The South African pacemen had a simple plan of attack for Steve Waugh, and they would feel hard done by not to have reaped the rewards of it. From the moment he walked to the crease, Waugh was peppered with short balls around his rib cage - 20 out of 45 bouncers bowled today were directed at him. Out of the 121 balls that the seamers bowled to him, he was allowed to play on the front foot only 11 times. He was forced back 77% of the time, and played the rest of the deliveries from the crease. Not surprisingly, he managed just a solitary run on the front foot off the fast bowlers.

Waugh's innings was the most unconvincing of those played by the Australian top order. 16% of the time he was not in control of his stroke – that is, he edged, played-and-missed, or didn't look entirely at ease once every six balls. The corresponding figures for the other batsmen who spent a meaningful amount of time at the crease were: 6.7% for Damien Martyn, 11% for Mark Waugh, 11.8% for Matthew Hayden and 13.6% for Langer and. But Steve hung on long enough to add to his impressive record against South Africa.

Martyn, on the other hand, played another beautifully controlled knock. Equally at ease on either front or back foot, he caressed 21 runs off the front foot (off 37 balls), and 30 off the back foot (off 54 balls).

After a disappointing day with the ball yesterday, South Africa put in a much improved performance today, bowling nearly 87% on middle stump or further towards the off side. Unlike yesterday, when they strayed onto leg stump and presented easy scoring opportunities, today they made the batsmen earn their runs. But yet again, the Australian batsmen proved they were up to the challenge.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com, India.

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