SA’s 214-run defeat to Australia in the first cricket Test in Durban has left them with more questions than answers, with several concerns they carried into the match now demanding closer attention.
The Proteas were bowled out for 206 in 86.5 overs on Tuesday, chasing 421 for victory, with Josh Hazlewood finishing with 6/49 as Australia completed a comprehensive win before lunch.
SA had worried about Australia’s pace attack of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Hazlewood before the Test.
That concern proved well founded, with Hazlewood taking 10 wickets in the match and keeping the hosts under constant pressure.
The bigger concern now, however, is how little resistance SA produced once Australia established control.
The Proteas did have moments of resilience.
After Rickelton was dismissed for two, David Bedingham and Aiden Markram put together 66, taking SA to 73.
Bedingham made 46 from 68 balls, striking eight fours.
But Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs fell for one each, reducing the hosts to 86/4.
Markram and Wiaan Mulder then produced the innings’ biggest partnership, adding 69.
The SA opener's eventual 75 from 237 balls was an exercise in endurance, while Mulder contributed 29 from 110 deliveries.
Kyle Verreynne was out for one, before Marco Jansen counter-attacked with 35 from 54 balls in a 45-run partnership with Markram.
The pair took SA to 201/7, but the innings then unravelled.
After Jansen fell, Simon Harmer was dismissed for a duck and Markram followed for 75, meaning three wickets fell on 201 before Anrich Nortje’s four took the total to 205.
Bavuma, Stubbs and Verreynne contributed just three runs between them, while the Proteas scored at only 2.37 an over.
That makes the criticism less about individual selection and more about the collective response once Australia applied sustained pressure.
There were also questions around SA’s bowling attack before the match, most notably the absence of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje’s return after his lengthy layoff.
Nortje provided flashes of the X-factor SA had hoped for, taking 2/56 in Australia’s second innings, while Keshav Maharaj also claimed 2/56 and Jansen 1/45.
But Australia still added 281 in the first two sessions on Monday, turning their 139-run first-innings lead into a 421-run target when Cummins declared on 314/6.
Nic Maddinson’s 48 from 38 balls, Matt Renshaw’s 82 from 99 and Beau Webster’s unbeaten 39 showed Australia’s willingness to keep attacking.
Cummins then hammered 32 from just 12 balls, including four sixes, before the declaration.
Renshaw was arguably the difference between the teams, following his monumental 190 in the first innings with another substantial contribution in the second when SA desperately needed to regain control.
The fact of Rabada’s absence cannot simply be used to explain the defeat.
SA bowled Australia out for 390 in the first innings but had the visitors at 124/6 at one stage on the opening day.
The pre-Test concerns around Australia’s pace attack, SA’s bowling balance and Nortje’s return were legitimate.
Durban has now added another question — whether this batting group can show the composure and resistance required to withstand a sustained assault from a high-quality Test attack?
For the reigning World Test Championship winners, that is the question which matters most now.
The response in the next Test starting at St George's Park on Sunday needs to be equally clear.
