The result is Australia’s fabled foursome now have 607 wickets in Tests in which they have played as a quartet.
The next most successful bowling four-pronged attack is James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, who took 415 wickets in their 31 Tests together for England.
“Each of these players will go down as a legend of Australian cricket,” said former Australia bowler Jason Gillespie on ABC Radio.
“Starc got hit for a few early but I didn’t mind that.
“Hazlewood was very good, as he always is. Cummins was hostile. He looked fresh.”
Much has been made of Australia’s ageing side and a perceived lack of succession planning.
At 37, Starc is the oldest of the three quicks but his average pace of 141.21km/h in 2026 is higher than any of his past three years. He is also averaging his most swing in a calendar year since 2015.
The concern for Australia comes when they are not fit, with Hazlewood having missed all five of last winter’s Ashes Tests and Cummins four.
Australia’s issue right now is keeping each of their quartet on the field, because they appear as good as ever.
At 33-0, Australia lead South Africa by 139 runs.
Even with bad light halting play early again, they should have the time to press home an advantage across the Test’s final two days.