Honours even after see-sawing day in Durban

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The first Test at Kingsmead is evenly poised after Australia recovered from losing three wickets before lunch to reach 225/5 when bad light brought an early halt to proceedings.

Much of the pre-series discussion centred on the battle between two formidable pace attacks, but on a slowish deck it was South Africa's left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (2/69) who made the biggest impact on day one, getting through 24 overs and claiming the key scalp of Steve Smith (56) when Australia's captain looked on course to register his 24th Test century.

After a clinical batting display in the recent Ashes series, when Australia's batsmen racked up nine centuries, it was a story of false starts for the visitors on the opening day of what promises to be an enthralling series, with David Warner (51), Smith and Shaun Marsh (40) making promising starts before each falling in relatively innocuous fashion.

After winning the toss, Smith elected to bat and the Proteas immediately ramped up the pressure on Cameron Bancroft (5), who came into the series with a high score of 27 in his last seven innings. Vernon Philander continually tested the right-hander outside his off stump and got his man when an outswinger found the edge and Quinton de Kock took a simple catch, leaving Australia 15/1.

The Proteas keeper was soon back in the action, only this time the chance was considerably less routine. In his first over, Kagiso Rabada angled the ball across the left-handed Usman Khawaja (14) and a thick edge was grappled in spectacular fashion by de Kock, who made excellent ground to his left.

If South Africa regarded Bancroft and Khawaja as the weak links in Australia's top order, they knew Warner and Smith were the key wickets. The former had started his innings positively, driving Philander down the ground to register his first boundary, and he looked largely untroubled as he went through to a 28th Test half-century, bringing up the milestone by carving the same bowler through backward point.

It came as something of a surprise, therefore, when Warner was dismissed in the final over before lunch, fending at a Philander delivery that bounced on him a bit, with AB de Villiers taking a smart catch in the cordon. After choosing to bat, Smith, who was unbeaten on 24 at the interval, would have been disappointed that Australia found themselves 95/3.

The Aussie captain looked in imperious form after the break, easing through to his fifty from 94 deliveries. But the hosts managed to keep the run-rate in check and were rewarded when Smith attempted to cut a delivery from Maharaj which was a little too close to him and got an edge which ballooned up off de Kock's gloves and into the grateful hands of de Villiers at slip.

As Mitchell Marsh (32*) joined his brother Shaun at the crease, Maharaj continued to wheel away, finding enough drift and turn to keep him interested. He bagged his second wicket when Shaun Marsh pushed forward and edged to slip, giving de Villiers his third catch of the innings.

At 177/5, Australia were in danger of posting a well below-par score on a pitch that has little devil in it but the younger Marsh found a stable partner in Tim Paine (21*), as the pair added 48 before the gloom descended in Durban.

The visitors still have plenty of work to do to post a dominant total but will be reasonably happy with their work on a day when South Africa threatened to inflict greater damage.