Finally South Africa delivered an almost flawless day of test cricket and hammered their advantage home. It shows the value of having a true grafter in the side in the form of Prince, someone who epitomises the character upon which SA cricket was built, namely determination, guts and character. I was pleased to see him do so well in a turbulent week, and really take the game away from the Aussies. Kallis also showed the same characteristics in overcoming some hostile bowling, having to wear a few on the body and 1 on the helmet. But once the bowlers tired, he was allowed to cash in and take full toll. Poor McGain found out how tough test cricket should be and has the worst figures ever for someone bowling 5 overs or more in test cricket.

We now have to make the Aussies pay and put them away. I’ll be looking for us to get 600+. To do that we need to bat as much of day 3 as possible, and hopefully a session into day 4. Kallis has always struggled to re-start his innings again and it’s the reason he hasn’t got a test double hundred. The opportunity is there for him and then De Villiers, Duminy, Boucher and Morkel can cash in.

Then we don’t need to worry about batting again. We use pressure and a deteriorating pitch to do the rest and finish with an emphatic victory over the Aussies. 3-3 from the summer would be a fair reflection and allow us to take heed of the lessons we need to learn. I’d be happy with that.