Rickelton, Mulder give Australia no sniff in wicketless session

Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder blunted the second new ball to frustrate Australia as they batted through the second session to build South Africa's lead to 194 runs in the series-deciding third Test.

Australia are facing a tough fourth-innings chase on a turning Newlands surface after much better application from South Africa, who have only lost one wicket so far on day four.

Rickelton, who has a top Test score of 259, has been especially fluent through the off side as he approaches a third Test century. He received strong support from Mulder in a potentially match-turning sixth-wicket partnership that has so far yielded 113 runs. Rickelton reached tea on 83 off 167 balls, while Mulder is unbeaten on 46.

Australia have used eight bowlers, but their only wicket was essentially gifted to them by Matthew Breetzke, who in the first session became the latest South Africa batter to meekly succumb to the short ball.

Breetzke had batted with maturity, shedding the horizontal bat shots given the slew of ham-fisted dismissals from South Africa batters through the match.

But he lost patience on 43, failing to execute a pull shot off Pat Cummins that was top-edged to fine-leg. It was Cummins' first wicket since the opening Test, ending a barren run of 374 balls since he had last struck.

The surface is still playing relatively placidly under the Cape Town sunshine, with offspinner Nathan Lyon being the main threat as he targets the footmarks. Several of his deliveries have turned sharply off the footmarks and only narrowly missed the wickets, but Rickelton and Mulder started to play him with more ease.

Left-arm quick Mitchell Starc couldn't reproduce his day one heroics with the second new ball as Australia looked out of answers. Cummins has gone deep into the bag, utilising left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly and part-timers Matt Renshaw, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne who unfurled legspin.

South Africa resumed at 140 for 4 with a lead of 40 runs at the start of the day as they started their quest to build a big total and ensure Australia faced a challenging fourth-innings chase.

Cummins didn't waste any time and immediately deployed Lyon, riding high after clean bowling captain Temba Bavuma, late on day three. He encountered a more resolute effort, with Rickelton and Breetzke focused on survival.

It took almost 20 minutes into the day's play for the first boundary when Rickelton rocked on the back foot to punch Lyon through the covers. Runs were hard to come by against accurate bowling, with the tension heightening as Breetzke poked his tongue out at Starc amid a verbal exchange.

Only 31 runs were scored by the drinks break, but South Africa didn't mind even though they would have ideally hoped to shift through the gears before the second new ball.

Breetzke did well to thwart Lyon, carefully focusing on the sharp turn from the rough. He did have his heart in his mouth after a wicked delivery spun through his defence and only just missed hitting the off stump.

Having faced more than 100 balls, Breetzke felt more comfortable and hit a superb boundary through the covers off Cummins, who was still searching for an elusive wicket.

In a rare sight, Breetzke went after Lyon with a slog sweep that rocketed to the boundary as the partnership reached fifty. But Breetzke could not help himself and gifted a wicket to Cummins, who finally celebrated a wicket.

The pressure grew on southpaw Rickelton, who didn't have to quite agonise over the footmarks like the right-handed batters. He stroked Lyon for a sublime boundary down the ground to notch 1000 career Test runs and picked up the scoring pace after lunch.

With the second new ball available, all eyes were on Starc after he ran through South Africa's lower-order with extraordinary swing late on day one under overcast skies.

He bowled one final delivery with the old ball before immediately leaking four leg byes in an anti-climax. Starc could not conjure much swing under the sunshine, with the batters looking untroubled other than when Mulder edged past gully in a nervous moment.

Lyon was brought back into the attack just five overs into the second new ball, but could not create any opportunities. Rickelton, who had brought up his fifty off 105 balls, drove crisply to keep the scoreboard ticking as South Africa's lead grew.