end of day three at the first Test in Durban, as Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon shared nine wickets.

The four fast-bowling and spinning options are all over 33 years old and each has passed 300 Test wickets, a group milestone that began in Mackay two months ago; they are the only quartet in history to walk onto Test fields as members of the 300 club. Together they have played 38 Tests as a unit, a total the article describes as eclipsing previous benchmarks for frontline bowler combinations.

Hazlewood had already dismissed Ryan Rickelton the previous evening, and the third day's first session briefly belonged to South Africa as Aiden Markram and David Bedingham traded boundaries, the latter striking three in a row off Starc. Starc returned the momentum when he angled one around the wicket to induce an edge from Markram on 37, and Temba Bavuma soon fell reverse-sweeping to Lyon; Bedingham was caught for 49 off Pat Cummins. At that stage the overnight scorecard read Cummins one for 18, Lyon one for 14, Starc one for 37 and Hazlewood one for 35, with the fall of those wickets arriving in the 31st over.

Wiaan Mulder and Tristan Stubbs put on a partnership through the middle overs and Australia briefly used Travis Head, during which Mulder hit Head for six and four. Cummins resumed the attacking role and struck with a bouncer that uprooted Mulder, then followed up in his next over by extracting a hook from Stubbs that carried to fine leg; the 55-run stand collapsed with both batsmen out in the 30s.

Steve Smith contributed significantly in the field, moving back to the top of the Test catching list with his work on day three: he has 223 catches in Tests, 150 of which have come off the current bowling quartet. His first three catches of the day were described as spectacular — a dive across from second slip to poach Bedingham's edge, a rapid sidestep to intercept a reverse-sweep attempt from Bavuma, and a full one-handed dive to his right to take the catch from Kyle Verreynne.

Marco Jansen's late hitting produced 26 from 20 balls but left South Africa 197 for eight after he struck Hazlewood to mid-off, a scoreline the report contrasts with Nathan Lyon's 27 from 91 in Australia's earlier innings. The lower order eked out runs — Simon Harmer added 52 in partnership with Keshav Maharaj and a further 35 with Anrich Nortje — before Maharaj was caught at cover off Starc after tea and Nortje fell to a straightforward slip catch by Smith; Beau Webster's recovery act of dismissing the No 11 is noted as the only blemish on the bowlers' shared returns. The innings closed at 284, with Cummins finishing with three wickets and Starc, Lyon and Hazlewood two apiece, taking the quartet's pre-match collective tally of 1,641 wickets to a round 1,650.

South Africa finished their first innings 106 runs behind Australia's 390, and bad light halted play with Australia 33 without loss in their second innings, a position that extended the overall lead to 139 at the close of day three.