Quick hits: Jansen hit where it hurts as Bavuma grinds Aussies into the dirt

Marco Jansen's swashbuckling innings ends with a bang then a whimper and Temba Bavuma grinds Australia into the dirt with one of the great captain's knocks.

Here are the quick hits from day three of the second Test between Australia and South Africa.

1. Bavuma's all-time captain's knock

Watching Temba Bavuma bat on day three, it was hard to believe the South Africa captain was in the process of scoring just his fifth Test-match century.

He was so organised, so composed and just-about chanceless in making his way to a 223-ball hundred.

His face was a picture of steely determination after reaching his milestone, his mouth twisted into a defiant grimace as he held bat and helmet aloft, well aware he was batting his side back into the game.

And he continued on his way after passing three figures, continually blunting the tiring Australian attack, finding runs all over the outfield and driving through mid-on like only the truest of batting talents are able.

It was a captain's knock if ever there was one and eventually ended with a new high-score of 179.

Having initially struggled to find his feet at Test level, Bavuma has averaged well over 50 in the past five years and can now count himself as one of the format's best batters.

2. Jansen gets hit and then gets out

It was a blow that sent winces across the cricketing world.

Scott Boland produced a beauty with the very first delivery of the 80th over, using the new ball to jag one back towards Marco Jansen.

The towering all-rounder was cut in half and completely helpless to the fresh pill thudding into precisely the place he would have hoped to protect the most.

Doubled over and then down an all fours, Jansen pounded the turf in agony as his teammates offered a mixture of sympathy and myrrh from the stands.

It was a long, long delay as he picked himself up, regained his composure and received some medical attention.

He was eventually right to continue, but just four balls later, his counterpunch came to an end with a meek chip to Travis Head at mid-wicket.

Jansen's swashbuckling 100-ball 85 was key to South Africa's remarkable revival on day three, but the big man's special knock was over with a combination of bang and whimper.

3. Starc reaches 450 Test wickets

The milestones just keep coming for Mitchell Starc.

With the St. George's pitch offering little during the first half hour of play on day three, Australia's fearsome spearhead managed to conjure something special.

His venomous bouncer had Wiaan Mulder tied in knots on the backfoot, the ball collecting a mixture of helmet, shoulder and willow on the way through to Matt Renshaw in the cordon.

The on-field decision was not out, but a well-taken review revealed the murmur that sent Mulder trudging from the middle.

The wicket was Starc's 450th in Test cricket, making him just the fourth Australian to reach that milestone, after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Lyon.

Unfortunately for the Aussies, Starc's early breakthrough proved a lone bright spot in an otherwise pitch-black day in Gqeberha.

4. South Africa better Australia's Durban recovery

It was a truly remarkable day of recovery from the South Africans.

Having started the morning on 5-97, Mulder's early dismissal further reduced the hosts to 6-110, a position even more dire than where Australia found itself on day one in Durban.

The Aussies finished the opening day of the series teetering on 6-124, but went on to score 390, with Matt Renshaw starring in a collection of lower-order partnerships to add a further 266 runs.

South Africa's recovery in Gqeberha was eerily similar but even more dramatic, with Bavuma and his more-than-capable lower-order teammates adding a further 315 runs from that initial position of peril early on day three, with Bavuma and Jansen contributing 132 runs for the seventh wicket and Bavuma and Simon Harmer a South African record of 183 for the eighth.

That unlikely Australian rescue-job laid the foundation for a dominant victory in Kingsmead, and the South Africans will be hoping for something similar at St. George's.

But given the amount of time already lost in this game and how placid the wicket still looks to be, the Proteas may well require something very special to eke out a result on days four and five.

5. A final sting in the tail for Australia

With South Africa's innings declared on 9-425 after Bavuma's late dismissal, Australia's opening batters were faced with an excruciatingly short period in quickly fading light after an arduous, demoralising day in the field.

And Nic Maddinson's lazy waft outside off certainly looked like the shot of a man who had spent seven hours being ground into the dirt.

The veteran was nicked off for a duck by returning South African spearhead Kagiso Rabada with the fourth ball of the innings.

Nightwatchman Scott Boland, mercifully, only had to survive the final two balls of that opening over before the umpires determined the light was only good enough for spin.

The Australians will begin day four at 1-3 and, somehow, 422 runs behind.