The tourists lead by a whopping 479 runs after a day in which they dictated every element of play, with David Warner in particular enjoying the pressure-free situation once the hosts were rolled.
Again it was Mitchell Johnson who dominated with the ball as the Proteas collapsed quickly in the morning session.
AB De Villiers, having batted so well on day two to give his side a glimpse of hope, was attempting to farm the strike having been left with tailenders but tried one shot too many to be caught by Warner off Johnson.
The big leftie ventually claimed seven wickets for the innings, while Nathan Lyon claimed two and Siddle one, the invaluable scalp of Hashim Amla on day one.
South Africa could manage just 206 in total, 191 behind Australia’s first innings score, leaving openers Warner and Chris Rogers freedom to just play.
Rogers again disappointed, unlucky to play onto his stumps from the bowling of Dale Steyn, the stalwart and pick of the struggling Saffa attack.
Warner should have gone three times giving difficult but genuine chances that Graeme Smith’s side couldn’t take. The little leftie took the gifts with open arms smashing 115 off 151 balls before falling to pedestrian spin from Robin Peterson.
Debutant Alex Doolan again looked excellent at number three, playing the perfect foil to Warner but he went agonisingly short off his first Test century on 89, edging the first ball of part-timer JP Duminy’s spin spell to keeper De Villiers.
At stumps, first innings centurian Shaun Marsh (44 not out) and captain Michael Clarke (17 not out) were doing it easy, stretching the Aussie lead towards 500 at a touch over four runs an over for the last session.
Australia can come out in the morning and go the tonk for a few quick runs, through it wouldn’t be any surprise if Clarke declares overnight to give his bowlers a full two days to take the 10 wickets needed to go 1-0 up against the top ranked side in the world on their own patch.
Image via Getty
