In two days, 34 wickets fell in fewer than 145 overs, including 20 South African wickets in 86 overs and South Africa were only able to set Australia a target of 34. They took four wickets in the final innings and, with plenty of assistance for the seamers, Elgar was confident they could have dismissed Australia again, if they had more runs to play with. "Another 60 runs and it might have been on our side," he told the broadcasters Fox in the immediate aftermath of the defeat. "I am still trying to wrap my brain around what happened over the last couple of days."

Asked for his assessment of the pitch, Elgar called it "pretty spicy" and unsuitable for building big innings. "If you were a bowler, you were licking your lips," he said. "It was challenging for the batters, no doubt, which is okay if there's a good contest between bat and ball but obviously on the flip side, I don't see it as a fair contest."

"I can't think we can prepare any better than the way we did heading into this series. Conditions were not in favour for the batters in this game. I can't think of us doing much else," he said. "We are still going to prepare the way we are going to prepare for the second Test and take it from there. Extra three days, obviously unplanned, go back to the drawing board and sit down and get the think tank going again."