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Live cricket scores: Australia fight back but South Africa takes honours on day one

Headshot of Aaron Kirby
Aaron KirbyThe West Australian
VideoAustralia has made significant selection changes for the decisive third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.

Australia return to Cape Town for Test cricket for the first time since Sandpapergate and their series against South Africa is on the line after a big defeat in Gqeberha.

Nic Maddinson has been sent home after being dropped but the Australians will wait until the last minute to name a team.

Meanwhile, South Africa will be without Anrich Nortje.

Follow the action with our live blog.

Reporting LIVE

Holding pattern

Lyon and Connolly are hoping to break Rickleton and Jansen before the new ball but otherwise the game is just waiting until the 80th over for the next stage of the game.

There should be around 35 minutes left but it’s getting dark and the new ball is 2.3 overs away.

SA 6-314

300 up

It’s take South Africa 67 balls to go from 250 to 300.

The Aussies need to tighten back up or this can get right away from them again.

New ball is six overs away.

SA 6-302

Grubber!

Connolly is back on and gets a ball to basically roll along the ground!

It landed in a foot mark well wide of the stumps and rolls all the way to the fence with Carey no chance of getting down to it.

SA 6-291

Get them off!

Jansen is making mince meat of the Aussie quicks and they need a spell.

Hazlewood looks awful, Cummins looks awful.

Starc is the only one who has generated anything.

Hazlewood or Cummins should have been rested for Boland.

SA 6-285

Drinks

This is a vastly improved Ryan Rickleton.

As an opener, he wanted to dominate the bowling, and he did that at Newlands against Pakistan last year when he made his career-high 259.

But in Durban, it saw him look a walking wicket.

In this innings, and his one in the middle-order in Gqeberha, he has given himself time and let the bowling come to him.

His strike rate is down but he and Jansen are getting back on top as the Aussie quicks continue to battle to find wickets.

Cummins has now gone 296 balls without a scalp, the longest drought of his career.

SA 6-273

Slower balls

Cummins has now thrown in a couple of slower ball variations and it looks a good move against Jansen.

He times pace bowling very well.

SA 6-260

Bad news

They’ve had to turn the lights on with some dark clouds coming over the mountain.

Hopefully it passes because we still have 90 minutes of cricket left in the day.

SA 6-251

Big shout!

Lyon raps Rickleton on the pads and puts in a big appeal.

Cummins sends it to the third umpire after the on-field umpire said not out.

There were two noises and this time there is bat before the pad.

SA 6-250

Drawing blood

Starc has crushed one of Rickleton’s fingers with a nasty bouncer and it has drawn blood.

The former opener took his glove off and it has bruised up badly and there is blood oozing from the knuckle.

He will be lucky if there’s no break but he is the keeper so they might have something to worry about here.

SA 6-244

Jansen must go

The big all-rounder has crashed two glorious back-foot drives for four.

He can rescue 300 from this innings if Australia are not careful.

Lyon is the guys here.

SA 6-243

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