Marathon Warne performance proves he could win title race

The slimmer Shane Warne has shown he could yet beat Muttiah Muralitharan to Test cricket's most treasured bowling record with his marathon performance in his 100th Test.

Warne's match figures of 8-231 from 98 overs in the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town boosted his career haul to 444 wickets and pushed him closer to Courtney Walsh's title of Test cricket's leading wicket-taker.

Sri Lankan Muralitharan (412 wickets from 73 matches) is the only bowler with a realistic chance of beating Warne to Walsh's record of 519 wickets and the pair are locked in an intriguing race.

Warne needs 76 wickets to pass Walsh - the same number of wickets the Australian leg-spinner has taken from his last 16 Tests.

Muralitharan has claimed 121 wickets from his last 16 Tests and Warne expects the off-spinner to finish with more career wickets than him, even tipping him last week to reach 1000.

But Warne can still become the first Australian since paceman Dennis Lillee to claim the top spot among the world's bowlers, especially with his new dedication to fitness.

Warne has never bowled as many overs in an innings or a Test but without him South Africa's batsmen would have put Australia out of reach on a Newlands wicket doing nothing for the quicks.

His 6-161 in the second innings came from 70 overs - the most bowled by an Australian in one innings in the last 24 years.

"When I hit the 60-over mark it was like a big night out - you get your third and fourth wind," Warne said.

"It gets past midnight and when you get to two o'clock in the morning you get that third wind and you just start to find a bit extra."

There was plenty to like about Warne's composed performance at Newlands, including the leading role in a collapse of 5-42 as he blunted South Africa's disciplined comeback in the second innings.

The Proteas were dismissed for 473 and openers Matthew Hayden (50 not out) and Justin Langer (58) pushed Australia within 200 runs of victory at 1-131, with one day remaining.

"I was knackered but I knew we weren't that far from knocking them over and another 10, 20, 30 runs would have made a huge difference," Warne said.

Warne had already ensured his 100th Test would be memorable by scoring his sixth highest score (63 from 65 balls) in between his bowling stints.

The 32-year-old's fitness has helped his recovery but he has taken no chances to ensure he sleeps well, moving into an adjoining hotel room to his young children Brooke, Jackson and Summer.

"We've brought our nanny over so they're sleeping in the next room and I've locked the doors and bolted it and put the chair up against it and they've been coming into the room about 7.30am," Warne said.

"It's been great to have them here.

"In your 100th Test you always want to do something a little bit special and I'm very happy with my effort of bowling 70 overs and getting six wickets and with the batting in the first innings."