Smith took a different tack. Petersen was convinced it was a fair catch and "we were pretty confident the catch had been taken. But there's no point crying over spilt milk".
He denied reports that there had been an agreement between the teams to take a fielder's word in those situations. That was "just general banter" picked up by stump microphones.
And Smith took a hard line on delaying his declaration yesterday, leaving an unreachable target of 389.
"To be honest, I don't feel New Zealand deserved anything more," he said, claiming they had been too defensive earlier.
For Williamson, it was "without a doubt" the toughest day of his 12-test career.
"Having to bat out a draw is sometimes an interesting situation to play, but it was nice to show some fight, take it to the end and compete."
He had no issue with the verbal sprays he copped after the catch incident.
"Yeah, they came out quite hard after that, which is to be expected and I guess it's about trying to weather that and fight through it."
He earned high praise from Smith.
"We threw a lot at him and he stood his ground terrifically," he said. " He was very calm, he was tested a lot today around all facets of his game and I think for him it will be a great stepping stone."
For 1.96m man of the match Morne Morkel, there was pleasure at his best test figures, six for 23 and a sterling performance yesterday.
"I felt I've been bowling well and my day was just around the corner, and today things worked out for me."
