South Africa were supposed to strike fear into Australia. Not roll out the red carpet

It was meant to be their time. The moment South Africa demonstrated why they were worthy world Test champions against an ageing Australia side battling against the ravages of Father Time and the painful memories of their last toxic visit to the country.

Instead South Africa, enjoying something of a golden period with the success of the SA20 tournament and the resurgence of Test cricket in their country, have been outclassed and left desperately searching for answers in the rest of the series.

No matter that Aiden Markram provided dogged last-day resistance to restore a semblance of pride to a South African side second best for most of the five days. The first Test in Durban of an eagerly anticipated clash that was meant to showcase the great old game at its very best turned into a depressingly one-sided affair played out in front of embarrassingly empty Kingsmead stands.

There was no hostile home crowd to remind Australia of the indelible stain on their record, the Sandpapergate affair of eight years ago that sparked one of the biggest sports scandals in history and led to the humiliation of their captain and two of his players.

The only pain Steve Smith suffered on his return to the country he was hounded out of in disgrace at an airport in Johannesburg on his way to a tearful press conference back in Sydney was a nasty blow on the helmet from Anrich Nortje on day four that led to a concussion scare.

Otherwise, Smith and his countrymen could not have had a warmer welcome back had they been feted and garlanded by supporters on their return to South Africa. Josh Hazlewood's best Test figures of 6-49 hurried the locals on their way as Australia completed a massive 214-run victory on the fifth day to take a 1-0 lead in this three-match series.

It is not, of course, all over yet. South Africa only have to think back to that febrile series of 2018 when they recovered from a 1-0 deficit after Australia won the first Test, also in Durban by 118 runs, to gain a momentous and historic 3-1 triumph.

But South Africa will have to be much, much better than this in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) and Cape Town if they are to dig themselves out of a hole created by an Australia side, reports of whose demise may have been a little exaggerated.

No one was more disappointing in Durban than a captain who went into the series with the best record of any leader in South Africa's modern cricketing history since their readmission to world cricket in the early 1990s after the fall of apartheid. Temba Bavuma had not just been unbeaten, winning 11 and drawing the other of his 12 matches in charge, since taking over from Dean Elgar early in 2023. He has also led gloriously from the front, averaging more than 53 since then with the bat.

Notably, Bavuma was the man who lifted the World Test Championship mace at Lord's last year after their triumph against these very same Australians on one of the biggest days in South African cricket history.

Yes, the Championship has its flaws and South Africa had enjoyed a relatively easy route to the final, but this was confirmation that all those years of near misses, all those 'chokes' with the winning post in sight, had seemingly been consigned to the past.

Perhaps not. It would be harsh in the extreme to call the last five days in Durban a 'choke' -- that cricketing tag so detested by South Africans -- but this was a crushing blow not only for them and their captain but also the health of a world Test game that badly wanted a close series in front of passionate crowds.

Particularly as South Africa had so long to prepare for this big occasion, had welcomed back one of their fastest bowlers in Nortje to Test cricket for the first time in three years, and were playing their first Test at home since winning that Test title 19 months ago.

This was sobering for Bavuma.

The captain, such an important figure in modern South Africa, seemed to be stifled by the enormity of the occasion. Far from being emboldened by his record in charge, he appeared hesitant to stamp his mark on the game and was guilty of the kind of conservative and pragmatic tactics of which many of his predecessors have been accused.

Never more so than during the decisive stand of 134 for the ninth wicket in Australia's first innings when Bavuma let the outstanding Matt Renshaw farm the strike from Nathan Lyon with ease and failed to apply any real pressure on the tail-ender.

When Bavuma guided Renshaw's gentle and very occasional off-spin obligingly into the waiting hands of Nic Maddinson at short-leg in the second innings, a miserable game for the South African captain and his side was all but complete.

There was the hint of a last-day rearguard when Markram, so often at his best in the second innings when a match needs to be saved, ground out stands with Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen, but all that did was make Australia work harder for their wickets than in a first innings when South Africa were largely culpable in their demise.

They had Australia on the ropes when they reduced them to 124-6 on the first day, but allowed them to slip from their grasp with inconsistent bowling and then an array of poor shots with the bat which were uncharacteristically South African.

That made this victory much more comfortable than it should have been for Australia. Their many great former players turned pundits went into something of a meltdown when they were thrashed by Bangladesh in the first Test in August, but the selectors stuck to their experienced guns and have been rewarded, so far at least, in this busiest of years for them. That series against Bangladesh was levelled. Now comes this.

Durban was undoubtedly Renshaw's match. The Queensland batter returned to the Australia Test side after a three-year absence for the second Test against Bangladesh and now, back in the middle order, he scored 190 and 82, then even contributed with the ball with that wicket of Bavuma. He added Kyle Verreynne on the last day.

Renshaw and Australia were all smiles as they celebrated in a largely deserted Kingsmead where that lack of supporters was a shocking advertisement for the game.

Attendances at Test cricket everywhere other than England and Australia are worryingly negligible in the T20 age, but this was meant to be different and left South Africans anxiously asking themselves how the numbers could be quite as bad as this.

Perhaps it was not a good idea to start this series in early season in Durban where bad light and mist reduced play considerably on the first three days. It should also be remembered that the state of the South African economy has left its people with far more important things to spend money on than a game of cricket largely played on work days.

Then, over the weekend when the crowds were expected to be much better, there were protests in the centre of Durban at the economic situation that perhaps put others off visiting the centre of the city and Kingsmead.

But surely it would have been better to start in Cape Town, where it finishes, or on the Highveld which has been ignored for this series but will see two of the three Tests against England at the end of the year -- in Johannesburg and Centurion.

For now South Africa will head to Gqeberha for Sunday's second Test with much to contemplate but hoping to have their spearhead Kagiso Rabada back after injury.

In that last Test against Australia in Durban, the hostilities that would lead to Sandpapergate began when Nathan Lyon ran out AB de Villiers and provocatively dropped the ball by his side. David Warner, who had gathered and thrown to the spin bowler, reserved his own volcanic send-off for a devastated Markram at the striker's end.

It was then that De Villiers famously announced to the South African dressing room that "we will not be embarrassed in our own backyard" and so sparked the fighting comeback that finished with Smith in tears and Australia in disgrace.

These are different times, with players much more friendlier with opponents because of the familiarity borne of franchise cricket. These are two very different teams even though five members of the Australian side, including their vaunted bowling attack and Smith, remain.

Instead of taunting De Villiers and talking about "head-butting" the line of acceptable behaviour, as he had in 2018, Lyon could be seen during play in this Test in conversation with South African spinner Keshav Maharaj and clearly offering tips on the art of slow bowling.

Maybe South Africa need to bring that competitive edge back. Maybe, as former bowler Vernon Philander said during the TV coverage, South African fans need to stand up and provide that hostility that the Australians have been so surprised has been lacking.

Whatever, South Africa need something to be different in Gqeberha and Cape Town otherwise this will become a tale of somewhat unexpected Australian superiority in harmonious surroundings -- and a total contrast to their last visit eight years ago.