Smith hails Marsh's 'stoic' batting after 'epic' partnership saves Oz in Day 1 of first Test against Proteas

Australian all-rounder Steve Smith has hailed the temperament of his teammate Shaun Marsh after the batsman's stoic unbeaten century in combination with Smith's own 91 not out, rescued Australia from a poor start to its three-Test series away to South Africa.

Marsh (122 not out) and Smith, who will resume on the second day of the first Test at Centurion Park needing only one more run to reach a double-century partnership, took Australia from a precarious 4-98 to 4-297 at stumps with their ability to bat for the last 56 overs of day one.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Smith hailed the performance of Marsh, who was chosen ahead of Phillip Hughes for Australia's final batting berth, in his first Test appearance since January 2011 and said that he was 'amazing all day'.

Stating that Marsh capitalised after letting the ball come into his areas, Smith further said that he is impressed with how Marsh had coped with his late arrival, adding that it had taken him a full week to get over jet lag as compared to Marsh, who has been in South Africa only for three days.

According to Smith, Marsh played in a sensational manner and had shown great maturity, adding that he has been a quality player for a long time and has worked on his game a lot given that he had not played Test cricket for a while.

Smith also said that the way Marsh has come back against arguably the best bowling attack in the world and the way he played on the first day shows what fine form he is in now.

The selection of left-handed Marsh faced 232 balls after arriving at the crease in the ninth over of the day, and debutant Alex Doolan prompted captain Michael Clarke to drop himself and Smith one rung down the order with Doolan and Marsh filling respectively the three and four slots, the report added.