Australia's Matt Renshaw celebrated his second Test century, almost a decade after his first, during the opening ICC World Test Championship tussle against South Africa.
Additionally staging a monumental 134-run ninth-wicket partnership alongside Nathan Lyon, Renshaw also pushed past his previous career best of 184 against Pakistan.
"I always wanted that second one," Renshaw told the reporters after Day 2 of the Durban Test.
"I had the monkey off the back early with that first one. I think it was like that has come in the last 10 years, all the hard work, all the failures, all the success. This was nice just for me to get."
Slotted at the No.5 position for the first time since his 2023 recall, Renshaw blunted the early threat to reach the end of Day 1 with just three boundaries from 115 balls. He notched his half-century off the second ball of Day 2, before negating the second new ball.
"I think once (I) took a few years out of the team, had an opportunity in 2023 and didn't take it, you probably think that you're never going to get this opportunity again," Renshaw added.
"So when I hit the ball, I was screaming at it, 'go, go, go'. It sort of all just hit me at once.
"You had Nathan (Lyon) at the other end, who was pretty emotional. So to see that, it was pretty special."
Renshaw's marathon knock also established a new venue record, setting the highest individual Test score in Durban by a batter coming in at No. 5 or lower, surpassing Kusal Perera’s unbeaten 153 for Sri Lanka in 2019.
While rain disrupted play for the second straight day, South Africa reached stumps on Day 2 at 27 for 1, trailing Australia by 363 runs. Josh Hazlewood made an early breakthrough by removing Ryan Rickelton for a three-ball duck, leaving Aiden Markram (15*) and David Bedingham (12*) to navigate through to the end of the day.
Series Schedule
First Test - October 9 to 13, Durban
Second Test - October 18 to 22, Gqeberha
Third Test - October 27 to 31, Cape Town
