Lunch Australia 169 for 0 (Hughes 85*, Watson 76*) trail South Africa 266 by 97 runs
Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson produced a commanding stand for Australia to reach 169 for 0 at lunch, making South Africa dearly regret dismissal for a mere 266 on the first evening.
A week ago the tourists had been razed for 47 at Newlands, and there was tremendous resolve, if also a little good fortune, in the way Watson and Hughes went after a strangely flat South African attack on the second morning.
Hughes' innings took him past 1000 runs in Tests, while Watson showed he could still have a significant impact on proceedings despite carrying a hamstring strain that may prevent him from bowling again in this match.
Of South Africa's bowlers, Morne Morkel threatened and Vernon Philander found some early movement, but Dale Steyn was curiously muted and Imran Tahir again struggled to find the ideal length against batsmen keen to attack him.
Starting early due to the bad light that truncated day one, Hughes and Watson confronted a handful of difficult early deliveries with the new ball, but there was no more movement off the pitch than might be expected on any Test match morning and little through the air.
Steyn appeared to be down on speed after his Cape Town exertions, and it was Philander and Morkel who posed greater questions. Hughes was into the 30s by the time the hosts manufactured a chance, the batsman flicking off his hip to short leg, where Hashim Amla spilled a most difficult catch.
Hughes was out on 38, squeezing inside edge and pad through to Mark Boucher from the bowling of Jacques Kallis. But the South African appeal was unconvincing, and no DRS referral was called for. When it was, for a Watson lbw appeal by Imran Tahir, an equally thick inside edge was detected.
Aside from this helping of luck, and Watson's risky penchant for driving in the air through the off side, Australia's batting demonstrated tremendous power, aggression and resolve. Watson was a little slower between the wickets than usual but never lax in his foot movement, while Hughes began to look like the buccaneering opener who had plundered a century in each innings against South Africa at Durban in 2009.
Both batsmen saved perhaps their best strokes for passing 50. Hughes rolled his wrists over a precision cut shot, and Watson punching off the back foot through cover with the sort of impudence Steyn cannot be used to facing.
By the interval Tahir had been warned for running on the pitch, and the hosts were doubly ruing their wasteful strokes on the first afternoon.
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