Australia were 4 for 297, with Marsh unbeaten on 122 and unbeaten Steve Smith 91 at Centurion, at the close of day 1. Shaun Marsh paid back selectors’ faith in him with an invaluable century to help Australia recover from wobbly position as the Aussies found themsleves four down with very little on board after bring invited to bat by South Africa captain Graeme Smith.
Australia, at one stage, found itself at 4 for 98 with South Africa’s pacemen beginning to take charge, until Steve Smith joined Marsh in the middle for an unbeaten 199-run partnership.
David Warner (12) was the first to be dismissed, chopping Dale Steyn onto his stumps, before Chris Rogers (4) guided a short-ball off Morne Morkel to JP Duminy at short fine-leg.
Debutant Alex Doolan looked good early on, hitting five boundaries in a confident knock, but Doolan was eventually out for 27 thanks to a good Robin Peterson catch at mid-wicket off Ryan McLaren’s bowling.
Captain Michael Clarke (23), then, looked to conjure a recovery himself, coming to the crease at 3 for 72, but he fell when his team was just short of the 100 mark as he skied Steyn to Vernon Philander at fine-leg.
Shuan Marsh, who was flown in as a replacement for the injured Shane Watson, enjoyed his share of fortune on the day too as he was put down by diving Hashim Amla and later Robin Peterson before he reached his ton.
While Amla’s miss would go down as a half-chance in the gully region, Peterson dropped a fairly easy catch at cover.
On the other hand, Smith’s innings was far more calculated than that of his batting partner. He timed the ball extremely well and was rarely caught playing at deliveries outside his off-stump.
Once the fast bowlers tired the duo milked the South African spinners who never threatened to break the partnership.
Both Peterson and JP Duminy conceded 34 runs in their 10-over spells which, although not too expensive, allowed the Aussie batsmen to get away from the pressure created from the other end.
Dale Steyn was the pick of the bowler for hosts as he returned with figures of 54 for two in the 20 overs he bowled in his first outing since sustaining a rib injury.
