It was his second of three wickets of the innings, but it never looked like troubling SA as their recovery continued despite the landmark.
The hosts, 110/6 early in the morning, eventually declared on 425/9 after Temba Bavuma’s career-best 179, Marco Jansen’s 85 and Simon Harmer’s 82. Australia were then reduced to 3/1 before the close.
Starc said the surface had changed markedly from the opening day.
“Yeah, it's probably a more batting surface,” he said.
“They had the covers off from yesterday [and] with that breeze, it dried out pretty quick, I guess the biggest selling point was the foot marks from that first stint day one to what it was like yesterday and then again today.”
He felt the harder ball had offered Australia some assistance, but the advantage diminished as it softened.
“Yeah, it's a good surface, so we saw a bit of lateral movement with the harder ball,” Starc said. “Not as much today, day three wicket, so, yeah, it's quite a nice surface.”
That shift left Australia searching for ways to manufacture pressure.
Their pace attack had also been stretched, with Josh Hazlewood returning after illness and the visitors operating without specialist spinner Nathan Lyon.
Starc said the bowling group had needed to adapt to the conditions and workload.
“Obviously we were manned down for a fair while, so three of us had to have a fair amount of rotation.
“Josh did pretty well to get through the overs he did with the way he was feeling” he said.
He also acknowledged that the surface was not offering the same lateral movement as it had earlier in the Test.
“There's not as much lateral movement, as was on that first, you know, day one,” Starc said. “Obviously once the ball gets a bit older and softer, it's quite a true surface.”
Australia’s difficulty was highlighted by the partnerships South Africa built after Mulder’s dismissal.
Jansen attacked, Bavuma absorbed pressure and Harmer eventually joined the captain to produce an eighth-wicket stand that pushed the total beyond Australia’s reach for the day.
