Matt Renshaw's 190 turns Durban Test, providing Aussie batting blueprint

Like many great plans, it was deceptively simple. Stillness. Balance. Patience. Concentration. No frills, no fast moves and no undue risks, just decisive action when needed.

Not for the first time at Test level, a burly Queenslander, a three-pound cleft of willow and a healthy dose of self-confidence was the difference between Australian success and failure.

That Matt Renshaw resurrected an Australian first innings which teetered near oblivion at 6-124 was the first point of order.

Of consequences further-reaching, the left-hander resurrected his entire Test career overnight in Durban, sweeping, clipping and crashing his way to 190 from 397 deliveries across 465 minutes of life-affirming Test batting.

Numerous records fell or threatened to. Renshaw's epic was the highest score by an Australian in Durban, the fourth highest overall by an Aussie against South Africa, and the best by a number-five of any nation at Kingsmead.

It was also a new Test personal best for Renshaw, usurping the 184 he made nine years ago as a boyish tyro against Pakistan in Sydney, back when the world was at his feet.

Renshaw is 30 now — a husband, a father of two children and an entirely different cricketer. He knows his own mind and understands his place in the scheme of things.

For a nation which has been crying out for big, important runs by someone not named Smith or Head, his Daddy hundred here was one for the ages.

Practically speaking, Renshaw helped Australia to a first-innings total of 390, which was at least 150 more than had seemed optimistic when he first took guard.

On a deeper level, it restored belief in the value of grinding out an innings of depth and character. It was the real deal — the proper Test match batting the Australian cricketing public has been craving.

No mistake should be made about the high degree of difficulty, either. When Renshaw began shepherding the tail a day earlier, Australia was at the mercy of a vigorous and versatile South African pace attack jagging the ball all over the place.

Waiting in the wings were the Proteas' twin spin options of Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, with 1700+ first-class wickets between them.

Australia has struggled against left-arm spin in recent times. Last time they played a Test in Durban, Maharaj took nine wickets. And Australia's selection for this match — four left handers in the top six — was said to favour right-arm off-spinner Harmer even more.

So much for that, in the end. Renshaw swept, reverse-swept and paddled Maharaj into irrelevance and by the time Harmer finally removed the top-scorer for spin's first wicket of the game, the horse had well and truly bolted.

As it turned out, the sterner challenge was curbing the influence of the quicks, who'd posed constant difficulties for the rest of Australia's batters.

A microcosm came when Renshaw was on 130, yet still not able to relax. He was struck a scary blow to the grille of his helmet from an absolute snorter by Anrich Nortje, who bowled with genuine pace and accuracy in short, sharp spells.

Handling the wily and indefatigable Wiaan Mulder was no cinch either. Early on day two, the all-rounder scythed through Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc and threatened to blow the game open.

That he didn't was not exclusively a matter of Renshaw's dominance but of the rearguard partnerships which have so often saved Australia's bacon in recent times.

Renshaw shared stands of 86 across 32 overs with Pat Cummins and a monumental and possibly series-shaping 134 from 47 overs with Nathan Lyon.

Australia will not be looking too far ahead, but there was a blueprint here, not just of personnel but of general batting philosophy: know your game, make them bowl to you, stick around and wear them down.

Australia's total was the most obvious metric of success, but its innings duration of 137.2 overs will surely please Andrew McDonald and his analysts just as much.

In Australia's 35 Test innings in the two years before this match, they'd batted past the 100-over mark only six times, compared with 13 times in the 42 innings of the two-year period preceding.

That downward trend has, of course, coincided with a proliferation of the result pitches which characterise the World Test Championship era.

Concurrently, it is agreed by most involved in the Australian domestic scene, it has been difficult for Test batting candidates to put their best feet forward, or get in the habit of playing long innings, when the primary bloc of red-ball cricket occurs in spring, when Sheffield Shield pitches sometimes resemble Monty Don's perennial beds.

Without peering too far into the future or wishing disruption on a player who's just delivered something so special, one awkward talking point that will be aired soon enough is if and when Renshaw might move up to his normal position of opener.

The theory going into this game was that in batting down the order, he could blunt the influence of the spinners, which he assuredly did. But he would surely be just as assured against the new ball as he was here against the second new ball.

And yet, who'd be an opener these days? Late on day two, Ryan Rickelton provided a study in contrasts for the Proteas.

Having spent the better part of two days chasing leather in the field, and perhaps daydreaming that he was in Renshaw's shoes, he lasted only three deliveries before chasing Josh Hazlewood outside his off-stump and sending an edge to the cordon.

The more telling image of day two arrived an hour earlier, on the stroke of tea, when an exhausted Renshaw removed his helmet and trudged off for refreshments. 

Appearing on the balcony of the player's area, Australian skipper Cummins peered down on the centurion with something like a look of love on his face.

Ray Illingworth once said a captain needs the patience of a saint, the diplomacy of an ambassador, the compassion of a social worker and the skin of a rhino. Colleagues who can bat for eight hours help, too.