Australia have not lost a Test in Melbourne since Dean Headley took six for 60 to inspire England to a 12-run win in 1998, but they were involved in a dogfight early this morning to avoid going 2-0 down in their three-match series against South Africa.

J. P. Duminy followed his impressive unbeaten half-century in his debut Test in Perth with 166 yesterday to take South Africa to 459 and a first-innings lead of 65 that had looked unlikely when they were 184 for seven. Duminy added 67 for the eighth wicket with Paul Harris and 180 with Dale Steyn, the third highest partnership for the ninth wicket in Test history.

If Duminy’s innings marked the flowering of a known talent, Steyn’s was the greatest batting overachievement in Melbourne since Alan Mullally, a hapless rabbit, made 16 a decade ago. Steyn, dropped on 32, 33 and 57, had advanced to 76 before being bowled by Peter Siddle.

Australia had to rely on Siddle and Mitchell Johnson more than they would have liked because Brett Lee missed the day with a sore metatarsal in his left foot that the Australia physiotherapist said was “on the way to being a stress fracture”. Lee will bowl only as a last resort in this Test and will probably miss the third Test in Sydney. After Steyn’s batting heroics, South Africa were relying on the fast bowler to excel at his day job this morning.

An unbeaten century from Mahela Jayawardena put Sri Lanka into a dominant position on the third day of their Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Muttiah Muralitharan took six wickets as Sri Lanka gained a first-innings lead of 115 and Jayawardena’s 129 took the lead past 400 for the loss of four wickets. New Zealand drew their two-match Twenty20 series with West Indies by winning the second match in Hamilton by 36 runs.