Defensive mindset hands Australia the advantage

This Test continues to hark back to yesteryear, a gentler time when runs were accumulated and sessions yielded 60 or 70 runs. It is often said that the third day of a Test is the most crucial of a match and, that being the case, South Africa let slip a golden opportunity to wrest the initiative and stamp their authority on the game. Although undone by Brett Lee's blistering pace, much of South Africa's difficulties were of their own making.

The 'brave' cricket mantra which South Africa's captain, Graeme Smith, and his coach, Mickey Arthur, preach is perfectly admirable in theory. Backing up such statements is another matter; to be brave requires bold action and aggressive intent, neither of which South Africa were capable of today, despite Jacques Kallis's 24th Test hundred.

It's uncomfortable, even a little rude, to criticise someone who has scored over 2400 runs in hundreds alone, but Kallis is a curious player. Technically, he is among the finest to have graced the game and with near-perfect balance at the crease, there isn't a shot in the manual that he doesn't play with the utmost elegance. It was an unquestionably fine century, played under pressure, but judging by the pace of his innings you could be fooled into thinking he was facing Derek Underwood on a greentop. Runs are always vital, but quick runs tend to win matches.

Today wasn't the day for indecision or hesitancy. At 250 for 5 and with Kallis at the crease, overhauling the deficit was a formality, but neither he nor his team-mates were able to force the pace, grasp the initiative, boss the game or whichever cliché you care to choose. Lee took the new ball and, in a terrific display of strength and energy, blitzed South Africa. Australia had taken 5 for 12, and any momentum South Africa had gained from their promising morning session had been handed, gift-wrapped, to gleeful opponents.

It was all so different yesterday. South Africa were the aggressors, and Kallis was batting with the fluency that he can summon when the mood takes him; swashbuckling and cover-driving his way without alarm to a run-a-ball fifty, it was the perfect antidote to the prickly situation South Africa found themselves in at 10 for 2. Today, Kallis' second fifty took a remarkable 124 balls, after which he dropped anchor, the weight of which the Titanic could only have dreamed of. This isn't to do a disservice to Australia's bowlers, though, who rarely gave him a loose ball. He nearly threatened to break into a trot when Ashwell Prince was at the crease. Playing with surprising freedom, Prince injected much-needed momentum into a stuttering innings which was in danger of being becalmed. He too, though, was out-thought by Australia and Shane Warne leaving Kallis to shoulder the burden.

Shouldering the burden is something that you feel Kallis relishes. He's a back-to-the-wall player, and would be inked in alongside Geoffrey Boycott and Steve Waugh to bat for your life, with a classical technique that lends itself to dogmatic defence. However, on several occasions where Australia might have pushed for two, Kallis found just a single; where Australia would have dispatched a long-hop for four, Kallis could only find three.

His dismissal - limply pushing a drive straight back to Stuart Clark - thus sparked a dramatic collapse which ultimately might cost South Africa the match. Bolstered by his 200th Test wicket, Lee, bristling with menace and relishing the new ball, bowled with immense ferocity, even touching 159.3 kph (98.98 mph for the uninitiated). He was assisted by electric, gazelle-like fielding - including a remarkable one-handed take from Adam Gilchrist.

Although South Africa picked up Justin Langer cheaply in Australia's reply, the lead had already been extended to 227 by stumps. South Africa say that they want to challenge the best, to 'play brave' - and with the talent at their disposal, they're well placed to do so. However, until they learn to boss a match and dominate the key moments of a session, they won't seriously threaten the better teams. And with two days to go, South Africa might need another brilliant display of defiance from Kallis, and at least two of his team-mates, in order to save this match.