Starc's admission: 'A lot of things that haven't felt right'

Starc transformed figures of 0 for 62 after 12 overs into 6 for 72 having struck twice with the older ball as Australia went to the bouncer tactic then blew South Africa's lower order away with new-ball swing with four wickets in six deliveries.

Before the final Test, Starc viewed footage from earlier in the series overlaid with Ashes spells from last season, alongside coaching staff and wife Alyssa Healy, which had not shown any changes.

"There's been a lot of things that haven't felt right through the series," Starc said. "I had a bit of a look last night with [assistant coach] James Franklin and Ronnie [Andrew McDonald], and also my wife who has watched a lot of cricket.

"I just had a bit of a look at some footage from the Test in Durban with some overlay from the Ashes, just seeing if there was anything through the action which there wasn't really. It was just more a feel thing. I was probably looking too far into it. There wasn't really much difference in the action.

As a collective, Starc conceded Australia had been poor during the first session when they expected more movement after Pat Cummins inserted South Africa only for them to canter to 140 without loss in 27 overs.

"A lot of us have been around long enough to try and problem solve while we're going," he said. "[I] just happened to get a few right with the second newy. It would have been nice to do it with the 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. To bowl them out with clearly not our best start in the first two hours, I think it will take that."

Marques Ackerman, who top-scored for South Africa with a freewheeling 95 off 94 balls, appeared to question the decision to continue play in the evening session after clouds came over and the floodlights were turned on.

"The second new ball swung more than the first one, probably because the sun was out but when the clouds came over, it was dark and tricky out there with the second new ball," he said. It's a pity we didn't come off for bad light I think."

Before the teams even took the field there was drama at Newlands with Steven Smith ruled out due to his ongoing neck problem that he picked up at St George's Park. Starc said he was aware there may be an issue the night before, but only learnt of the late switch moments before the toss.

"I sort of knew something was going on yesterday when I was trying to get my laundry at the hotel and I couldn't get through [the team room]," he said. "But I didn't know he wasn't playing until I went out to warm-up today. He seems upbeat enough."

Smith's absence meant a recall for Josh Inglis who is set to bat at No. 5. Cameron Green has also returned to the side and will take Smith's position at No. 4. Another of those brought in, Cooper Connolly, claimed his maiden Test wicket when he trapped Matthew Breetzke lbw. Australia made four changes in all, their most during a series since Johannesburg 2018 in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.