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On the third morning, Australia needed nine wickets to win and couldn’t afford any mistakes. So, there was disappointment when, in the third over, Shane Watson dropped a catch from Hashim Amla. Ryan Harris had made Amla edge the ball, but Watson, at first slip, couldn’t hold onto the catch. Although the main trouble started on the second day, Watson’s miss made things even harder for Australia.
After that mistake, the Australians were eager to take any chance they could. But they got a bit too hopeful when they reviewed an unsuccessful lbw appeal after Harris hit Amla’s pad. The umpire, Billy Doctrove, turned down the appeal, and it looked like the ball was heading down the leg side. Hawk-Eye later confirmed it wasn’t hitting the stumps.
Amla and Graeme Smith played some impressive shots, but one of Smith's stood out—a four he hit off Watson with an on-drive. Confident that Watson’s speed wouldn’t trouble him, Smith stepped forward like Matthew Hayden used to, smoothly flicking the ball past mid-on. This was one of three boundaries Smith hit in that over.
Amid all the strange events in the Test, the third morning was mostly calm, except for one unusual moment. At exactly 11:11 a.m. on November 11, 2011, South Africa needed 111 runs to win, making the scoreboard read 11:11 11/11/11. South Africa asked all the fans in the crowd to stand on one leg for the duration of that minute and with the healthy Newlands crowd hopping about, umpire Ian Gould got into the spirit too.
It looked like Nathan Lyon was chosen for his batting, as he hadn’t bowled in the first innings and had to wait 38 overs to get a chance. With South Africa needing 84 runs to win, Lyon came on to bowl with fielders close by. He started well, bowling a maiden over and nearly creating a chance against Smith. On his third ball, Smith defended to the leg side, and the ball landed just out of reach of the close fielder.