South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has dominated the headlines of late after being fined for ball tampering, and he is the main talking point again after scoring a century on day one of the third Test against Australia.

The 32-year-old hit an unbeaten knock of 118 as he took the decision to declare with the Proteas on 259-9 in the final session of the day in Adelaide.

Du Plessis, who escaped a ban after footage showed him shining the ball with a mint in his mouth during the second Test, racked up the runs in 164 deliveries.

The skipper's knock was much needed as three batsmen above him in the order were dismissed for five runs each, while opener Stephen Cook hit 40 before falling to Mitchell Starc.

Josh Hazlewood dominated the field as he took four wickets, while only three more batsmen reached double figures for South Africa before Du Plessis declared.

In response, Usman Khawaja and Matt Renshaw opened the batting for Australia, but it took six overs before either put a run on the board, and they eventually reached stumps on 14 without loss.

South Africa have already won the three-match series after inflicting a fifth straight Test defeat on Australia with a victory in Hobart last week.