South Africa's middle order holds its nerve to set up thrilling Day 5

STUMPS DAY FOUR

South Africa all out 387
Rickelton 101
Mulder 115
Australia require 288 runs to win.

South Africa's middle order holds its nerve and gives the hosts the upper hand

Leading into the day, spinner Simon Harmer had declared to SEN Cricket that a 120 run lead would be "defendable", a 150-run lead "par" and a 200-plus run lead "gold".

The South Africans were able to deliver on all fronts, led by Ryan Rickelton with support from Wiaan Mulder, who worked impressively in tandem to build their total and swing the game and the series back in their favour.

This series has had so many momentum swings it was no surprise really that Australia's upper hand at stumps on day three wouldn't last. Rickelton brought up his third Test century as the hosts exceeded expectations for the day to wrestle back control of this match once again.

Tom Morris called Rickelton's century: "Ryan Rickelton - his finest hour. Career defining and game-defining."

The South Africans were patient and disciplined, seeing off the new ball to win the first and second sessions, with the Aussie bowlers unable to penetrate despite looking dangerous at times. Australia took just the one wicket in the first session and none in the second session and as the lead drifted past 230, it looked as if the hosts were about to put the foot to the throat and take the game away.

It took a brain-fade and moment of brilliance in the field to break the partnership at 154, and trigger yet another momentum swing in the match. Mulder would continue to ply his trade after Rickelton's departure, keeping the scoreboard ticking as wickets fell around him to notch up his fourth Test century late in the day, taking the lead to 287 runs overall before holing out for the final wicket of the innings that triggered stumps.

"It's a truly remarkable knock from Wiaan Mulder, and what a time to do it with the series on the line," Vernon Philander celebrated.

"It's a big-time century," Gerard Whateley said.

South Africa batted out the day, with the scales tipped back in their favour to win this Test match and the series.

Simon Katich said of the South African dual centuries: "Rickelton and Mulder applied themselves superbly. Can't forget they were under huge pressure when that partnership came together. Huge confidence boosters for both of these young players."

It was an “aggressive message” according to Katich that South Africa batted their innings out until the end of the day to be all out rather than declaring late, believing it told Australia “we’ve got enough runs.”

Given a 200 plus lead was "gold" according to Harmer, a 287 run lead must be a diamond lead.

The run-out that shifted momentum, yet again!

Shortly after Rickelton's century he had a brain snap that cost him his wicket, taking off from the non-strikers end after a Mulder reverse sweep.

Mulder didn't move, Josh Inglis swooped with precision to pick up and throw straight to Labuschagne who removed the bails and dismissed Rickelton for 101.

Tom Morris called the moment: "Inglis gets the run-out that the Australians hope will turn the Test. Could that be the turning point? This Test match continues to shock and surprise at every possible turn!"

All eyes turned to danger man Marco Jansen who came to the crease with the possibility of taking the game away from Australia, only to continue the run of wickets by falling for a duck to the short ball plan, holing out in the deep to Starc.

Bharat Sundaresan believed Jansen's wicket was the key wicket: "Now THAT is a turning point. That is a huge moment in this Test match."

From there Harmer departed for 1 in a strange chop-on off his bat handle, and Coetzee was run out by Labuschagne for 1 from the other end of the pitch.

"They have fallen in a heap," said Bharat Sundaresan, as South Africa lost 4/16 and Australia found its way back into the match.

Gerard Whateley praised Labuschagne for his brilliant run-out.

"The first look he gets at it, it's a direct hit. It's excellent cricket and a credit to him. With the world set against him he's remained energetic and he's made his mark," he said.

Adam Collins couldn't catch his breath: "This is just a tremendous Test match."

It wasn't enough to stop South Africa continuing to build the lead but it certainly changed the trajectory.

Cummins ends his wicketless streak after winning the battle with Breetzke, but the bowlers fail to penetrate.

South Africa had dug in and looked like going wicketless for the first session, maintaining their occupation at the crease whilst slowly building on their lead. Enter Captain Pat Cummins, who after 373 wicketless balls tempted Breetzke to play a rank slap shot straight to Starc at deep fine leg.

Breetzke departed for a well-earned 43, albeit disappointing given the opportunity to go larger.

Simon Katich was blunt: "He's paid the price for being impetuous there."

It would be the only wicket Australia would take in the opening session, giving South Africa the edge to start the day. For Cummins, it would have been a sigh of relief, snaffling his first wicket since removing Tristan Stubbs in the second innings at Durban.

Vernon Philander however was critical of Cummins' tactics during the day.

"I think the captain was way too defensive this morning. When you're so far ahead in the game you have to take a few risks up front. It was way too easy for South Africa," he said.

Simon Katich was disappointed with the lack of impact from the bowlers.

"It's pretty amazing they've only taken five wickets today. They all toiled hard but they’ll be disappointed that they haven’t been able to restrict South Africa to a lower total." he said.

Vernon Philander went further: "They’ll be looking at the moments they could have been more impactful and this morning they could have been more creative, but not to be.”

Whateley played devil’s advocate, with the final verdict on the bowling to come tomorrow once South Africa bowls on the surface.

“Everything was tried but there was a lack of penetration to it,” Whateley said.

“We’ll find out tomorrow if the pitch was offering more than what Australia was able to extract from it or whether the surface just refused to deteriorate in a timely fashion.”

Has this been the "perfect" Test match?

With everything that has played out in this match, Tom Morris believes it is the template for modern Test Cricket.

"So far this is the perfect Test match. You have full days of cricket, the over rate is decent, the setting is amazing, the magnitude of the Test match and the context around it is meaningful given that it's one-all in the series," Morris said.

"Spin has played a part, pace has played a part. If you bat well you get rewarded, if you bat poorly you're going to be found out. It is going to go to day five. Everything about this Test so far has been 'chef's kiss'."

It's hard to argue against it, albeit there's a day to go. If every Test match was like what we've been seeing at Cape Town, cricket fans around the world would rejoice.

We are set for a thrilling conclusion to this legacy-defining series!

It will take the second-biggest successful fourth-innings run chase at Newlands for Australia to win this Test match. Australia holds that record, chasing down 331 with 6/334 in 2002, but the next highest on that list is 236.

Who would you rather be on day five? Simon Katich and Vernon Philander both agreed you'd prefer to be South Africa and they had earned the right to have the upper hand.

"I always think when you get to the last day of a Test it's always tough to chase down that volume of runs, particularly with the rough that's on offer out there. They're (South Africa) are going to be hard to beat," said Katich.

"They've earned the right to be in this position, if you're going to bat like that I do feel they've probably inspired their bowlers quite a great deal as well," Philander said.

"I think all the energy and momentum and vibes are going with South Africa."

The equation - Australia need 288 runs to win, South Africa need 10 wickets to win. Buckle up, it's going to be a blockbuster finish!

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