The day started in tears. The drizzle that stalked this Test match - only 43 overs of play was possible in the first two days - threw a final tantrum and washed out the morning session to the increasing frustration of the home side, South Africa, who warmed up three times and would have known they had to beat both Australia and time.
Roast beef at 11.20am is unusual but an early lunch had to be taken. How much was eaten in the players' area is not known. Only 16 overs were lost in the end but that left 492 balls to take six wickets, not 588, and you only need six of them to be wicket-taking anyway.
The 11th ball nearly was, as Kagiso Rabada drew an edge from Scott Boland but there was no carry. Patience. That would be what South Africa needed. Especially when Travis Head struck two silken boundaries off Marco Jansen to reach his second century away from home and celebrated as though it was not worth acknowledging at all. Australia's flashiest player meant business and with a nightwatchman in Boland who must feel like he should try and prove himself every time he plays, South Africa would have known nothing would come easy.
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It took almost 90 minutes before the first wicket fell, and not to either of the two biggest threats. Jansen and Rabada were being held back for the second new ball and Wiaan Mulder, with a 75-over ball and Ryan Rickelton standing up to the stumps, pitched it back of a length, trapped Head at the back of the crease and bowled him. An unlikely hero was born.
Mulder doesn't come with the reputation of Rabada or the hazard of Jansen but on this surface, referred to as the toughest to bat on in South African first-class cricket but proving remarkably placid on day five thanks to limited play on the first two days, he offers exactly what's needed. Mulder is what Boland was, minus the height. That means he usually pitches it fuller, moves it late and because he really veers off his stump to stump line, demands that batters play. He takes wickets with the old and new ball and is the perfect support act to the bigger names, to whom the biggest acts seem to belong.
The highly-anticipated battle between Rabada and Steven Smith resumed in this Test after Rabada missed the first with injury and almost caught fire. Rabada had words with Smith in the first innings but it was Mulder who bowled him through the bat-pad gap, in another sign of how important his role is. Rabada had to wait for the second dig and the second new ball to have another go, and go he did. His second delivery to Smith, who was struggling with neck stiffness, was not quite short enough to pull but Smith went for the shot anyway and top-edged. Matthew Breetzke had to run from mid-wicket to almost mid-on to get under it. In the background, Bavuma was in vision, with his back turned away from Breetzke.
"I was very nervous at that time," Bavuma said afterwards, giggling through his answer. "High catching here at St. George's can be a bit tough, especially when the wind is blowing like that. I couldn't see who was under the catch so it was definitely not a case of me not having any faith in that individual. It just felt like a big moment in the game. Steven Smith, we know what an important cog he is within their batting lineup, but also just the game in itself."
We understand Bavuma and his history with nerves. He explained after the Boxing Day Test that South Africa won to quality for the 2025 World Test Championship final that he was hiding in the bathroom while Rabada and Jansen forged a 51-run eighth-wicket stand to rescue South Africa from 99 for 8 to successfully chasing 148.
Not as much was on the line here, but maybe almost as much was. At 1-0 down in the series of the home summer and with only nine matches left in the WTC, a lot more than just defeat was on the line. To use a boxing analogy, as holders of the championship belt, South Africa losing the series to Australia would feel like their defence has ended before it has ended. That may yet happen, but Bavuma's career-best 179, with help from eighties from Jansen and Simon Harmer, dragged South Africa back into the contest. By the third session on the final day, they needed a knockout blow and Bavuma asked Mulder to deliver it.
He was given the second new ball at 12 overs old and completed the perfect 1-2. In successive overs, Mulder beat Boland on the inside edge and Pat Cummins on the outside edge.
But still, South Africa had to wait. It took eight more overs before Rabada removed Mitchell Starc and a a grey monster loomed overhead. The heavy winds had taken clouds across St George's Park at such a quick rate that the reflection on the outfield looked like a constantly shifting mosaic but this one, was properly menacing and its edges could only be seen far on the horizon. With the broadcasters setting up the post-match presentation inside, there was also a high possibility of imminent rain. The penultimate drinks break brought genuine questions over whether the decision to go off for bad light was being taken.
The next 13 balls felt like a full Test on its own. A South African side that always caution against being too desperate were definitely searching. Debutant Marques Ackerman had one stump to aim at to run out Josh Hazlewood and missed and a mythical thunder groaned. Would Australia end up blessing the rains down in Africa?
Seven balls later, Jansen answered the question when he finished as strongly as he started to have Hazlewood caught at second slip and pull off one of South Africa's biggest comeback wins. They have pulled things back in matches and series before, but have arguably never done it with the stakes this high.
Despite being mace holders, there is always a sense South Africa have something to prove especially because they didn't play Australia or England (who will visit later this summer) in the last cycle. Though this win hasn't proved it all, it has gone some way to showing why South Africa are worthy of their title and capable of defending it. What they do next week in Cape Town could solidify that position.
For now, this day ended with some of the biggest smiles South African cricket has seen. The clouds cleared and a glorious late spring sun sprinkled over the St George's Park outfield.
But those gusts, they kept going and carried with them the whispers of change, perhaps mostly for Australia. South Africa have forced them to ask harder questions of their batting line-up than they may have wanted to at this point of a hallmark series. It also tells a story of this South African team whose idea of themselves might be shifting. Starting a series slowly is not new to them but coming back so strongly has allowed momentum to switch sides and set things up enticingly for the series decider.
In Africa, there is a proverb that when roots run deep, there is no reason to fear the wind. South Africa will believe they planted those in Gqeberha and will hope that even the Cape Doctor, the famous south easter in their next destination, can dislodge them.