Newsflash: Australia batters are people too.
Gone are the days of Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, David Warner and assorted other invincibles. Even though Steven Smith is in this side, he has proven himself fallible. A line-up that is uncertain about their opening pair and their No.3 and No.5, just like South Africa, inherently has vulnerabilities and South Africa's attack just needed to see it for themselves.
"To to be 1-0 down and to be able to turn it around and then to be 40 for 4 and be able to turn that pressure and put it on them and then to realise that actually, they are human and if we bowl well and put them under pressure, there is the possibility that we can get on top of them, was really nice to see," Simon Harmer, the offspinner who scored 82 and took two wickets in the Gqeberha Test said. "Durban was a tough few days for us with our backs against the wall and there was nowhere to go. It was nice for us to turn it around and to be able to put them under pressure."
Almost all of South Africa's line-up was guilty of poor shot selection in the first innings at Kingsmead and they know it. "If you look at the dismissals, it was quite evident there weren't a lot of good balls that got us out but we managed to find ways to get out," Harmer said.
In Durban, Matt Renshaw, with assistance from Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, showed that a little application and perhaps a lot of leaving to be able to push on. It took South Africa a week, but they learnt and Temba Bavuma, specifically, found his Test gear. His career-best 179 was built on the restraint required to craft a significant Test innings.
With runs on the board, South Africa could target Australia's weak spots and took 20 wickets in 149 overs, after managing only 16 in 195 overs last week. They proved to themselves that they could fix their errors from the first Test. "The most frustrating thing in Durban was knowing that there were a couple of guys that had come either back into the Test team or out of position, and we weren't able to exploit that," Harmer said.
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The obvious difference in South Africa's attack is that Kagiso Rabada was back and nothing says pressure like facing an opening spell with a sustained pace of 145kph. Rabada's impact on Marco Jansen's confidence is also apparent. Though they lost Anrich Nortje to an apparent groin problem in his fourth over, Wiaan Mulder stepped up to the third seamer role and bowled with both skill and confidence to help script a classic South African fightback.
"There was a lot of motivation and fire burning in the belly of a lot of the boys that we didn't put our best foot forward and that we didn't lose on our terms in Durban," Harmer said. "The character that Marco showed in that first innings, both with bat and ball, and KG today and Wiaan everybody stepped up. When the team really needed somebody to break it open, they were able to do that. We'll take a lot from this win and a really good feeling to go into Cape Town 1-1."
The crucial thing for South Africa to get right in the decider will be selection. They erred in Durban, with two spinners on a surface that didn't take as much turn as anticipated and got away with losing Nortje to injury in Gqeberha, where Harmer played as the specialist spinner ahead of Keshav Maharaj. With Nortje unlikely to be available for the final Test, if they want a like-for-like pace replacement, they will consider either Corbin Bosch or Gerald Coetzee.
Newlands is also a venue where teams usually don't go without a spinner - though a Test has never been played there in October - but whether Harmer will keep the role will be a matter of debate. Across the two Tests so far, he has bowled 97.5 overs, more than anyone on either side, with returns of 4 for 291, which, by his own admission, is not what he was hoping for. "I'm not one for excuses, so I'll take it on the chin. I believe that I could have bowled better," he said. "In both Tests, it's been more seamer-friendly than it has been spinner-friendly but I'll definitely sit back and find ways that I could have done more."
Despite the returns, there is a sound tactical reason for continuing with Harmer given the number of left-handers in the Australian side. A counter argument would be that Aiden Markram can provide the offspin match-up and Maharaj's experience could be crucial in an important game, while a third suggestion would be that if spin is going to play a limited role, they both sit out and Senuran Muthusamy, who offers a lot with the bat, is considered. Whichever way it goes, you get the sense everyone in the South African squad will understand, given how they have bought into the idea of playing for each other.
"When I first made my debut for South Africa [in 2015], there were a lot of players that had the ability to single-handedly win games," Harmer said. "At the moment we've got a bunch of guys, and it's always different people putting their hands up. We're not relying on one person. That's why the team's in such a good space.
"That's one of one of the differences for me from that 2015 test team, when you had the big dogs. You go to India, and it's like, surely if AB [de Villiers] doesn't score 100 or Hash [Hashim Amla] doesn't score 100, we're in trouble. This team always finds a way."
Harmer has been back in the set-up for the last year, after he was sought out by coach Shukri Conrad away tours to the subcontinent. He was South Africa's leading wicket-taker in both Pakistan and India and masterminded their comeback from losing in Lahore to victory in Rawalpindi and beating India at home for the first time in 25 years.
Now, he was central to another rise from this ashes, albeit with the bat. Harmer and Temba Bavuma's record eighth-wicket stand of 183 took South Africa to a match-winning total of 425 for 9 declared. It's also worth noting that it can't be a coincidence he has been involved in all three comebacks as he forms a key part of this side. "How many times have we had our backs against the wall? It happened in Pakistan, it happened in India, and it's happened again in this series. We come back and that's a hallmark of a really good team," Harmer said.
He calls this group a "really nice bunch to be involved with," but knows there's no time for too many niceties as the most important week of most of these players' careers looms. Some, like Aiden Markram, Bavuma, Rabada and Maharaj, have beaten Australia in a series at home but none of them have ever done it as defending World Test Champions and there's a sense that if they are able to, it will underline their position as mace holders. According to Harmer, they're ready.
"Regardless of what's thrown at us, we're able to adapt and overcome. I'm really looking forward to what Cape Town throws at us. Test cricket is about simplistic basics and doing the good things well," he said. "There's still a lot of cricket to be played. We'll take the positives from this, and make sure we learn from our mistakes over the last two games, and put our best foot forward."