But he revealed that the single which carried him to three figures did not come off the bat.

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"It was off my backside, it wasn't off my bat. I only realised I had the run when the crowd started going up," Hayden commented.

He went into the game with a poor record against the tourists, having scored only 84 runs in seven previous Test innings against them.

"Every series is different, but against South Africa it's almost unfinished business for me," he said.

"I came into this series with a very different outlook. The pressure is on how good I can become, rather than who my opposition is."

Hayden now heads the list of leading Test run-scorers in 2001 with 1,250, 99 clear of West Indian Brian Lara.

The left-hander put on 181 for the third wicket with Mark Waugh and their partnership was crucial in enabling Australia to declare before the close.

"For the first two hours we needed to capitalise by not losing too many wickets," said Hayden.

"Mark and I were able to do that and it put us in a very strong position and gave us a good foundation leading into the session after lunch, so that was a key for us."

Hayden is confident that leg-spinner Shane Warne can bowl them to victory on the final day, having already picked up the wicket of opener Gary Kirsten.

"I think most of their order is inclined to batting long periods of time so I guess, for us, it's just about creating pressure and seeing whether South Africa is up to the challenge.

"We're obviously in a very strong position and we know that. It's a deteriorating wicket and I think Warney's going to come into his own tomorrow," he added.