Brad Hodge completed a double-century on Monday to put Australia in control of the opening Test against South Africa with one day's play remaining.
Hodge struck an unbeaten 203 to allow Ricky Ponting to declare Australia's second innings at 528 for eight and set the South Africans a daunting target of 491 to win in just four sessions.
With no real victory prospects, the Proteas signalled their intentions to bat out a draw but lost two early wickets to slump to 85-2 when play ended 15 minutes early because of bad light.
AB de Villiers was caught by Hodge at short leg off Shane Warne for 12, having survived for 76 minutes and needing 33 balls to get off the mark.
Then captain Graeme Smith was trapped lbw by left arm seamer Nathan Bracken for 30, leaving Jacques Rudolph (18 not out) and Herschelle Gibbs (17 not out) to battle on.
Injured South African batsman Jacques Kallis said his team's chances of salvaging a draw on a turning pitch rested in their ability to cope with Warne.
"I think everybody knows how Australia is going to bowl and it's just a matter of the guys having the game plan and sticking to it," Kallis told a news conference.
"Everyone's going to have to step up the plate and make sure that they give one of their best performances. If we can get through tomorrow I think we'll take a lot of confidence into the rest of the series."
South Africa had led by 38 on the first innings but Hodge put the match out of their reach with his maiden hundred in just his third Test appearance.
Dropped on 13 on the previous day, Hodge batted 469 minutes, faced 332 balls and hit 22 boundaries in a brilliant mixture of patience and aggression.
TRIUMPH
The Victorian middle-order batsman started the day on 91. He survived a loud appeal for lbw off Shaun Pollock on 98 but did not flinch or play another false shot.
He brought up his maiden Test hundred shortly in the same over when he flicked Pollock square off his pads for four then immediately raised the tempo.
The 30-year-old needed 198 balls to reach his century but took just 134 more to reach his double, which he brought up with a cut shot off Rudolph that went behind point and trickled to the boundary rope as he raised his arms in triumph.
"I didn't get a great deal of sleep last night having just nine runs to get to my century," he told a news conference.
"That was just a massive emotion for me to get my first century for Australia and obviously to make 200 was just a surreal experience."
Bracken finished unbeaten on 14 but played a bigger role than his score suggested, sharing an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership of 77 with Hodge after Australia had lost a flurry of wickets in the pursuit of quick runs.
Mike Hussey added just four runs to his overnight score of 54 when he was poked a catch behind to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher off Pollock at the start of the day and Andrew Symonds fell for 25 before lunch when he got a thick edge off swing bowler Charl Langeveldt that went straight to Gibbs at a wide first slip.
Gilchrist pounded 44 off 58 balls before throwing his wicket away in the middle session, holing out to Rudolph at deep square leg off Andre Nel, while Warne was trapped lbw by Justin Kemp for five.
"Once (Gilchrist) and Warney departed there was a message from the skipper that if I wanted to get my 200 I'd have to make a race for it so I took the bull by the horns and had a crack at it and it worked out quite well," Hodge said.
Scorecard
Australia (1st innings): 258 (R. Ponting 71; M. Ntini 5-64)
South Africa (1st innings): 296 (A. de Villiers 68, M. Boucher 62; B. Lee 5-93)
Australia (2nd innings): (Overnight: 310-4)
J. Langer b Pollock 47
M. Hayden c Boucher b Langeveldt 20
B. Lee lbw b Langeveldt 32
R. Ponting c Boucher b Ntini 53
B. Hodge not out 203
M. Hussey c Boucher b Pollock 58
A. Symonds c Gibbs b Langeveldt 25
A. Gilchrist c Rudolph b Nel 44
S. Warne lbw b Kemp 5
N. Bracken not out 14.
Extras: (b-5, lb-4, nb-17, w-1) 27
Total: (for 8 wickets declared, 146.4 overs) 528
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-86, 3-129, 4-184, 5-316, 6-377, 7-444, 8-451.
Did not bat: G. McGrath
Bowling: S. Pollock 36 - 6 - 98 - 2 (nb-6), M. Ntini 34 - 8 - 113 1, C. Langeveldt 31 - 3 - 117 - 3 (nb-8), A. Nel 28 - 2 - 104 - 1 (w-1), J. Rudolph 6.4 - 1 - 29 0, J. Kemp 11 - 0 - 58 - 1 (nb-3).
South Africa (2nd innings): (Target: 491 runs)
G. Smith lbw b Bracken 30
A. de Villiers c Hodge b Warne 12
H. Gibbs not out 17
J. Rudolph not out 18.
Extras: (b-4, lb-3, nb-1) 8
Total: (for 2 wickets, 36 overs) 85
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-55
To bat: A. Prince, J. Kemp, M. Boucher, S. Pollock, C. Langeveldt, A. Nel, M. Ntini.
Bowling: G. McGrath 8 - 4 - 11 - 0 (nb-1), B. Lee 9 - 3 - 26 - 0, S. Warne 12 - 2 - 27 - 1, N. Bracken 7 - 2 - 14 - 1.
