Mature Marsh doesn't waste chance

Mature is not often a word associated with Shaun Marsh, long regarded as a batsman of great potential who had seemingly wasted it.

But there is no better way to describe Marsh's unbeaten 122 on day one of the opening Test against South Africa, an innings that lifted Australia to a score of 4-297 and put them in the box seat for a first-up victory.

The visitors were reduced to 4-98 early in the second session after being sent in on a bouncy Centurion pitch.

Marsh and Steve Smith (91 not out) then snatched back the ascendancy with an unbeaten 199-run partnership.

One-and-a-half years after being dropped from a Twenty20 Champions League clash in Centurion because of an alcohol-related discipline breach, Marsh was recalled to the Test side and knuckled down at the same venue.

Smith hoped it was a sign of what is to come from the 30-year-old who fell out of form after making a ton on his Test debut in 2011 in Sri Lanka.

"I think so," Smith replied when asked if the knock could put mercurial Marsh on the path to becoming a consistent player.

"He's been a quality player for a long time. He hasn't played Test cricket for a while and he's gone and worked on his game.

"The way he's come back, against arguably the best bowling attack in the world, and the way he played today was just terrific."

Playing his first Test in more than two years and hobbled by a sore stomach muscle, Marsh was deployed at No.4 in a reshuffled batting order.

Marsh entered the fray at 2-24 after Australia lost both openers in the first hour of play, while first-drop debutant Alex Doolan (27) and Michael Clarke (23) were dismissed either side of lunch.

Known for his T20 prowess, which fetched $A391,000 in the Indian Premier League auction, Marsh put on a Test cricket clinic.

Good balls were left, while boundaries were generally dispatched not with brutal force but exquisite timing - none more so than a straight drive from Marsh to a docile Dale Steyn delivery in the 60th over.

"He waited beautifully," Smith said. "He showed great maturity."

Marsh's innings was particularly meritorious given he only landed in Johannesburg on Sunday morning.

The West Australian enjoyed some luck, Hashim Amla putting a tough one-handed catch down at gully when he was 12.

Marsh's only nervous 90s moment came when a Ryan McLaren delivery rocketed off the pitch and struck him on the hand, but the edge fell short of the slips cordon.

"They batted really well," McLaren said. "It was pretty much a chanceless partnership."

QUICK SINGLE: McLaren backs decision to bowl first

Steyn (2-54) was the pick of the Proteas' bowlers and claimed the scalps of Clarke and David Warner, but he was well down on pace due to a stomach bug.

"He had a bit of diarrhoea overnight. It was a serious effort from Dale today," McLaren said of Steyn's 20 overs, which included four ineffectual overs with the second new ball.