South Africa v Australia: first men's Test day one at Kingsmead

South Africa and Australia began the first men's Test at Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban on day one, with play scheduled to start at 9.30am local (6.30pm AEDT).

Australia’s return to South Africa for a first Test series since 2018 has revived questions about the ball‑tampering scandal in Cape Town, with doubts over whether the full version of events has been revealed.

Geoff Lemon will be covering every day of the series for The Guardian; the live coverage referred to “sandpaper fatigue” from retrospectives, reported that some pundits have called the bans an overreaction given the prevalence of ball‑tampering, and pointed to the press conference in which Smith and Bancroft foolishly lied to cover theirs up. “What’s left to come out after eight years?” asked Starc this week.