South Africa are set to face the Aussies in the second of a three-match series in Melbourne on Boxing Day, with plenty at stake for Malibongwe Maketa's charges.

The hosts lead the series 1-0 after the first clash lasted just two days on a bowler-friendly pitch at The Gabba last week, and should the batting falter again, Nortje believes the team has what it takes to turn things around with the ball.

"We definitely back ourselves in the bowling department. We haven't played as many Test matches in general as a bowling unit, but most of us have played quite a lot of domestic four-day cricket," Nortje told journalists.

"But we back ourselves in that department, we feel like we've worked out some of the things in our game as bowlers, we sort of know what to do in certain situations and we've got a wide variety – left-arm, right-arm, skill, swing.

"We back ourselves in batting as well but, like you say, as a bowling unit we do back ourselves to try and defend small totals."

The 29-year-old adds that the approach will not change from their fiery attack to try and salvage the game in the second innings in Brisbane which saw Australia need just 35 runs but lose four wickets en route the victory.

"I don't think we're going to change anything compared to the second innings, we're going to try come out in the same way we did in the second innings as well," he added.

"It's not going to be as easy, like I said, there was a lot happening on the wicket [in Brisbane] but, as long as we can sort of try and stick to our strengths and standards, it should be good."

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