Last Updated on 24 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey

As Nathan Lyon had the ball turning square on the third day of a gripping Cape Town Test, his opposite number watched on with interest. Big puffs of dust was a regular sight as South Africa batted with caution against the consistent Lyon, until Temba Bavuma was undone by the flight as he looked to hit a boundary through midwicket.

The crucial wicket meant the hosts ended the day four wickets down and leading by 40 runs. Simon Harmer has called on a big performance from the batting lineup against what he describes as an incredible bowling attack.

“They’ve got an incredible bowling lineup and we know that the pressure is going to be on for all 90 overs tomorrow,” Harmer said, as quoted by foxsports.com.au.

“But as we’ve seen throughout the series, there’s going to be periods where it’s going to be easier to score, and there’s going to be periods where they’re going to bowl well.

“So it’s just about navigating through the tough periods and understanding that there is going to be an opportunity for you to score more freely somewhere down the line, and the trust in that sort of process.”

Simon Harmer says spin will play massive role as Australia face potentially tricky fourth innings chase

200+ totals have been successfully chased down just three times at Newlands. South Africa bat deep, and a solid lead can put Australia under pressure on a turning pitch. It’s something the South Africa offspinner is looking forward to.

“I think if you look at how the wicket changed from this morning to this evening, there’s been quite a dramatic change,” said Harmer, who took 4/104 off 37 overs in the first innings.

“I think Mitchell Starc does a pretty good job of churning up the wicket. So yeah, I definitely think that spin is probably going to come into it a lot more than it has in the first two and a half days.

“I think it was quite evident to see tonight how the ball was turning out of the footmarks. I don’t know if the middle of the strip is going to start going up and down for the seamers, but the way that I see it is that I think that spin has a massive role to play in the rest of the Test.”

Simon Katich agrees. The former opener says the pitch will do more, and the result could come down to which bowling attack is more consistent.

“I think there’s going to be a lot more on offer from the wickets’ perspective, and there’s a lot more on the line in terms of the result,” he said.

“The series is at 1-1 and it’s going to boil down to getting the ball in the right area the most amount of times.”

The wicket of Temba Bavuma for 35 could prove to be one of the pivotal moments of this Test. However, Marco Jansen and Harmer himself have contributed runs down the order this series, and if they do so again, we could be in for a thrilling finish to a high-profile series.