South Africa celebrated three wickets in 15 overs

Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince posted centuries as South Africa declared their first innings on 451-9 in the third Test against Australia.

And there were wickets for Charl Langeveldt and Andre Nel as Australia tumbled to 54-3 by stumps on day two.

Kallis (111) defied an elbow injury to add 219 with Prince (119) - the highest fourth-wicket stand for South Africa against Australia.

In six balls, Langeveldt bowled Matthew Hayden and saw Justin Langer play on.

Langer, just back from a hamstring injury, had looked in good form for his 25 before falling.

Nel had Brad Hodge caught at short midwicket in the 15th over to signal stumps, with captain Ricky Ponting on 13 not out.

On reaching 11 in his 100th Test, Ponting brought up 8,000 Test runs, becoming only the 16th man to do so.

South Africa grafted at under three runs an over, their declaration coming in the 155th of the innings.

Kallis was rock solid in progressing from 80 overnight to his 23rd Test hundred, his second against Australia, before he was caught by Glenn McGrath at fine leg off Andrew Symonds nearing lunch.

Prince, who resumed on 62, was out when struck well outside off-stump while not offering a stroke to a prodigious Shane Warne leg-break in the hour after lunch, after facing 271 balls.

Together the duo broke the previous record South African fourth-wicket partnership against Australia, of 206 between Charles Frank and Arthur Nourse in Johannesburg in 1921-22.

Kallis shared a record fourth-wicket stand with Prince

Australia's two premier slow bowlers had to toil on an unresponsive Sydney Cricket Ground pitch belying its normally spin-friendly nature.

Warne finished with 2-106 off 36 overs and fellow spinner Stuart MacGill 1-102 from 29.

Brett Lee, facing a dissent hearing after the end of play, was rewarded for his wholehearted fast bowling in tough conditions with 3-82 off 30.4 overs.

During an afternoon of painstaking batting, Prince and wicket-keeper Mark Boucher were both the victim of contentious umpiring decisions.

Boucher was given out after top-edging an attempted sweep off MacGill when replays showed the ball hit the ground before it bounced up for Adam Gilchrist to take the catch.