A Colin de Grandhomme century and two vintage Neil Wagner wickets have given the Black Caps hope, but they'll still need to accomplish a rare feat for another test victory over South Africa.

South Africa reached stumps on day three of the second test at Hagley Oval at 140-5, holding a lead of 211 runs as the Black Caps hunt for their first test series victory over the Proteas.

While a crucial pair of Wagner wickets in the final session opened an avenue into the South African tail order, the visitors aren't far away from providing an imposing total.

Just twice have New Zealand successfully chased a fourth-innings target of 230 or more in New Zealand, and there have only been five winning fourth-innings chases of more than 235 by any team in this country – none since 2003.

That statistic doesn't tell the entire picture, as the 235 mark has been passed 25 times, 20 of them coming in draws or defeats, but it points to the old adage being true – fourth-innings chases, even those with feasible targets, are no walk in the park.

That the Black Caps even have a sniff of victory is thanks to de Grandhomme, whose second test century brought New Zealand back into the match.

De Grandhomme's unbeaten 120 was his highest test score, and could hardly have come at a more pivotal time, walking to the crease at 91-5 and heading back off having helped drag the Black Caps to 293.

He was assisted by Daryl Mitchell, who made 60 in a partnership of 133 for the sixth wicket, but Mitchell was trapped lbw by Keshav Maharaj, who showed enough to indicate that his spin could be dangerous in the final innings.

De Grandhomme however largely navigated the spin well, playing a patient game in the 90s before cutting Maharaj behind point for three to casually bring up his century off 138 balls.

Having brought up his 50 from 36 balls, he had displayed the savvy in the following 102 deliveries to suggest an even larger score was in the offing, but the big man was let down by the tail order.

Kyle Jamieson (13 off 30 balls) and Tim Southee (five off eight) both fell swiping at short balls, and while Wagner (21 off 18) had some fun smacking Maharaj and Marco Jansen in revenge for their ninth-wicket partnership in the first innings, he and Matt Henry fell in consecutive balls to Kagiso Rabada to leave de Grandhomme stranded.

From 224-5, the Black Caps would have been disappointed in 293 all out, with Rabada finishing with 5-60 and Jansen 4-98 as the visitors took a vital lead of 71.

It was a lead than ensured even a middling second-innings effort would still leave New Zealand with a challenging chase, and middling would be a fair descriptor for South Africa's effort with the bat.

By tea, they had slumped to 42-3, with Southee and Henry knocking over the top order and ensuring the Black Caps wouldn't be batted out of the test.

Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma provided resistance, with the vocal van der Dussen getting chippy with the equally fiery Wagner in a tense battle.

Van der Dussen was content to attack Wagner's trademark short ball – a tactic that carried some risk for New Zealand, with a few lofty blows seeing runs flow and South Africa rapidly increase their lead.

The already riled-up Wagner was even redder when de Grandhomme shelled a straightforward chance at square leg to remove van der Dussen, but with his fielders letting him down, Wagner did it himself, luring the batsman into a false shot and taking the return catch.

That ended a 65-run stand, and 11 runs later Wagner had the other big scalp – Bavuma driving straight to short cover to expose the start of South Africa's tail.

Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder – both players under pressure for their place in the team – stuck together for 26 valuable runs before stumps, and more resistance tomorrow morning will leave the Black Caps with a tall order in their quest to write history.

- by Niall Anderson, NZ Herald