Josh Inglis and Alex Carey lifted Australia to 330-4, edging ahead of South Africa's 329 after a day of double strikes and rebuilds in Cape Town.
Day two in Cape Town belonged to the comeback. Australia closed on 330 for four, one run ahead of South Africa's 329 all out, with six wickets in hand and a platform to push on through day three.
The Proteas had their moments. Twice they landed double strikes to choke promising Australian stands, and twice the tourists answered by rebuilding. The session-by-session swings suited the mountain backdrop, though the day was calmer than the rollercoaster that opened the Test.
Travis Head set the early tone, throwing his hands at anything wide and mixing fortune with timing for seven boundaries. That kind of tempo threatened to match South Africa's own start on day one, when Aiden Markram and Marques Ackerman put on 140 against a bewildered attack. Alongside Head, Matthew Renshaw offered the opposite approach at the top: patient, leaving well and defending the new ball with clarity. Cameron Green added some sparkle in the middle, but Marnus Labuschagne's duck was a low point for the visitors.
When South Africa threatened to take control again, Inglis and Carey calmly counterpunched, turning a wobbly position into a lead. South Africa now have to find early breakthroughs on the third morning, or the Australian tail-end cushion could put this Test out of reach.
