Hayden powers past Proteas

The lustre of the initially anticipated return series may have been reduced following the 3-0 result in Australia, and the excitement generated by the thought of a "world championship" playoff lessened by fact Australia needed only to win one Test to unofficially claim the six-match series and with it Test supremacy. But the first Test at the Wanderers was still Australia v South Africa, the world's two leading Test nations squaring off at the start of a new series, and that was more than enough to make one look towards the contest with keen interest.

Foremost on the list of areas South Africa needed to rectify entering the series was the economical splitting of Australia's pair of imposing and record-breaking openers, Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden. In Australia, they recorded first innings stands of 80, 202 and 219 against the Proteas, setting up Australia's totals in each Test in the manner domineering opening combinations are supposed to. The loss of captain and leading seamer Shaun Pollock before the match therefore represented a significant blow to South Africa.

Langer and Hayden strode out onto the Bull Ring on day one to the refrain of U2's "Elevation" - they had indeed elevated the standard. With the South Africans trying to convince themselves that Australia would be vulnerable if they lost their openers early (which earlier, pre-Hayden batting performances had proved far from true), the challenge was to maintain it.

They should not have. With three hundreds in his last three Tests against South Africa, the last thing the Proteas wanted to do was give Hayden a second chance. Yet that's exactly what Jacques Kallis did. On nought in the second over of the match, Hayden edged Ntini to second slip driving off the back foot, and Kallis moving to his right spilt the chance. If ever there was a costly dropped catch, this was it.

The pace and bounce in the Wanderers pitch allowed the batsmen to leave on length and pull with impunity, while also encouraging seam for the pacemen pitching it full enough. Langer and Hayden appeared to judge the pitch characteristics very early and were confident in that judgement, able to punish the loose balls from Donald and Ntini.

The more aggressive of the two, Langer's departure came as a surprise. Perhaps too relaxed after having just crunched an erratic Donald square for four, he was trapped on the crease by one that beat his defensive shot. 46 was a reasonable start, but at least South Africa had separated them.

Hayden nearly went identically in Donald's next over, the only difference being he got further forward and was struck fractionally higher. The rewards should have been Ntini's - at an appreciably quicker pace than Donald, he also had greater control.

Newly appointed ODI skipper Ponting began typically forcefully, hinting at a possible epic with shots all around the wicket. Well balanced, he only enhanced the run rate by scoring at a run a ball, particularly prolific against Andre Nel, though he twice induced an edge amidst the flow of runs.

Kallis, presumably at Boucher's behest, tried too much to be an outright paceman rather than fulfil his containment role, sending two back and bouncing Ponting. Naturally, it didn't work, and Boje was introduced for an early spell. Against the spinner, Hayden immediately sought the initiative: he tried advancing, then sweeping, before hoisting the last ball over the mid wicket boundary. As he has done repeatedly in the last 12 months, Hayden had gained the early ascendancy over a spinner.

Ponting's demise was unfortunate. Defending on the back foot, he played and missed at Nel, clipping his pad with the inside edge just as he did so. The South African appeal was unanimous and umpire Bucknor was convinced. Though his line was somewhat astray Nel, tall and open-chested, did create chances. A Mark Waugh leading edge fell just out of reach of mid on, and a mishit hook fell safely to ground.

His straight drive in fine working order, Hayden was superb in the 'V', reaching fifty by driving through mid on. Fundamentally, the key to Hayden's innings and his recent success is judgement: judgement most importantly of when to leave and when to defend, when to pull and when not, and which balls to drive, usually safely down the ground. Allied to that is shot selection, as he uses his reach to ensure he rarely takes the risk of driving too much on the up. It has made him the form batsman in the world, and with Mark Waugh he began to take the South African attack apart.

Nel was conquered, crunched through cover and down the ground, as Australia ever increased their controlled freneticism. Another feature of Hayden's batting was his ability to rotate the strike immediately after hitting a boundary, not only frustrating the fielding side but also ensuring he did not get carried away.

Half way through day one, the run rate was 4.5, the field were back on their heels, and nothing appeared to have changed. South Africa were again yielding to Australia's attacking instincts. For his part, Mark Waugh seemed to be consciously playing himself back into form, his positive intent signalled by his willingness to hook. Knowing his place was endangered, there was a greater sense of EFFORT, of application, about Waugh's batting. If only he had this motivation more often.

It appeared the only way to dismiss Hayden would be through a mishit or leg-before playing across the line. For an opener against the moving ball, he is caught behind the wicket remarkably rarely. Ntini, with his angle across the left-hander and extra pace, troubled Hayden most, and in the 80s he suffered a lapse in concentration. There was a missed cut, an lbw shout and a skied sweep, before focus returned in the form of a scorching cover drive.

Though Mark Waugh departed with a half-century, with Ntini rewarded by going round the wicket and having him caught behind flicking at a ball down leg, Hayden went on to his fourth hundred from as many Tests. There was no doubt he had luck on his side, with one shot travelling over short cover one bounce to mid off, but it was by no means a lucky innings.

Increasingly authoritative, Hayden's concentration waned again before Steve Waugh, clearly seen as more of a target than usual and under pressure, cajoled him back to his senses. He fell somewhat unfortunately, caught behind off Nel down the leg side as he attempted to pull off his hip, but at 272/4 in the 68th over, he had established a sound platform. What strategy South Africa had developed to counter him was not noticeable, lost as it was by general inconsistency, Ntini excepted.

As might have been expected, Nel and Boje slowed Australia's progress and South Africa fought back, but not enough to come close to taking day one honours. The loss of Donald with a hamstring injury was simply sad and compounded South Africa's troubles.

Day one belonged to Hayden, and revealed another area South Africa needed to rectify: catching. It let them down in Australia and with just one mistake has certainly done so again.