Australia's Josh Inglis batted bravely for his 102 in the ongoing third and final Test against South Africa at Cape Town. As a late replacement for the injured Steve Smith, the 31-year-old batted with a broken finger covered with a protective splint. Inglis and Alex Carey added 185 runs for the fifth wicket to help the visitors to a 100-run first-innings lead. At stumps on day three, the Proteas were 140/4 and behind the eight ball in a series that’s tied at 1-1 at present.

Talking about batting with a finger injury, Inglis said: "It didn't feel like it at times. I think when I came in with 'Kezza' (Alex Carey), it sort of felt like old Test match cricket – attritional. The ball was a bit softer, and they sort of had a ring field, and it felt quite tough to score.

"So I probably wasn't hitting the ball as I'd like, but I knew I just needed to hang in there. There was no reason to try push on or press on.

"Our partnership was building really nicely, and then I just saw an opportunity before that second new ball when the spin was on to be able to play a few shots and get some boundaries away.

"Then the new ball felt quite nice last night. It did a little bit, but it was obviously harder, and the field's were up. I felt pretty good."

Inglis is primarily a white-ball player. He has played 43 ODIs and 49 T20Is, and as far as Test matches are concerned, the ongoing one is his just sixth, with his last five-day international game coming in last year during the Ashes. The wicket-keeper batter – however in Tests, Carey is the preferred option behind the wicket -- currently represents Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

When asked if playing in the high-profile T20 league helped him grow in the Test format in any way, he said: "Maybe. The IPL is a high-pressure tournament. It's a lot of fun. I love playing over there. I'm not sure whether it's helped my Test cricket, but in terms of just playing at the international level, yeah, potentially."

South Africa will resume day four on Friday leading by 40 runs with the top four back in the dressing room. Matthew Breetzke and Ryan Rickelton are unbeaten on 19 and 8, respectively.