If Australia go on to win the third Test at Cape Town, they will have Mitchell Starc to thank for it. With the series tied at 1-1, South Africa, on Tuesday, appeared to run away with the decider as Marques Ackerman (95) and Aiden Markram (78) added 158 runs for the opening stand, at almost five runs per over.

After Nathan Lyon (2/71), Josh Hazlewood and Cooper Connolly combined for the first four wickets, Starc took charge and claimed the remaining six wickets as the Proteas were bowled out for 329 in 82.3 overs. Starc (6/72) took his last four wickets in just two overs with the second new ball. The hosts lost their last six wickets for just 113 runs.

It was a superb comeback for all intents and purposes. The 36-year-old hadn’t exactly had a great series until then. He took three wickets in Australia’s 214-run win in the first Test at Kingsmead. In the innings defeat of the second Test at Gqeberha, Starc took 3/89 as South Africa captain Temba Bavuma and allrounder Marco Jansen set the tone for the win with their batting in the first innings. On Tuesday, Australia found themselves in a pretty much similar situation, but this time their bowlers were determined, particularly Starc, who during the second Test last week reached the milestone of 450 wickets — only the second Aussie pacer after Glenn McGrath.

“Delete the first session, and we had a pretty good day, so probably expected more out of the wicket. It's quite a slow tennis ball bounce sort of thing, not too much sideways movement. Saw a bit of swing at the end of it with the second new ball, but yeah, they took the game away from us in the first session. Clearly not our best stuff, and I think after lunch we were back on the money,” Starc said after day one.

"I just had a bit of a look at some footage from the Test in Durban with some overlay from the Ashes and just seeing if there was anything (wrong) through the action, which there wasn't really. It was just more of a feel thing. A lot of us have been around long enough to try and problem-solve while we're going.

"I was hoping to get a few right with that second new (ball). It would have been nice to do it with the (first) new ball in the first hour. But I think that's a feature of our group. We can problem-solve before the end of the day's play too," he said.

When asked if Cummins’ decision to bowl first was the right call on a wicket that looked good for batting, Starc said. “(I’m) not in that pay bracket. My opinion doesn’t matter. It is what it is. Now we had to reassess at lunch, and I think at one point we probably looked like we would be bowling a fair bit tomorrow. So to bowl (them out) today, a good close to the day, (we will) reassess overnight, and now look to bat.”

Australia are well and truly back in the contest thanks to Starc’s heroics, and now the ball is in their batters' court. It, for sure, will be a challenge in the absence of their most seasoned batter, Steve Smith, out of the game due to a neck injury.