When drinks were taken midway through the last session, the South Africans were 268 for three for a lead of 125 with more than two days of the match still to play. It was, perhaps, the first time in five contests between the two countries that the South Africans had held the initiative.

The wicket to fall after tea was that of Graeme Smith who was given out caught at the wicket in contentious circumstances by West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor. With his third wicket partnership with Jacques Kallis having grown to back 71, Smith pushed forward to Warne, the ball spinning back between bat and pad and on into wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist’s gloves.

After a long pause Bucknor upheld the Australians’ concerted appeal, but with television replays proving inconclusive it was difficult to know how Bucknor could have been certain that the ball had brushed either bat or glove.

The decision stood, though, and South Africa’s third wicket had fallen at 254, bringing Neil McKenzie out to join Kallis. Kallis had survived an appeal for a legside stumping off Steve Waugh on 48 and gone on to reach his 50 off 55 balls when he nudged Waugh past Gilchrist for the 10th boundary of his innings.

Australia took the second new ball after 82 overs with Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie coming back into the attack, but at drinks Kallis had moved to 65 with McKenzie on 4.

Gary Kirsten was the man to go for 87, the Australian Devil’s Number which proved unlucky for the South African opener in more ways than one. In the over before Kirsten’s dismissal new cap Graeme Smith had reached a maiden Test 50 by hitting two fours in three balls from Mark Waugh, but at the other end Lee came steaming in to crash a shortish ball straight into Kirsten’s box.

Lee’s response to Kirsten’s discomfort was a cheerful grin and three balls later he had his man, going around the wicket to trap Kirsten lbw as the South African moved onto the back foot.

Kirsten departed at 183 for two after a partnership that had been worth 99 to South Africa, but his replacement, Jacques Kallis, also appeared gripped by the positive mood that has suddenly fallen over the South African batsmen, taking three boundaries off Lee all around the wicket two overs later.

As tea approached Steve Waugh brought Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath back into the attack, but Smith (63) and Kallis (27) saw their side safely through to the break at which stage the South African lead had grown to 77. Kallis had faced 22 balls for his runs, hitting six boundaries.

The South African second-wicket pairing of Gary Kirsten and Graeme Smith came out for the afternoon in attacking mood with Smith slapping the first ball of the session, a Shane Warne full toss, through the covers for four.

He then edge his next delivery past slip for another boundary before Warne spun one back at him and over his middle stump to set the session well on its way.

When Smith got down to the other end, he cut Glenn McGrath’s first ball past point for four and it was Smith who brought up the 50 partnership after 70 minutes when he took a single off Warne.

Kirsten, meanwhile, continued to accumulate runs in characteristic fashion, although there was little control in a top-edged cut off Jason Gillespie which cleared the head of Mark Waugh at second slip and sped away to the boundary. Another two in the same over brought South Africa level and then Smith hit Warne over midwicket for a boundary to take the home side into the lead.

Kirsten raised the South Africa 150 in the 52nd over of the innings by driving Gillespie classically through the covers and at drinks he had moved on to 84 with Smith on 35.

With the first innings deficit of 143 as their first target, the South Africans lost Herschelle Gibbs just before the second drinks break after play had started 30 minutes early, but Gary Kirsten and new cap Graeme Smith denied Australia further success as they scrapped through the last 50 minutes before lunch.

Smith, who made only 3 in the first innings, faced 11 dot balls from Shane Warne before getting off the mark from the 12th delivery he faced, turning Warne off his pads behind square for two.

The relief at Newlands was almost palpable and Smith celebrated by lifting the first ball of Warne’s next over over mid-on for his first boundary.

Kirsten, meanwhile, had moved from 44 at drinks to 48 and there was a cheer when a ball from Warne flicked off his pads and ran down to fine leg for two, but umpire Steve Bucknor signalled leg byes to keep Kirsten short of his 50.

Smith raised the South African hundred on the 39th over, tucking Jason Gillespie away off his pads for four after Gillespie had replaced Brett Lee at the Wynberg end. Kirsten finally reached 50 later in the over, with a two off his pads. He had batted for 163 minutes at that stage, hitting five boundaries.

After 16 overs from the Kelvin Grove end, Warne was rested with Mark Waugh coming into the attack for a couple of overs of off-spin before lunch.

Warne’s break from bowling was brief, though, as he was brought back from the Wynberg end. He had one huge appeal for lbw against Smith turned down by umpire Rudi Koertzen, but television replays suggested that the ball may have struck Smith’s back pad fractionally outside the line of off stump.

A boundary off Waugh, punched away through the off in the lunch over, took Kirsten to the interval on 56 with Smith not out on 13.

The wicket fell on the stroke of the second drinks brink of the morning with Warne going around the wicket and spinning a leg break across Gibbs that took pad and bat before looping gently to Ricky Ponting.

Gibbs was out for 39 after batting for nearly two hours as South Africa whittled away at Australia’s 143-run first innings lead.

The breakthrough came after Australia had used three bowlers on the third morning with Brett Lee taking over from Glenn McGrath from the Wynberg end after the latter had completed a spell of 7-1-17-0.

Lee’s third over proved to be almost a microcosm of the innings. Gibbs edged Lee just short of Mark Waugh at second slip before celebrating this let off with a handsome cover for four. He then edged Lee just wide of Matthew Hayden in the gully for another boundary before hitting a third boundary straight back past Lee. In one over Gibbs had hit three boundaries and could have been out twice.

After a careful and sometimes anxious start, Gary Kirsten had begun to settle and when drinks were taken, with Graeme Smith coming out to bat, Kirsten had 44.

The home team’s first target was the 143 required to make Australia bat again and although neither Gary Kirsten nor Herschelle Gibbs could be said to be properly in, they grafted through the first 50 minutes of the day without committing a fatal error.

Australia made their intentions clear when they brought Shane Warne into the attack from the Kelvin Grove end for the first over of the day to operate in tandem with Glenn McGrath.

McGrath persuade Gibbs to drive and miss his first delivery of the morning and then found the edge with his third ball but although Ricky Ponting got a hand to a high chance, he could not hold the catch and Gibbs escaped.

The first boundary of the day came in the 12th over, a slog-sweep from Kirsten over midwicket off Warne, but the legspinner troubled both batsmen, beating Kirsten past the outside edge with successive balls and then turning a big leg break past Gibbs’ bat to produce a concerted, but unsuccessful appeal from the Australians.

At drinks Kirsten had 17 with Gibbs, who had just driven McGrath straight for four, on 21.