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Australia have 98 overs to secure six wickets and earn a huge upset series win at Cape Town today.
The Aussies gave themselves a strong chance of recording a 2-1 victory by sprinting to 5-303 declared in their second innings to set the Proteas 511 to win or 142 overs to survive.
The declaration was set up thanks to another scintillating ton by David Warner, who finished the series with an astounding haul of 543 runs at 91.
Check out the full scoreboard.
State of play: How to dislodge the master stonewallers
We’ve seen this all before – a South African batting line-up using their mental strength and sound techniques to frustrate an eager and equally determined Australian attack.
The Adelaide Test must still be a source of frustration for the Aussies, skipper Michael Clarke in particular.
Like here at Newlands, Australia dominated that match before being denied what seemed a certain win by dead-batting Proteas.
On that occasion, Faf du Plessis was the hero, batting for almost eight hours in making an unbeaten 110.
His staunchest partner in that innings was AB de Villiers, who defied his attacking instincts to make just 33 from 220 balls.
It is that pair, again, who South Africa will look to today.
Given that the home side manifestly are not going for the win, Australia will have the luxury of setting ultra-aggressive fields.
They can also risk employing expensive yet dangerously unpredictable part-timers like leg spinners Steve Smith and David Warner.
But, more than anything, Australia will rely upon generating reverse swing with the current weathered ball, before making the most of the second new ball.
The visitors shocked everyone by earning prodigious reverse swing with the old ball in the first innings.
Such exaggerated movement was not on display in the last session yesterday, although James Pattinson did remove Hashim Amla with a full delivery which ducked in late.
In between bursts of swing, Clarke will call upon tweaker Nathan Lyon to prove that he can be a fourth-innings match winner.
Lyon failed miserably in that Adelaide Test, rushing through his overs while delivering flat, uninspired off breaks.
The 26-year-old has improved measurably during the intervening 15 months.
But, while he is a fine first-innings performer, he still needs to become a more incisive operator late in Tests.
Will this day be his?
Point of contention: What the heck were Doolan and Warner doing?
Chris Rogers was switch hitting.
David Warner was switching between hitting bowlers to or over the fence.
That was how ceaselessly aggressive Australia were in the early stages of their second innings yesterday.
The Aussie openers bolted to 0-121 from just 20 overs in the boldest declaration of intent possible.
Then Rogers lost focus, failed to stretch for the crease and was run out.
Collective wisdom was that Australia’s favoured pinch hitter, Shane Watson, would lope to the wicket at number three.
Instead, the rather more obdurate figure of Alex Doolan appeared.
It seemed a strange decision given Australia had a lead of 329 and the South African attack at their mercy – a situation tailor made for Watson and his pyrotechnic blade.
Logic suggests that Doolan was given the role of batting sensibly while Warner continued his rampage.
It was not to be.
Doolan scratched around at the crease like an old chook early on, before finding a modicum of fluency.
At the other end, Warner went from conquering to being subjugated, partly as a result of negative bowling tactics and partly due to a lack of intent.
As each over went by with just another single or two added to the total, all hell broke loose among Aussie cricket fans on social media.
Doolan was painted as an arch villain who had hatched a wicked plan to stunt his side’s push towards victory. Never mind that he was scoring at a comfortably faster rate than Warner during their partnership.
As I mentioned, the Tasmanian is not the man I would have batted at three in those circumstances.
But it seems very unlikely he was sent out to slog instead of the far more obvious options of Watson, Brad Haddin or even Steve Smith.
Doolan appeared to have been sent in to provide a steady presence while others chanced their wicket. Australia were aiming for a 500-plus total and did not want to risk getting bowled out short of that by throwing the bat from both ends too early.
By the time lunch was taken, Doolan and Warner had added just 57 from 22.4 overs at 2.5 runs per over.
The former had contributed 36 runs and the latter 17.
Their bizarre partnership prompted all manner of theories. Was Doolan batting for his place in the side? Was Warner batting for his century?
Were they batting under instructions from the dressing room? Were Michael Clarke and Darren Lehmann delaying the progress of the game in order to set South Africa a more enticing chase?
At this stage, who knows?
Doolan’s much-maligned knock ended soon after the resumption of play. In came the designated blaster Watson.
The next four overs reaped 44 runs.
This tone of savageness was maintained for the remainder of the Australian innings as Australian finished on 5-303 declared from 58 overs.
Remove Doolan and Warner’s crawling stand, and Australia made 246 runs at seven per over.
Go figure.