Summary South Africa only needs to draw the series to retain its No. 1 ranking.
Rory Kleinveldt took three top-order wickets to help drag South Africa back into contention in the second test by restricting Australia to 111-5 at stumps Saturday, a lead of 273 with two days to play.
The Australians had a 162-run cushion after dismissing South Africa for 388 at tea on day three, and were coasting at 77 without loss in the second innings until Kleinveldt triggered a collapse.
The two-test paceman dismissed David Warner (41) and Rob Quiney who had a pair of ducks in the match within three balls and then bowled Ed Cowan (29) as Australia slipped to 91-3.
Dale Steyn chipped in with the wicket of Ricky Ponting (16), who dragged a ball back onto his stumps to make it 98-4. And night watchman Peter Siddle was caught behind off Morne Morkel as the Australians slipped to 103-5 two overs before stumps, bringing Mike Hussey to the crease with skipper Michael Clarke. The same pair put on 272 for the fifth wicket on day one to help Australia to 550 in the first innings.
Clarke, who has scored double centuries in back-to-back innings against South Africa, was nine not out at stumps and Hussey was unbeaten on five.
"We re pretty happy with where we are sitting at the moment with a 273-run lead," offspinner Nathan Lyon said. "It s going to be hard work in the morning, but hopefully (Clarke) and (Hussey) will be able to fight the reverse swing and spin and hopefully get a good lead again and see where we get to."
It was a day of wild momentum swings, with South Africa losing 5-17 in a morning session collapse and Australia losing 5-26 late.
After resuming Saturday at 217-2, South Africa lost established batsmen Jacques Rudolph (29) and Graeme Smith (122) on 233, then needed a 93-run eighth-wicket stand between a wounded Jacques Kallis (58) and test rookie Faf du Plessis (78) to take the threat of the follow-on out of the equation.
Just when Australia had laid the foundation to set South Africa a massive victory target, Kleinveldt and Co. changed the momentum again.
"What we did tonight in the last session was exactly what we needed to still have a sniff in the game," du Plessis said. "So we re still in there with a chance, which is great, because if they just went 4 1/2 runs an over with no wickets, we would have been under massive pressure. At the moment, we re still in there."
Kallis, who injured his right hamstring bowling on the first morning, came in at No. 9 and stroked 11 boundaries and a six before he was caught behind off the part-time spin of left-armer Clarke. He aggravated the injury and, despite being expected to bat in the second innings, South African team management said he was unlikely to play in the third test at Perth next week and replacement players were being considered.
Du Plessis said having Kallis calming influence settled him down after a nervous start. He went in at Smith s dismissal, scored 78 from 159 balls and was chasing runs in the last-wicket stand when he miscued to Clarke at short mid-on with the total at 388, giving Ben Hilfenhaus figures of 3-49 in 20 overs.
Lyon (2-91) and Siddle (2-130) shouldered the bulk of the overs and took two wickets apiece.
"The wicket is going to deteriorate a bit more as the game goes on. Reverse swing and spin are going to play a massive role in it and hopefully I ll be able to contribute to a test match victory," said Lyon, who worked as a groundsman at the Adelaide Oval before making his test debut at the venue last year.
Siddle had Smith caught behind to a very faint edge and trapped AB de Villiers (1) lbw both batsmen having their referrals rejected by TV umpire Asad Rauf and leaving South Africa without any reviews in the innings.
Ben Hilfenhaus did the job with Australia s second new ball when he had Steyn (1) caught at second slip by Ponting in the 83rd over and bowled Kleinveldt in the 85th.
Kallis ducked under a bouncer from Hilfenhaus on the first ball he faced, but was clearly restricted by the leg.
After facing 93 balls, Kallis eventually tried to sweep against Clarke and the ball clipped his glove as it carried down leg-side to Matt Wade.
As it s shaping, injuries to Kallis and Australian paceman James Pattinson could have a big impact on the end of the match. Pattinson left the field after bowling just one delivery on Saturday and went to a hospital for scans on his injured left side. Results weren t likely before Sunday, when Australia may need him to bat and bowl.
South Africa has been behind the game since paceman Vernon Philander withdrew only hours before the start due to a bad back.
Kleinveldt, who didn t pick up a wicket on debut in the drawn first test at Brisbane, was initially left out of the lineup for the Adelaide match, but was reinstated when Philander withdrew.
He proved his worth when he started swinging the ball late on Sunday. In the over after Cowan had a big reprieve
caught at short cover off a no-ball from Imran Tahir on 26, denying the legspinner his first wicket of the series
Warner got a leading edge to a Kleinveldt ball and lobbed a simple catch to du Plessis in the covers.
South Africa only needs to draw the series to retain its No. 1 ranking, while Australia needs to win it to overhaul them.
