SYDNEY (Reuters)
Damien Martyn has paid tribute to the batting skills of Australia's frontline bowlers after they helped him complete a century against South Africa on the second day of the third Test.

Martyn steered Australia to a daunting total of 554 with a magnificent 117 after featuring in a series of handy partnerships with Brett Lee, Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill, better known for their exploits with the ball than the bat.

"It's great for me to get a hundred here, I haven't got one in Sydney before, but I didn't do it by myself," Martyn said.

"It was important for the team that guys like Shane Warne and Brett Lee got some runs so we could get some partnerships going. Our goal is to get partnerships right down. These blokes work hard on their batting and that's why we can turn our 300s and 350s into 500s."

With the prospect of a 3-0 series defeat looming large, South Africa's misery was compounded when fast bowler Glenn McGrath and legspinner MacGill captured two wickets each in the final session to leave the visitors teetering at 93 for 4 at stumps, still 262 runs short of avoiding the follow-on.

"We've done the first part, now we've got to try and bowl them out twice," said Martyn, whose century was his fourth at Test level.

"The last hour was a good session for us. To get four wickets was a bonus. We're in a good situation: they've got to chase 550 so we can attack for as long as we like."

Despite the seemingly one-sided nature of the series, Martyn said the South Africans had proven themselves as difficult opponents and had never thrown in the towel at any stage.

"They've been trying hard, they've put in the whole game," he said. "Last night was good for them when they got those late wickets but we batted well today. If they got a few early wickets it might have been a bit different.

"They're tired after fielding for 10 hours but I don't think they're beaten or their heads are down. They've had a long time in the field, though, and now they've got to come out and bat pretty well and we've got two great spinners who are turning the ball a long way."

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