SA vs AUS, 2nd Test — Day 1 Stumps: South Africa 20/2 as Scott Boland Strikes Twice in Two Balls Before the Rain Wins at St George's Park

Some Test days are remembered for what happened. This one will be remembered mostly for what didn't. Rain shaped the whole of the opening day at St George's Park: it delayed the start by 90 minutes, forced an early lunch, returned in the afternoon and, at 4.15pm, ended play for good. Just 12.2 overs were bowled. South Africa, sent in by Pat Cummins, finished on 20 for 2.

And yet, inside that sliver of cricket, Australia found a way to make the day theirs. Scott Boland bowled two balls that undid two South African batters, and the scoreboard — 12 for 0 becoming 12 for 2 — is the only thing anyone will carry into Day 2.

The morning drizzle cleared in time for an on-time toss, which Cummins won before choosing to bowl. Then the rain returned and the start was pushed back 90 minutes. When play finally began, only 5.3 overs were possible before the next shower, and lunch was taken during the stoppage with South Africa 11 without loss. Aiden Markram had looked in fine touch, putting away two handsome drives off Mitchell Starc, who struggled a little from the Park Drive End. At the other end, debutant Marques Ackerman — who had never opened before in his first-class career — had yet to score.

On the resumption Boland was brought straight into the attack and began with a maiden. Four balls into his next over, the ninth of the innings, he produced the delivery of the day: full enough to draw Markram forward into the drive, never quite full enough to make it safe, nipping back off the seam to take the inside edge and flatten middle stump. Markram was gone for 11 off 28.

The very next ball was in the channel outside off. David Bedingham, new to the crease, pushed at it away from his body and edged to Alex Carey. From 12 for 0 to 12 for 2 in two deliveries. Boland was not far from a hat-trick either, when Temba Bavuma got an inside edge into his pad and the Australians let out stifled appeals.

Ackerman, after sweating on 0 for 14 balls, got off the mark with a thick edge past gully, and Bavuma did likewise through the cordon. South Africa had crept to 20 for 2 in 12.2 overs when the rain came back. Tea was taken during the break, and the umpires abandoned play at 4.15pm.

The big selection story was settled before a ball was bowled. Nathan Lyon was seen walking around in trainers about 15 minutes before the toss, while Boland marked out his run — with Lyon, of all people, holding the tape measure. According to ESPNcricinfo it is the first time since 2013 that Lyon has missed a red-ball Test when available. Australia's spin in this match will come from part-timers Matt Renshaw, Travis Head, Beau Webster and Marnus Labuschagne.

The early evidence backs the call. Boland's 3.2 overs cost five runs and brought two wickets; Josh Hazlewood, the hero of Durban with 6 for 49, bowled five overs for three runs without reward. On a day of interruptions, the two most accurate seamers in the attack gave South Africa nothing to hit — and Australia conceded not a single extra.

South Africa made changes of their own. Kagiso Rabada returned, with Keshav Maharaj left out, though the hosts kept a specialist spinner in Simon Harmer. Ackerman and Matthew Breetzke came into the batting line-up, and Ryan Rickelton moved into the middle order with the wicketkeeping gloves. Ackerman's introduction was about as hard as Test debuts get: 5 not out from 32 balls, most of them spent in the company of a bowler who barely gave him a ball to drive. Bavuma, who had a poor Test with the bat in Durban, is 4 not out alongside him.

It is far too early to judge the result call, but parts of our preview have already aged. We expected Australia to be "almost certainly unchanged" and named Nathan Lyon as their player to watch on a surface we thought would suit him — Lyon was left out for Boland. We framed the key matchup as Hazlewood vs Markram; Markram did fall cheaply, but to Boland, while Hazlewood conceded three runs in five overs. We also suggested that teams who bat first and bat time tend to prosper here; Cummins chose to bowl, and two wickets in 12.2 overs say he read the overhead conditions well. Our South African pick, Matthew Breetzke, has yet to bat. The broader view — Australia hold the aces, but Test cricket has a short memory — still stands after a day with so little cricket in it.

Lost overs can be made up on subsequent days, though the forecast promises more poor weather. When play does resume, Australia's seamers will want to attack Ackerman and Bavuma with a ball that is still only 12.2 overs old. South Africa, 1-0 down after Durban, need their captain and their debutant to see off that burst and build the first-innings total their bowlers lacked in the first Test. With Breetzke, Rickelton and the lower order still to come, 20 for 2 is a wobble rather than a crisis — but on a day when Boland needed only two balls to change the mood, it will not take much to turn it into one.