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Martyn's 124 not out was his first century on home soil and it was all the more poignant as he suffered a six-year exile from the Test side following the 1993/94 Sydney Test against the same opponent.

Martyn spent two hours scratching his way to six and was blamed by some for Australia losing a thrilling Test by five runs, despite none of his more experienced team-mates having contributed.

Now a mature 30-year-old No.6, Martyn batted for nearly five hours, faced 210 balls and hit nine fours.

"I can look back now and reflect on that but it wasn't in my mind as I went out to bat," he said.

"That was in the first part of my career and I'm just enjoying the second part."

Martyn finally became a fixture in the Australian side during the recent Ashes series in England, when he scored two centuries.

But, despite a half century in the final Test at Perth, he had a relatively poor series against New Zealand at the beginning of the season.

"I was more disappointed with my contributions in the previous Test series against New Zealand, so it was important to me to score well against South Africa," he said.

"It's special to score a first century at home; it means an awful lot.

"It was also important given the build-up to this Test series - they're a good side so it was good for us to get runs on the board in the first innings."

Martyn also felt it was important that the hosts claimed the wickets of Gary Kirsten and Boeta Dippenaar before the close, after an opening stand of 87 between Kirsten and Gibbs.

That left the tourists 101 for two at stumps, trailing by 338 runs.

"Those wickets were vital because they were cruising along and doing it pretty easily," said Martyn.