Nathan Lyon enhanced his reputation as a partnership breaker but South Africa dug in to be 3-145 at tea on day one of the second Test against Australia.
Faf du Plessis and Dean Elgar put on a 112-run stand after the Proteas slumped to 2-11 on Thursday morning in Port Elizabeth.
Elgar, opening in place of Alviro Petersen (gastro), was likened to a Bull Terrier by teammate Morne Morkel earlier this week and showed exactly the sort of dogged determination needed.
The left-hander took 42 minutes to get off the mark, was struck on the shoulder twice by Mitchell Johnson but resisted the visitors superbly to be 61 not out alongside AB de Villiers (13) at tea.
Du Plessis struck six boundaries, including two fours from a Johnson over, but did not share Elgar’s patience and departed for 55 with the first delivery after the second-session drinks break.
The right-hander looked to turn the ball from Lyon square, but instead edged onto his pad and straight to Steve Smith at short leg.
The offspinner also ended South Africa’s two best stands in the first Test.
Elgar, who made a pair on Test debut against Australia in 2012 when Johnson twice dismissed him at the WACA, batted astutely on a low-and-slow St George’s Park pitch.
The 26-year-old, axed from Cricket South Africa’s central contract list on Tuesday, has the potential to bat the Proteas into a position of utter dominance.
But the visitors will take heart from the slow run-rate, and the form of their spearhead.
Johnson, so potent on a bouncy Centurion pitch where he claimed career-best match figures of 12-127, adapted well.
The left-armer pitched the ball up more and made the most of overcast conditions to trap Hashim Amla lbw for a duck in the sixth over.
Ryan Harris accounted for Graeme Smith (nine) in similar fashion in the fifth over.
Smith opted to bat first under dark clouds and insisted it had nothing to do with his regrettable decision to send the visitors in for the three-Test series opener, where Australia sauntered to a 281-run win.