And he brings it up with another boundary, creaming Marco Jansen through midwicket for four. Celebrations are muted for there is much work still to be done, but take nothing away from his efforts so far.

If Australia can somehow fight on and save this Test, this Travis Head knock will rate among his very best. That's his fourth ton as a Test opener, and his first in any position outside Australia against a team in its home ground*.

*His only other away century was in the WTC final against India at The Oval.

He's bowling to Head for the first time and really cranked up the speed on the first-up bouncer. He's the prized scalp here.

FOUR RUNS! Jansen strays onto the pads and is put away by Travis Head, who has moved to 98. He's racing to this century now.

I may have been talking about Rabada's shorter spells before, but I wasn't quite expecting this. Perhaps they just want him at the other end. Harmer's off spin is into the attack already.

SHOUT! Kind of. Head is struck on the pad and Bedington catches well at short leg, but there didn't seem to be any bat in it. Barely a shout, to be fair.

Head takes a single quickly, Boland blocks out the last ball and that will do us.

He's still around the wicket to Boland with a short leg and a leg slip.

Boland sees the bouncer coming and gets under it quickly.

BEATEN! Not quite as short that time but making Boland play. He prods at it but can't get anything on it. Jansen looks cranky. But Jansen always looks cranky.

He's a rock, Scotty Boland. Impenetrable defence. A maiden over.

It will be interesting to see how many overs Rabada bowls today. Reminder this is his first Test in a very long time after finally overcoming injury concerns. Don't expect too many long workhorse spells if this one goes the distance.

One run there through cover for Head, before Rabada sends one past the outside edge of Boland's bat.

EDGED! FOR FOUR! Genuine nick to slip from Boland, but it fell just short of the cordon and slipped through the gap as a result. A bit of luck.

More runs for Boland as he takes a single out to the sweeper on the leg side. Very much looked like South Africa was hoping he would do that, as he will now have the strike to begin the next over.

He was the main man yesterday, and the might need him to be the main man again today.

Jansen opens up with a bouncer to Boland, but one that looked to me to keep rather low. Expect some inconsistent bounce today.

Jansen moves around the wicket now, but Boland defends back down the wicket.

There's a short leg in place for Jansen now and he's attacking Boland's body. There was some glove on that one down the leg side but Boland deflected it downwards, safely into the ground before it reached the keeper.

Nicely defended by Boland. Another over down.

Hello everyone! What an absoutely stupid morning that was.

Anyway, the sun is shining and the cricket is about to begin. Australia's task has become a little bit easier with the lost overs, but it will take a titanic effort to pull this one out of the fire.

Rabada has the ball and Travis Head has the strike on 87. Head gets a low full toss, drives it away for a single and moves to 88. We're away.

Scott Boland is here too, and in surviving one ball has managed better than he did at the beginning of day four.

A run for Boland now, worked to the leg side off his hip.

FOUR! Head gets a half volley and he crashes it through point for four. Into the 90s he goes already.

Pretty ordinary over from Rabada. We'll call it a loosener.

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What good news.

Play is due to start imminently.

I reckon you've probably heard enough from me for a while, so here's Dean Bilton to take you through the first passage of play.

Fair point, Kane.

And who would replace him?

As we have found out, there's not a lot of people really banging the door down to step in and excel at Test level.

Labuschagne's ceiling is far higher than most, which is probably why they have persisted for so long with him.

This is one of the things that Usman Khawaja raised before play was due to start on Fox Sports earlier today.

Very, very few batters have been given as much leeway as him to be out of form.

(Getty Images)

And bring thi stick o' Rhubarb.

Absolutely right.

But the question will soon be who is going to step up when these bowlers lose their level.

The cupboard is looking relatively bare.

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So, the first session has been a wash out.

But by taking lunch now means that I expect they hope to be playing at 9:00pm AEDT.

No confirmation on that yet, and I am sure there will have to be an inspection, but if I am reading the tea leaves correctly, that's what we have in store.

We will update you all as soon as we know anything about a resumption time.

And the ground staff are working on removing the water from the covers.

That's good news.

But I wont hold my breath for a resumption until the players are on the pitch and the ball is in a South African bowlers hand.

I think getting dropped was the best thing for him.

He was promoted into the Test team because he had something at the top of the order. A bit of swagger. A bit of confidence. But above all, an intense concentration and discipline to bat long.

He came into the Test team, adrenaline got the better of him and, against India, he found success hitting out. That was never going to last and so it proved.

(Getty Images)

He spent time back in the Shield remembering how to bat long innings, curbing that big hitting and regaining the confidence he lost.

He's still in the picture, he played on the Australia A tour of India last month - although didn't bat well then with scores of 25, 20, 2 and 40 in the first class matches in Puducherry, adding 67 in the second white ball game.

But this week, on his return to Australia and the Sheffield Shield, he has scored big, 71 in 142 in the first innings and then 151 not out in the second.

Ben Cameron has told the ABC radio broadcast that the rain is getting heavier.

"It's raining as heavy as it has all morning," he says.

You can hear it hitting the roof of the commentary box.

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Funnily enough, I think the defeat against Bangladesh was worse.

A team that, on paper, were far inferior, missing their two best bowlers, proving that competent batting and disciplined bowling can win Test matches.

Australia were so poor in that match.

This has been bad too, but this rain may even mask those issues much in the same way as the second Test win over Bangladesh in Mackay put the gaffer tape back on, just as the terrible batting displays against England in the Ashes were ignored because England were even worse.

I would not have made this connection.

Unless you're Australian.

If it hangs around long enough, then why not? Every minute they are off the pitch now means that overs are being taken off the time Australia will need to survive.

There is also the fact that the pitch is going to sweat under these tarp covers, which will impact the surface. For better or worse is the question.

It won't help Harmer with getting grip, but could help Rabada and Jansen get variable bounce.

Two half centuries for Marcus Harris in a low scoring match is a positive for him I suppose.

(Getty Images)

But you'd feel that his chance has been and gone.

We're been told that play is due to begin at 8:00pm AEDT, so about 20 minutes or so.

The new session times are thus:

• 11:00 to 12:30 local time (8:00pm to 9:30pm AEDT) 
• 13:10 to 15:30 local (10:10pm to 12:30am AEDT)
• 15:50 to 17:45 local (12:50am to 2:45am AEDT)

Australia will have to survive 87 overs salvage a draw.

Good/bad news from Gqeberha.

The covers are coming off, according to CricInfo, so that means we will get a resumption time sooner rather than later.

The rain was not heavy so, according to CricInfo, the outfield is not a concern.

(Getty Images)

Heroic half centuries from Marcus Harris (63), Liam Blackford (80) and Fergus O'Neill  (53) were ultimately in vain for Victoria, who fell to a four-run defeat against Tasmania in Hobart today.

22-year-old left arm quick Marcus Bean dismissed both Harris and Blackford, before Gabe Bell came back to mop up the tail as Victoria was bowled out for 266 chasing 271.

Ben McDermott was player of the match for Tasmania for his 128 and 33, with Tasmania going top of the ladder after two rounds following their first-up draw with New South Wales.

Well look, while we're waiting for the rain to stop, how about we round up the second round of the Sheffield Shield, shall we?

No rain in Hobart or Perth today to ruin the result chasing...

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The radio boys are saying that this "light and misty" rain is going to linger.

Apparently, it's all down to former Australian batter Phil Jaques's fancy weather app.

He says the rain will be around until noon or early afternoon local time.

You can listen to them talking about it all here.

What frustration for the South Africans.

Hi Cam, lovely to have you with us.

As far as the rain is concerned, we are told that once this blows over the rain will disperse and we'll be able to get a full day's play in, or near enough.

Whether South Africa will need a full day's play is anyone's guess.

Play has been scheduled to start at 7:20pm AEDT, but then it started raining again.

However, that rain has apparently done little to dispel the hopes of a swift resumption.

The start time has been revised to 7:25pm AEDT, but we'll keep you updated on what seems to be a bit of a rolling issue at the moment.

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That's a diamond stat, Wishful thinker.

The Aussies actually won by 5 wickets despite scoring just 75 in their first innings in response to South Africa's 311.

The great offspinner Hugh Tayfield did the damage with 7-23 in that innings for the team then known as the Springboks.

Hugh Tayfield (Getty Images)

However, in the second innings, South Africa was skittled for 99, Victorian offy Ian Johnson taking 5-34, with Bill Johnston adding 4-39 with his slow left arm.

Ian Johnson (Getty Images)

The great Neil Harvey then scored an unbeaten 151, part of a 135-run partnership with Sam Loxton (54) to steer Australia to a famous win.

(Getty Images)

We are told there is a little bit of rain about.

Not much, but enough for the start of play to be held back a little bit.

As Australia was bundled out for under 100 in their first innings, it's easy to forget that the Proteas were missing one of their key strike bowlers on day four.

(AP Photo)

Anrich Nortje suffered a right groin injury in his fourth over, despite taking the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne in that time.

There were fears that his extensive workload in the first Test after a lengthy absence from first class cricket - the 32-year-old bowled 40 overs in Durban after three-and-a-half years without playing first class cricket.

The Proteas didn't miss him in the first innings but, having enforced the follow on, being a bowler light could still end up hurting the hosts.

 AccuWeather tells me that the weather for Gqeberha today is as such...

A shower in spots this morning; otherwise, partly sunny and increasingly windy. The temperature is a high of 20°C.

The wind gusts are up to 72 km/h.

The BBC, however, says there's going to be rain...

(BBC)

Fox Sports had an interview with Josh Hazlewood where there was no mention of rain, indeed Mark Howard said there was "no rain, unfortunately".

And yet, what do I see out there?

(Getty Images)

Covers on...

(AP Photo)

He may have a perpetual scowl on his face on field, but Marco Jansen had plenty to smile about during yesterday's day's play, as he claimed 5-33 in 11 overs.

The 26-year-old has had a good mate, scoring 85 runs on Tuesday, his second-highest Test score, before backing up with an accurate display of seam bowling yesterday.

“With the two days of rain we had to try and bowl them out as quickly as possible, and I’m just very, very happy the way it turned out and just happy that we could capitalise on the wickets and the new ball,” Jansen told reporters.

“I thought the guys bowled really, really well with a lot of intent and energy.

"But it’s one thing to bowl well, but it's another thing to be backed up by your fielders as well. They took some stunning catches with just everything, basically, going our way."

Jansen noted that the conditions were far better suited to bowling at St George's Park than they were in Durban last week.

“The ball got a bit more bounce and a bit more seam, and fortunately for me, it just got the edge," he said.

"We bowled in better areas for longer periods and stuck at what we thought was going to work at this wicket.

"Test cricket is all about resilience coupled with consistency."

with Reuters

It has been hosing it down in the South East corner of the Sunshine State today.

Thoughts, of course, with anyone affected by the flash flooding. If you are worried, check out the ABC disaster blog here.

If you need any emergency assistance, contact the SES on 132 500.

If you’re in a life-threatening situation – call Triple Zero.

He was speaking on Fox Sports a short while ago.

He said that he was feeling a lot better and will be at full batting fitness.

Unfortunately, I don't think that Australia will be in a great position if they need to rely on Hazlewood's bat to save them...

(AP Photo)

A week is a long time in sport.

Or maybe, we are all too guilty of short term thinking.

After Matt Renshaw's heroics masked the woeful batting problems at the heart of this Australian line up, the cracks were once again exposed in a Test match as Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster all failed on day four.

And there's a suggestion that all three should all be in the firing line when the panel sits down to pick the squad ahead of next Tuesday’s start for the third Test in Cape Town.

"I'm not going to sit here and hang anyone out to dry,” coach Andrew McDonald told reporters on Wednesday when asked about possible changes, but he acknowledged his side had suffered a "significant setback".

"It was only a week ago we were a really, really good team," he said.

Labuschagne has now gone 46 Test innings without scoring a century, and his second dismissal on Wednesday put his approach in the spotlight, leaving his side further in the mire.

He and Head had put on 92 for the second wicket as the home bowlers tired but instead of continuing the fightback, Labuschagne took on spinner Simon Harmer in a fierce gale and was caught skying a rash shot, precipitating the fall of two more Australia wickets before stumps.

"There's probably some shots players would like to take back," McDonald said.

"When you do that hard work, you've got to cash in, and unfortunately that wasn't the case for Marn.

"He’d be disappointed, we're disappointed and we find ourselves in this situation."

With Reuters

There's a feeling perhaps that it's a bit too late for a couple of Australia's batters to save their personal bacon - but the game is still there to be saved, that's for sure.

Was there a plan?

Watching Australia's batters flounder about on a pitch that, over the previous 24 hours, had proven to be as placid as they come, makes one think that whatever plan there was, it was not being applied.

Here's Russell Jackson's analysis of another painful day for Australia's Test team.

(AP Photo)

Australia was hampered yesterday by a neck injury to former skipper Steve Smith.

The veteran batter was in clear discomfort throughout his first innings, changing his stance regularly to deal with the pain he was in before eventually being bowled.

He was seen in the sheds with a warming blanket around his neck in a bid to loosen the muscles, and did not come out to bat as expected when Australia was following on.

However, the Australian camp expect Smith to bat today.

"We felt it was best to hopefully get the batting unit through to tomorrow and then hopefully he's better placed," coach Andrew McDonald said.

"We've seen the physio working on him, so he'll bat tomorrow.

"It's not something that will rule him out of the innings, but it was just a little bit more time than we expected on the back of the first innings.

"Sometimes he changes his technique when he's fully fit too, but he was limited in what he could do."

Marco Jansen was a pain in the neck for all Australia's batters on day four, while we all know Marnus Labuschagne can cause a crick in the most sturdy of spines at the best of times - which these most definitely are not.

But it was the literal pain in the neck that felled Steve Smith on a tough day for Australia batters.

Here's the quick hits from day four.

(AP Photo)

There's no hiding it, but day four represented a low point in Australia's recent Test batting history, bundled out for 99 and being asked to follow on for just the third time this century, before going on to lose four wickets in their second innings to put them on the cusp of defeat.

Here's how it all went down.

(Getty Images)

In the history of Test cricket, just four sides have ever responded to the ignominy of being asked to follow on by coming back and winning the match.

Australia, in the 40 times they have been asked to do so, has never managed it.

They have, however, drawn 11 pf those matches and that surely is the only hope that the Aussies have on day five at St George's Park.

Hello everyone and welcome to the final day of the second Test from Gqeberha, as Australia stares down the barrel.

My name is Simon Smale, Dean Bilton and Henry Hanson are with me and it's safe to say that if we are to be still with you for the entirety of the next seven hours or so, we're going to need a fightback of epic proportions from an Australian team that has wilted in the face of South Africa's fast-bowling.

Travis Head is nearing a century but was streaky as Danish bacon at times, while Steve Smith has a literal pain in his neck and is likely to be under-strength as a result.

The Aussies still trail by 170 runs. The situation is bleak.

But stranger things than this have happened in Test cricket. I once saw Monty Panesar survive 35 balls alongside Jimmy Anderson in Cardiff save a Test.

And, with all the respect and love for Monty in the world, if he can survive that long, then Australia's far more accomplished lower order batters can do their part too.