On a surface like this, you can't be doubtful - Tony de Zorzi

You're part of a team who won their previous 10 Tests, a national record. One of your bowlers took 11 wickets in the current match. One of your batters scored a century in the first innings, and will be back at the crease when play resumes on the fourth day. You have eight wickets in hand to score 226 more runs and clinch your 11th consecutive victory.

You're on top, surely. Or at least you have an even chance of winning.

Not if you're South Africa, and particularly not if you're playing Pakistan at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

On Sunday, when Shan Masood won the toss and batted, five wickets fell and 313 runs were scored. Monday yielded 11 wickets and 281 runs. Tuesday? Sixteen wickets and 271 runs.

Of those 32 wickets, fast bowlers claimed two - not least because they have bowled just 240 of the 1,577 deliveries.

The surface is turning so much that, if the match goes into a fifth day, the wicketkeepers might consider crouching square of the pitch.

Senuran Muthusamy is one of three spinners in South Africa's XI - a rarity for a team from the place where pace is pace, yaar, more than any other. Muthusamy took 6/117 in the first innings and 5/57 in the second.

That would put most teams in the driving seat. But not when they're up against Noman Ali in conditions like these, his mirrored sunglasses casting echoes of Darth Vader as he wheels away.

Noman was able to say, like Vader did, "I have you now", six times in the first innings. He claimed both South Africa wickets that fell on Tuesday.

It's difficult to see much of Luke Skywalker in Tony de Zorzi, except perhaps for the warm smile they share. De Zorzi batted for almost three-and-a-half hours for his 104 in the first innings, making him only the fifth South Africa player to score a Test century in Pakistan.

Ryan Rickelton was at the crease for all 79 minutes of South Africa's second innings on Tuesday. De Zorzi was there for the last 48. They will go once more into the breach on Wednesday, when Noman, aided and abetted by the explosively excitable Sajid Khan and the seriously sniping Salman Agha, will again be at their throats.

At least, the spinners will be at their pads, their edges and their stumps. The only bowler who has the ability to be at their throats, Shaheen Shah Afridi, has yet to be tossed the ball in this innings.

If the home side don't win from here, they might face a judicial commission. Unsurprisingly, De Zorzi doesn't agree. He sees his stand with Rickelton, which has endured for 89 balls and is worth 33 runs, as key to what would be a famous South Africa victory.

"Ricks and I keep each other present in the partnership," De Zorzi told a press conference. "We try to take it one ball at a time. We remind each other about good options whatever those are for us; they're different.

"The guys coming in are just as able, if not more talented. So it's not just Ricks and I. The rest of the okes are keen to get out there. Hopefully they won't need to, but anyone in our team, if they get in and build a partnership, it's on."

Was there a formula for surviving and maybe even prospering - like he did in the first innings - on this pitch?

"I don't think there is one secret. Everyone has their own way of playing. On a surface like this, you just have to trust. You can't be doubtful."

The pitch, De Zorzi said, was "what we prepared for; what we spoke about. We had the correct mindset and gameplan. We're prepared and we will definitely give it our best tomorrow."

Pakistan lost their last five wickets for 16 runs in the first innings and their last seven for 48 in the second dig. South Africa's last eight disappeared for 95 in the first innings. Small wonder De Zorzi said sturdy stands would be "gold".

"It's tough for the new guy to come in; it's tough for him to get into a rhythm. The spinners on each side are pretty good and these are favourable conditions. So beginning an innings is tough but hopefully we can build a partnership and crack on."

De Zorzi spent much of his century looking like he might get out next ball. But he didn't care what he looked like, as long as he stayed there.

It's an approach that could make all the difference for South Africa as this match reaches its denouement: stay there, and win.