Innings South Africa 284 (Bedingham 49, Cummins 3-54, Hazlewood 2-54) trail Australia 390 (Renshaw 190, Mulder 4-68, Jansen 3-68) by 106 runs

Harmer and Anrich Nortje added a valuable 35 more for the tenth wicket to eat into the deficit but Australia remain well on top.

Australia will face a challenging period before stumps with eyes on Nic Maddinson, who had a disastrous return to Test cricket with a 33-ball duck in the first innings.

Cummins spearheaded Australia’s attack, consistently challenging the batters as he regularly hit speeds of 140kph and above. He finished with 3 for 54 from 15 overs, with all four frontline Australia bowlers taking at least two wickets.

Bedingham seemed at ease after being elevated to No. 3, a position he had never previously batted at in Test cricket, but was left frustrated after falling for 49 – the top score in the innings.

After a wretched day two, where their attack was helpless against an impregnable Matt Renshaw before the late wicket of opener Ryan Rickelton for a duck, South Africa had looked to bat for the long haul in perfect conditions.

The Kingsmead surface had flattened, with little of the extra bounce and movement that proved quite difficult for Australia’s batters on the opening day still in play. With a day of toil in the field looming, Australia aimed to strike with what was still a new ball after only 8.4 overs were bowled when bad light cut short day two.

Resuming at 27 for 1, South Africa started well with the runs flowing off the bats of Markram and Bedingham under sunny skies. But they were never confident against Cummins, who was only four deliveries into his first spell before day two ended. He had a big lbw shout against Markram turned down, and he wisely did not call for the review with replays showing the ball was heading over the stumps.

He then conjured steep bounce reminiscent of earlier in the match when he had Bedingham in a tangle, but the leading edge flew over the slips for a boundary.

Markram loomed as a key having saved some of his best performances against Australia, averaging over 60 from five previous Tests compared to his career mark of 35.5. He moved to 37 until a loose stroke saw him edge a 144kph length delivery to first slip, with Starc’s decision to bowl around the wicket proving a masterstroke.

Having entered the attack 40 minutes into the day’s play, Lyon found his groove right away, which was a far cry from his South Africa counterparts Maharaj and Harmer, who were counter-attacked in Australia’s first innings.

South Africa’s scoring stalled and the pressure took its toll on Bavuma, who made just 3 from 27 balls before falling to Lyon.

Just before lunch, Lyon thought he had taken a second wicket when Mulder edged to Marnus Labuschagne at first slip, but third umpire Richard Illingworth deemed the ball had touched the turf.

Mulder was out to capitalise after the interval and combined well with Stubbs to steady South Africa. Lyon was unable to rediscover his accuracy, while the introduction of Travis Head’s part-time spin did not pay dividends with Mulder smashing his first ball into the grassbanks over square leg.

Right when Australia needed a spark, Cummins stepped up like he has done on so many occasions. He bent his back and conjured extra bounce to deliver a 143kph bouncer that bamboozled Mulder, who tried in vain to get out of a pull shot, only to hit straight to midwicket.

Cummins then completely outwitted Stubbs with a short-ball tactic that had the impatient batter holing out to deep fine-leg. His stranglehold over South Africa’s batters finally eased when he tired late in the spell as Marco Jansen counter-attacked with a trio of boundaries in the space of five balls.