Elgar makes most of drop to notch Newlands ton

Elgar gets a life - Before a ball had been bowled in the series, Australia’s fielding coach Brad Haddin stressed the importance of his charges holding all chances that came their way against the star-studded South Africa batting lineup.But the tourists were left to rue a crucial fielding blemish when Nathan Lyon put down a simple chance just behind point from a Dean Elgar cut shot when the opener was on 53.The partnership with AB de Villiers was worth just nine runs at the time and the pair would go on to share a 128-run stand, while Elgar finished the day unbeaten on 121 as the rock amid the home side’s late collapse.

Elgar smashed an eleventh Test hundred

A composed, fluent Dean Elgar grit it out on day 1 at Cape Town to smash a fabulous ton, his 11th in Test cricket, even as wickets tumbled around him against the old ball. Pat Cummins took over the responsibility of reversing the ball and suddenly found things working in his favour.

Elgar, however, was batting on a different surface and barely gifted any chance except when Nathan Lyon dropped a sitter at point. The left-handed opener had struggled against Lyon in the first two Tests but appeared in far better touch on day 1, confidently taking on the spinner and flourishing in the company of AB de Villiers.

Elgar and Amla have an unmistakable camaraderie

Two batsmen who play time and balls rather than make runs share a wonderful bond in South Africa's batting line-up are Dean Elgar and Hashim Amla. After their dedicated efforts at Port Elizabeth which earned words of praise even from the tight-lipped Australian coach, Darren Lehmann, Amla and Elgar were back to doing what they do best.

After Markram's duck, Elgar and Amla strung together a fabulous 86-run partnership that halted Australia's progress into the host's batting line-up. Elgar was ugly as always but played with immense concentration while Amla appeared in much fluent touch than he has been in this series. Hazlewood, though, broke the pair with a wonderful short ball to Amla, dismissing him yet another time.