However, none of those late runs came under the pressure of a chase.
The wicket of Simon Harmer in the last session, knocked down with his arms crossed by a ball from Nathan Lyon which fell suddenly, showed the difficulty to come.
Harmer dismissed Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis and Alex Carey in Australia’s first innings – all established hitters.
The Essex legend, 37, who was once considered to play for England, will be crucial.
As always in such scenarios, the terrain will play its part.
The PitchViz rating – the way CricViz assesses the difficulty of a surface – rose to 6.6 in the last session, comfortably the highest (and therefore most difficult) rating in the test.
After calming down in the morning, the ball, as might be expected as a test progresses, was spinning significantly more in the final session than at any time during the previous four days.
Interestingly, however, South Africa’s false shot percentage was only 11% on day four, down from 18% on day three.
Uneven bounce hasn’t yet been a factor, but a ball to Rickelton shortly after tea also shot low.
Gn sports
