Australia set South Africa the mammoth target of 410 to win the second Castle Lager Test at Kingsmead on Monday.
Australia declared their second innings closed on 307-4, after a flurry of runs from Adam Gilchrist ended with his dismissal. Gilchrist made 24 off nine balls — 22 of these runs coming off an Andre Nel over. Nel got his revenge by taking a catch on the boundary to dismiss Gilchrist.
Earlier, Ricky Ponting reached his 30th Test century and became only the second player, after Sunil Gavaskar, to score a century in both innings of a Test three times. Ponting previously did this against the West Indies at the Gabba in Brisbane last year and against South Africa in Sydney earlier this year.
Matthew Hayden also scored a century, his 26th, and he and Ponting shared a second-wicket partnership of 201. — Sapa