The South African stroke maker said he was determined to show he is still cut out for Test cricket following his sensational century on Sunday's day three against Australia in Port Elizabeth. Not since January 2015 had AB de Villiers scored a Test century but he ended in Port Elizabeth, in the view of his former captain Graeme Smith, his innings of 126 not out from 146 balls was "one of the great Test innings".

AB de Villers performance could well prove to be a match-winning one, as the 34-year-old helped South Africa recover from 183/6 to post 382 all out and a first-innings lead of 139, before Australia were reduced to 180/5 in reply, just 41 runs ahead at the stump day 3.

Having decided to take a break from the longest format in 2016, only returning in December 2017, de Villiers admitted he was determined to prove that he was still capable of producing match-defining performances in Test cricket.

David Saker, Australia's bowling coach, paid tribute to de Villiers' stunning performance but said all is not lost for the visitors, despite Kagiso Rabada's key late dismissal of Usman Khawaja (75). AB de Villiers also had words of caution and support for Rabada, who took his wicket tally for the match to eight by dismissing David Warner, Shaun Marsh and Khawaja, but is a doubt for the rest of the series as he awaits the result of a disciplinary hearing with ICC match referee Jeff Crowe.