"We are playing for a draw at the moment. When we started batting, we were not looking at batting 135 overs, but just batting until tea and not losing any wicket. Then we batted through the last session, and we lost two wickets. It puts us in a good position to fight for the draw on the final day," Birrell said at the press conference after the fourth day's play.
"Yes they have. They are a quality side and this is a different format. They have batted well with patience," he said.
South Africa were 138 for 2 at stumps on day four, needing 320 more runs for a win on the final day tomorrow. They still have eight wickets in hand but injured Morne Morkel is in doubt to bat tomorrow after he twisted his ankle yesterday.
"We will be drawing from past experience, both from winning positions and matches where we drew games. This is a team that has done remarkable things in the past. Tomorrow, if we are only two down at lunch we can make a match of it.