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Cape Town - Star Proteas batsman AB de Villiers refused to acknowledge that the first Test in Kingsmead is in Australia's hands after South Africa wobbled on day two.
After a dismantling the Australian batting line-up thanks to a five-fer by homeboy Keshav Maharaj, South Africa needed 352 to catch up with the visitors.
However, the Proteas continued their disappointing performance with the bat as De Villiers was the lone saviour, which saw the Proteas bundled out for 162.
De Villiers hit an unbeaten 71 off 127 balls, as Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon (3/50) troubled the Proteas batting line-up
Starc grabbed 5/31 as the Proteas ended day two in trouble as they trail the Australians by 189 runs.
Despite being at the backfoot, De Villiers made it clear that the Proteas batsmen came up short but believes the world No 2 side are still in it to win the Test at Kingsmead.
"Australia had a really good intensity about them and they seemed to be clear with their plans. We could feel that they seemed to know what they were doing," De Villiers told reporters in Durban.
"But it's not all lost. Some guys looked really good out there and we just didn't convert. We just didn't cross that line today.
"We came up just short and the wicket is getting harder by the day and it won't be easy for them to bat out there tomorrow. It's up to us to make sure we have the right game plans in place. We are not out of it," he said.
"We've got our work cut out tomorrow but we still believe we can turn this around."
Day 3 gets under way at 10:00 on Saturday.
