If you're looking for an example of the difference between the best and worst of Nathan Lyon's career, South Africa opener Dean Elgar is as good as any.
One of Elgar's career highlights is the 127 he scored against Australia at the WACA in 2016, helping the visitors complete a come-from-behind Test victory.
Lyon recorded innings figures of 0-146, the worst of his 76-Test career, as he struggled to contain the dour left-hander.
The offspinner was low on confidence and on the cusp of being dropped that summer, his cause not helped by a batting order that repeatedly collapsed in a five-Test losing streak.
Fast forward a year and a half and Lyon is creating apprehension in the mind of Elgar, having caught and bowled the batsman twice in near-identical fashion during the current series.
"I don't know what he's trying to do, hitting me through square leg twice ... I bowled five balls and got him out twice," Lyon said.
"But I also I bowled 20 overs in the first innings (of the second Test) and couldn't get him out once."
Elgar is worried about the nature of his two dismissals to Lyon but also the fact they've both come during the tweaker's first over of the innings.
"I've handled it quite crap," he said.
"Silly dismissals that are very uncharacteristic of mine. In the past I've handled him quite well.
"But I do know he's developed his game massively in the last two years and I also need to be mindful of that.
"In general I think we've played him quite well. The left-handers are always going to have a tough time against him, with the extra rough that's created."
The four-Test series, level at 1-1, continues in Cape Town on Thursday.
The world's leading Test wicket-taker in 2017 suggested he'd take confidence out of the final innings of the second Test.
The 30-year-old dismissed Elgar and AB de Villiers as the Proteas, chasing a target of 101, completed a six-wicket win in Port Elizabeth.
"There are a couple of little things that we can hopefully put into play for a certain number of their top-order batsmen," Lyon said.
"PE was pretty disappointing but I think we played about 40 per cent, if I'm being honest, and we got pretty close.
"If we play to our full strength it should be a good result."
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