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Top 20 in 2020: The best Test batting, No.4

We continue our countdown of the best Test batting performances on Australian soil since 2000

Re-live the countdown in full: 20-18 | 17-15 | 14-12 | 11-9 | 8-6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

There have been more than 250 scores of 100 of more in Tests in Australia so far this century, so narrowing it down to just 20 has been no easy task.

In judging the best performances, the cricket.com.au team considered the quality of the bowling attack, the difficulty of the conditions, strike rate, the length of the innings, the percentage of the team's total and the situation of the game.

Top 20 in 2020: Full countdown of the best Test moments

A player's previous record and relative experience plus the impact their performance had on a match and a series also weighted heavily.

Before you get stuck into this countdown, you can re-live some other memorable batting performances by looking back on our 20 in 2020 Best Test Moments countdown from earlier this year.

4) JP Duminy, 166

South Africa v Australia, Melbourne, 2008

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By Martin Smith

When South Africa coach Mickey Arthur fronted the press following the second day of the 2008 Boxing Day Test, he did so with his side holding the series lead but significantly behind in the match.

Almost 200 runs behind, in fact, and with just three first-innings wickets left after Australia had at one stage reduced the Proteas to 7-184 in reply to the home side's first innings of 394.

Arthur, though, was confident that the tourists could overcome the odds and fight their way back into the contest.

"If we can maybe try and add another 70, that's going to take us around to lunch time (on day three)," Arthur said.

From the vault: Duminy's Boxing Day clinic

"We've got it all to do, really. We've got to find a way to get ourselves out of this situation."

Just 24 hours later, JP Duminy sat in the same chair having done exactly what his coach had asked him to do - and then some.

The left-hander had helped the Proteas add another 261 runs to their total, almost 200 more than Arthur’s seemingly optimistic target, helping them to a 65-run first innings lead.

He finished with 166, his first Test century in just his second Test, and shared a remarkable 180-run partnership with No.10 Dale Steyn, which was just 15 runs short of the all-time record for the ninth wicket.

So impressive had the young star been that the famously parochial MCG crowd stood and applauded warmly as he celebrated his century, even though he had taken the match away from the home side and brought up triple figures with a boundary off the bowling of local hero, Peter Siddle.

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The crowd stood again when Steyn fell for a brave and crucial 76, but Duminy wasn't done yet. He added a further 28 runs with No.11 Makhaya Ntini, of which the tailender contributed two, meaning South Africa's final four wickets had added a record 318 runs.

Apart from the faith he placed in the tail, the patience shown by Duminy - who had represented his country in white-ball cricket for four years before his Test debut - was the feature of his innings.

He spent more than seven-and-a-half hours at the crease, played out 249 dot balls and scored 60 singles, 43 of which were tucked on the leg side.

His stroke play became more expansive as the innings progressed and the Australian bowlers tired; he drove fluently through the covers and straight down the ground, pulled strongly through midwicket and cut beautifully square of the wicket.

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The home side missed some chances on that third day - notably when Michael Hussey was blinded by the sun and unable to get his hands on a high ball - but none of them came from Duminy's blade.

It was a chanceless performance and one that was the foundation of an incredible nine-wicket win.

It secured the Proteas their first-ever series victory on Australian soil and ended the home side's 16-year streak without a series defeat in their own backyard.

Such was the strength of South Africa's batting line-up that Duminy had only got his chance in the side when Ashwell Prince was ruled out due to a thumb injury.

Steyn remembers highest Test score in famous SA win

He celebrated his inclusion with a match-sealing fifty in a record-breaking run chase Perth and then a series-clinching century at the MCG.

Rarely has a player entered the Test arena in such a dramatic fashion.

"I probably came out here thinking I wouldn't play, being that I've travelled now for a year without getting a game," Duminy conceded.

"But stranger things have happened in life."

Top 20 in 2020: Best Test batting in Australia since 2000

20) Ricky Pontingv South Africa, Sydney, 2006

19) Virender Sehwagv Australia, Melbourne, 2003

18) David Warnerv New Zealand, Hobart, 2011

17) Virat Kohliv Australia, Adelaide, 2014

16) Alastair Cookv Australia, Brisbane, 2010

15) VVS Laxmanv Australia, Sydney, 2000

14) Steve Smithv England, Perth, 2017

13) Hashim Amlav Australia, Perth, 2012

12) Cheteshwar Pujarav Australia, Adelaide, 2018

11) AB de Villiersv Australia, Perth, 2008

10) Kevin Pietersenv Australia, Adelaide, 2010

9) Michael Clarkev South Africa, Adelaide, 2012

8) Steve Smithv England, Brisbane, 2017

7) Kumar Sangakkara v Australia, Hobart, 2007

6) Sachin Tendulkar v Australia, Sydney, 2004

5) Brian Larav Australia, Adelaide, 2005

4) JP Duminyv Australia, Melbourne, 2008

3) Rahul Dravidv Australia, Adelaide, 2003

2) Ricky Pontingv India, Melbourne, 2003

1) Faf du Plessisv Australia, Adelaide 2012