At SuperSport Park, Centurion Aiden Markram stands between the West Indies and a challenging fourth-innings chase as the visitors fought back on what was a second evening of epic wicket-taking proportions. South Africa, who were bowled out for 342 inside the first 40 minutes of the day, finished the second day on 47/4, 179 runs ahead of the West Indies, who were bowled out for 212 inside two sessions on Wednesday. The cookie crumbled with 11 wickets falling in a hectic hour-and-three-quarters during which the West Indies subsided from 169/3 to their eventual total through an electric burst of hostile fast-bowling from Anrich Nortje (5/35). While the West Indians allowed Markram (35*) to race to a 33-ball knock with six fours, they combined to rip out the rest of SA's top and middle-order to leave the Test match delicately poised. Alzarri Joseph (5/81 and 2/17) coaxed another false ramp shot to third man from Dean Elgar (1) and removed captain Temba Bavuma first ball, with Kemar Roach (1/28) doing the same to Tony de Zorzi (0)i as the hosts, weirdly, elected not to use a night-watchman. That ploy backfired badly when Keegan Petersen (7) was trapped plumb in front with what became the last ball of the day and the first of Jason Holder's (1/0) spell. It left the game finely balanced as the hosts were again failed by their batting. The Windies, who started South Africa's second innings badly, made full use of the fading light in the last 34 minutes of the play to bring themselves back into the game after a terminal collapse. South Africa's late-evening meltdown undid the diligent bowling of the afternoon and evening sessions where they first constricted, then disemboweled the West Indian batting. That South Africa earned a lead of 130 was down to Nortje's fire and brimstone, accompanied by unrelenting accuracy from the rest of the pace attack. When the West Indies were 169/3 nearly an hour after tea, it would have been easy for an attack of lesser resolve to spit the dummy. But the Proteas didn't let the West Indies out of their sight on the second afternoon and only allowed them 64 runs in 29 overs, which was in contrast to the 71 they scored when they started batting in the morning session. The Proteas did have the wickets of Kraigg Brathwaite (11) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (22) to shout home about in the first session. Brathwaite was castled by a wonderful leg-cutter from Kagiso Rabada (2/44) that pitched on middle and off-stump and hit the top of off. Chanderpaul was marinated by some aggressive fast bowling and, by the time he had gifted Gerald Coetzee his first Test wicket when he popped a catch to Senuran Muthusamy at gully, he had long lost his nerve. However, those dismissals allowed for a punchy third-wicket stand of 64 between Raymon Reifer and Jermaine Blackwood (37), who had contrasting, but effective batting styles to combat South Africa's threat. Where the left-handed Reifer (62), whose third Test 50 came off 117 balls, eschewed anything short and waited for the ball to be absolutely full, Blackwood was happy to take the attack to the hosts. Blackwood's blade is chancy, but also feisty to a point where if it's unrestrained, it either spells trouble for the opponent or his team. He flashed hard, but once a squeeze was applied when Muthusamy was brought into the attack, he was unable to play himself out of the fielding press. This allowed Nortje to test his temperament with a bumper/yorker approach and then Blackwood inside-edged a catch to Heinrich Klaasen. While there was still some batting to come in the form of Roston Chase (22), Kyle Mayers (18), Joshua da Silva (4), and Holder (0), the West Indies' chance of scoring quickly evaporated with Blackwood's dismissal. Reifer and Chase took the score to 169, but when the former tickled an edge to Klaasen off the luckless Marco Jansen (1/64), the gap to kick the door down was prised open. Nortje, in the best way he knows, then dismembered the West Indian order when he forced Chase to edge one to Elgar at first slip. That took the West Indies to 169/5 which quickly became 179/6 when Da Silva cut a Nortje short ball straight to Jansen at point. Holder couldn't see out Nortje's over as three balls later he was pouched at second slip by Markram as the Windies slipped to 179/7. Joseph (4) provided a modicum of resistance, but when he replicated Da Silva's dismissal by picking out Jansen at point off Nortje, the Windies had subsided to 190/8. Mayers became Nortje's fifth victim when he holed out to Jansen at deep fine-leg off the fast man, before Coetzee (2/45) grabbed his second scalp when he trapped Shannon Gabriel (7) plumb in front. That left the West Indies with a hill to climb and the four late wickets will aid their cause, but with another evening collapse accelerating the game, Centurion is set for another Test that won't go the full five days. Scores in brief South Africa: 342 (Aiden Markram 115, Dean Elgar 71, Alzarri Joseph 5/81) and 49/4 (Markram 35*, Joseph 2/17, Jason Holder 0/1, Kemar Roach 1/28) West Indies: 212 (Raymon Reifer 62, Jermaine Blackwood 37, Anrich Nortje 5/35, Kagiso Rabada 2/44, Gerald Coetzee 2/45) South Africa leads by 179 runs.