Australia vs South Africa 2016: 3rd Test Day 2 - 5 talking points

A sensational hundred from Usman Khawaja enabled Australia to dominate a day's play in the series for the first time since Day 1 of the Perth Test. The partnership between Smith and Khawaja laid the foundation for a good batting display against some sharp bowling by the Proteas.

Once Smith departed, Khawaja was ably supported by debutant, Peter Handscomb, who notched up a fifty himself. A flurry of late wickets under lights with the new ball made the Proteas feel better but Australia sit atop in the Test leading by 48 runs as they finished the day on 307/6.

Some good bowling in the last session may have reduced Australia's dominance of the day's play. But that does not in any way take the sheen off a terrific batting display against some probing bowling by the Proteas, Abbott in particular.

Here are the talking points from the day's play at Adelaide:

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#5 Abbott's dream spell

Handscomb is bowled by an Abbott delivery

Kyle Abbott was certainly South Africa's best bowler at Hobart and on Day 2 at Adelaide, he proved why he is such a destructive bowler to have. He bowled with real intent, inducing edges off debutant Renshaw and the experienced Warner.

At one stage, Abbott's figures read just 9 runs off 10 overs. He found nip and beat the bat quite a few times before finally inducing the edge off Renshaw's bat. If Australia thought he was done, the South African replied with a sharp seaming delivery that nipped a touch away to catch Warner off-guard and edged behind to Elgar for 10.

Abbott continued to bowl superbly throughout the day and finished the day with figures of 35/3 off 22 tidy overs. If Steyn's absence is not felt by the Proteas it is because this man has stepped up admirably.

#4 The Smith-Khawaja stand

The two put on a 137-run stand

Steven Smith and Khawaja possibly put together the most telling partnership for the Aussies in the series. The 137-run stand put Australia on top on Day 2, the duo capitalising on a flat pitch and little movement off the deck.

Khawaja was watchful as ever and timed the ball perfectly while Smith played the perfect foil with quick running and the odd boundary. The partnership enabled Aussies to take a decisive lead on Day 2. Khawaja raced past his half century, possibly the toughest one in his career and Smith looked in delightful touch too.

South Africa did everything to break the partnership, even bowling a few overs with Dean Elgar. The breakthrough finally came in the form of a run out when a mix-up between the two resulted in Smith being dismissed.

#3 Contrasting fortunes of two debutants

Maddinson fell to yorker by Rabada

Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson had contrasting fortunes on their debuts as the former compiled a good looking half-century while Maddinson was bowled off a peach by Rabada.

Handscomb survived a probing opening over from Philander, where he was beaten and then almost caught and bowled off his first two balls, to make a first Test fifty. His technique and grip is quite unusual but it seemed to favour his style of batting as he knocked around the spinners, in particular, with ease.

Maddinson, meanwhile, walking out at the dismissal of Handscomb, survived a few early scares but before he could get off the mark, was cleaned up by a searing inswinging yorker from Kagiso Rabada.

#2 Tabraiz Shamsi switches on and off

Shamsi could play an important role on the last two days of the match when the pitch deteriorates

Shamsi was picked ahead of Maharaj as an attacking option in the starting XI. Wrist spinners are harder to read with the pink ball and this prompted South Africa to hand a debut to Shamsi and dropped Maharaj, who was very impressive in the first two Tests.

While Shamsi showed glimpses of his brilliance, Khawaja, Smith and Handscomb read him easily and rarely looked troubled by the zip and turn from Shamsi. He did beat the bat quite a few times with some sharp turning balls, but rarely looked threatening.

The Proteas’ plan of handing a debut to Shamsi to get some wickets hasn’t paid dividends yet, but with the pink ball turning soft later on, Shamsi might come into the picture more in the second innings and cannot be written off quite yet.

#1 Proteas make the new ball and light count

Matthew Wade fell to Philander late in the day’s play

With Khawaja and Handscomb flourishing, the Proteas needed a bit of an energy boost to get back into the game. An evening breeze along with the lights turned on and a brand new pink ball after 80 overs brought back energy levels.

Unlike yesterday, they made full use of the new ball, getting it to talk and move off the seam consistently to reduce Australia's advantage at the end of the day. Handscomb, Maddinson and Wade fell to some disciplined bowling by the Proteas seamers under lights.

The pink ball finally showed its true nature under lights making life pretty difficult for the batsmen against three seamers on top of their game. Khawaja, however, remained unperturbed and rarely put a foot wrong as he remained unbeaten along with Starc, who survived dangerously.