Aussies claim final wicket for 1-0 lead

It was matter of when not if Australia would win the first Test in Durban, and as it turned out it took less than 20 minutes on the morning of day five for the tourists to record a 118-run victory.

Mitchell Starc started the day on a hat-trick but was denied by Quinton de Kock, before Josh Hazlewood trapped the wicketkeeper lbw in the fourth over of the day.

Australia now hold a one-nil series lead with three matches to play.

Day five had an almost somber feel to it due to the practically absent crowd at 10am on a Monday morning and the emergence of a heated confrontation between de Kock and Australia vice-captain David Warner outside the players' dressing rooms at tea yesterday.

The Proteas camp said the altercation was "against the spirit of the game" while a Cricket Australia spokesperson said the incident is "now in the hands of the on-field umpires and match referee".

Australia looked on course for a huge victory after reducing the Proteas to 4-49 in the morning session of day four but rear-guard knocks from Aiden Markram (143), de Kock and Theunis de Bruyn (36) not only pushed the match into a fifth day, just, but had an improbable victory in sight.

But as the dimmer switch controlling the Durban sky's light was turned down late in the evening session on Sunday, Starc produced a triple-wicket maiden to put his side within one wicket of victory and the quick on a hat-trick after he splattered the stumps of Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada in consecutive balls.

The left-armer's scintillating over would be the last bowed by a paceman as the final nine overs were sent down by spin twins Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith, who couldn't capture the last wicket needed for victory and a day off before the umpires deemed it too dark to continue.

While most of the attention over the coming days will focus on the Warner-de Kock incident and the fallout of the dramatic second-innings run out of AB de Villiers, it should not be forgotten some fantastic Test cricket was played across five days at Kingsmead.

Mitchell Marsh established himself as a bankable commodity at No.6 with a mature 96 in the first innings as the backbone of Australia's match-winning total of 351.

Maharaj looks like a world-class spinner with his match haul of 9-225 and out-bowled his counterpart Lyon in the battle of the tweakers.

Starc proved why he's perhaps the best exponent of reverse swing bowling on the planet with two furious spells that demolished the tail of the Proteas in each innings.

And Markram's third Test century is one he considers amongst his best ever, a knock so good Australia gloveman Tim Paine conceded had the visitors worried the run chase could be achieved.

The teams now travel to Port Elizabeth for Friday's second Test at St George's Park, the venue where a Dale Steyn-inspired Proteas won in emphatic fashion four years ago to level the series at 1-1.

Steyn won't be there this week but the hosts will be hoping history repeats.

AUSTRALIA XI: David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon.

SOUTH AFRICA XI: Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Theunis de Bruyn, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Morne Morkel.

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, March 9-13. Live coverage

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26. Live coverage

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage