Graeme Smith crowned his 100th Test match appearance, with a brilliant century as South Africa took control of the first Test at the Oval on Saturday.
The much talked about England bowling went completely missing as Smith, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis hit the red leather across every inch of the Oval.
Resuming at 86 for one on the third day, Amla struck a magnificent unbeaten 183, with Smith making 131. Kallis (82) was with Amla at the end of the day's play, as the visitors reached 403 for two, for a lead of 18.
Smith matched the feats of Colin Cowdrey, Javed Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Ricky Ponting by reaching three figures in his 100th match.
"I don't think it's sunk in yet," an ecstatic Smith said after the match. "It was quite surreal at the time and then you still have in the back of your mind that there's a job to be done.
"I guess in the next day or two it will sink in. Firstly, to have played 100 Tests is a terrific achievement, but to reach a milestone like this is the cherry on the top -- it feels great.
"It's so difficult to put into words; when I got to a hundred there were so many emotions that were flowing through me - from that to knowing my wife is giving birth in three days' time. All of those things were coming through; it's sort of a blank moment in my mind."
Smith, who will fly out to witness the birth of his child after the first Test, was all praise for Amla. "He doesn't complicate it too much. He scores freely all around the wicket and to stand out there and watch some of his timing is quite incredible," the South African skipper said.
"He's obviously got great ability, but with that he's got terrific mental strength and a calmness that I think adds to all of that. He's a nice guy to have in your team.
"We had some good conditions yesterday morning to bowl, but we executed everything well and we were able to keep England under pressure," Smith added.
"The way we bounced back yesterday with the ball has been probably the biggest achievement of this Test match so far.
"Tomorrow is a fresh day and we need to respect our opponents. They have the ability to bounce back; they are the number one team in the world and we need to respect that, but we are positive and we do want to have the chance to push for a victory.
"If we give ourselves a chance to bowl out England then I believe we've got the armoury to do that, certainly."
England bowling coach David Saker refused to criticize his bowling unit. "I wouldn't have said it was bad bowling. I thought it was a very flat wicket, and our guys toiled away very well," the Australian said.
"It was extremely good batting from Smith and Amla in particular, and then Kallis put the icing on the cake at the end.
"We just couldn't get the ball to move laterally, which is one of our big strengths."
