SA vs Aus, Wanderers Test : Australia tie series in thriller

[Feed]

Australia beat South Africa by two wickets on the final day to level their two-match series 1-1. More... Australia edge South Africa to level series Monday, 21 November 2011 Second Test, Johannesburg (day five): Australia (296 & 310-8) beat South Africa (266 & 339) Match scorecard Cummins is the second youngest Australian debutant of all time Australia pulled off the highest successful run chase at the Wanderers to beat South Africa by two wickets and win a thrilling second and final Test. Debutant Pat Cummins hit the winning runs, while Mitchell Johnson battled to an unbeaten 40 as Australia reached their target of 310 late on day five. Australia had resumed needing another 168 for victory, while the Proteas required seven wickets to win. Vernon Philander took five wickets for the hosts but it proved to be in vain. Despite winning the first Test by eight wickets, South Africa have yet to beat Australia in a home Test series since their return from sporting isolation in 1991. But it looked as though the hosts were on course for victory after they claimed the wickets of Australia captain Michael Clarke and former skipper Ricky Ponting early on. Just to get a Test match is unbelievable, but to get a great win tops it off Pat Cummins Rain had prevented any play in the morning session but when the visitors resumed on 229-3, Philander took the wicket of Clarke with a neat delivery that nipped back on to the stumps in the fourth over. Paceman Morne Morkel then claimed the crucial wicket of Ponting, who reached 62 before edging a short delivery to Jacques Rudolph at second slip. Mike Hussey and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin put on 50 for the sixth wicket before Hussey was trapped lbw by Philander attempting to play across the line. Haddin, batting with Johnson, survived until tea despite being struck on the helmet by the fiery Dale Steyn and Australia reached the break needing another 88 runs to win with four wickets in hand. In a tense final session, the pair battled on to take Australia within 23 runs of their target, before Haddin edged to Mark Boucher from a swinging delivery from Philander, who completed his five-wicket hall. Dale Steyn had Peter Siddle caught by Imran Tahir at midwicket in the following over and it looked as though the Proteas might have the momentum to complete the win. It's been wonderful to see Test cricket played like this - it's great for the game Graeme Smith But Johnson and Cummins held their nerve, Cummins hitting two fours, one straight down the ground off Steyn - who dropped a difficult caught and bowled chance in the process - before clipping Tahir through midwicket to round off a remarkable victory. Cummins, the second youngest debutant in Australian cricket history, claimed the man of the match award after figures of 6-79 in South Africa's second innings. "I was nervous coming in at the end but I just swung as hard as I could," he said. "Just to get a Test match is unbelievable, but to get a great win tops it off." South Africa captain Graeme Smith added: "I must give Australia credit because I thought we bowed well. "It's been wonderful to see Test cricket played like this - it's great for the game."

[Feed]

Smith blames defeat on second-innings stumble Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, has said that his team needed more runs in their second innings to push their opponents out of the game More... South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Johannesburg, 5th day Smith blames defeat on second-innings stumble Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg November 21, 2011 Graeme Smith backed his decision to bring on Imran Tahir with Australia needing five to win Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, has said that his team needed more runs in their second innings to push their opponents out of the game. South Africa were bowled out for 339, but it meant that Australia had to achieve the highest-successful chase at the Wanderers. Australia went on to score the required 310 to square the series, but they ended up scraping home by two wickets in a thriller. "We were set up quite well after the AB [de Villiers]-Hashim [Amla] partnership and we needed to form one or two more partnerships that (fourth) morning," Smith said. "Losing four wickets in that session set us back. That was the time we really needed to put the knife in and make it count and take the Test out of their grasp but we didn't." South Africa lost all their remaining recognised batsmen - de Villiers, Amla, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher for just 29 runs, leaving their tail exposed to Australia's attack. On the whole, it was a symptom of a greater concern that affected the team throughout the series: their inability to execute the knockout punch when they had Australia cowering near the ropes. "There were times when we could have kept our concentration levels up a little more and maybe capitalised on a really good position," Gary Kirsten, the South Africa coach, admitted. "There's an importance to getting into that position and then being able to concentrate through a longer period of time." In their first innings, South Africa were set for a big total at 241 for 4. Six wickets tumbled for a mere 25 runs as they crashed to 266 all out. With the ball, they had Australia stuttering at 215 for 6, with 95 runs left to win, and allowed Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson to tug the advantage Australia's way. Smith however felt the bowlers gave their best in defending the total. "I thought we bowled well today in particular, especially that two and a half hour session upfront," he said. "We asked a lot of questions and we beat the bat a lot." Both Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey had been dismissed before tea, leaving South Africa in a fairly commanding position. With conditions remaining seamer-friendly till the end, Smith banked on swing bowler Dale Steyn and rookie Vernon Philander to finish the job. Philander looked to cap off a dream first series in Test cricket, after taking a five-wicket haul for the second time in as many matches. He threatened throughout and proved his enormous progress in the last two seasons of first-class cricket. The conditions were hardly alien to him as he made use of seam movement. "All surfaces are conducive to me," Philander said. "I rely on good line and length on the fourth stump and so I can nip it away or nip it back. That comes into play on most wickets all over the world." When even that could not clip off the tail, Smith turned to legspinner Imran Tahir in the final overs with Australia needing just five to win, in a moment of innovation not seen before in South African cricket. "I knew it was a brave call," Smith said. "I felt [Patrick] Cummins had stood up quite well to the pace and I felt there was an opportunity for Imran. It would have been a wonderful story for him and for us and he almost did it." Tahir had an lbw shout against Cummins that was ruled not out which was reviewed. Replays showed he was struck outside the line of offstump and the decision stayed with the umpire. "Umpire's call is a pretty marginal thing these days," Smith said. "It was a gut feel to use Imran. I was thinking about it for three overs, it took me a few overs to get there." For Smith, South Africa's major concern is the ability to close out a game, which, if they had done this time would have given them their first home series win against Australia since readmission. "We certainly had our opportunities to take the game away from Australia," he said. "We have to take responsibility." Kirsten, however, reflected on the positives. "Both sides let it slip and pulled it back brilliantly," Kirsten said. "The one thing I have been impressed by is the resilience of this team. We showed that we could pull it back."

[Feed]

Will remember this Test for a long time - Clarke Michael Clarke said that this Wanderers Test was one of his most special Test matches given the way Australia had fought back after being hammered by South Africa in Cape Town More... South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Johannesburg, 5th day Will remember this Test for a long time - Clarke Brydon Coverdale at the Wanderers November 21, 2011 Michael Clarke: "I didn't score many runs in this Test but it feels like I just got my first double hundred for Australia, I couldn't be happier." Just over a week ago, Australia were bowled out for 47. It was an indignity that had not been suffered by men in the baggy green in more than a century. They lost the Cape Town Test before lunch on the third afternoon. The bright future that beckoned Michael Clarke's side after their series victory in Sri Lanka seemed to have been extinguished. It was standing-room only in the last-chance saloon. Early on Sunday, things didn't look much better. Australia trailed by 209 and South Africa had seven wickets in hand. At 1-0 up, they could bat like Bill Lawry and still take the series. In a previous era, Shane Warne or Glenn McGrath might have taken the ball and forced the match in a different direction. In more recent times, winning from such a poor position has been next to impossible. Few spectators expected a gettable chase. But a six-wicket haul from the teenager Pat Cummins set up a target of 310, and half-centuries from the under-pressure Ricky Ponting and Brad Haddin, as well as the rookie Usman Khawaja, set up Australia's win. Mitchell Johnson, whose bowling has been poor and makes him no certainty for the first Test of the home summer against New Zealand, got Australia home along with Cummins. Last week, Clarke bemoaned a loss that was as painful as any he had experienced. The contrast could hardly have been more apparent after Australia's two-wicket win, the highest successful chase ever achieved at the Wanderers, and a victory that concluded in fading light late on the fifth afternoon. "I didn't score many runs in this Test match but it feels like I just got my first double hundred for Australia, I couldn't be happier," Clarke said. "This is one of my greatest Test matches, no doubt. A big part of that is the way we got beaten in Cape Town. To be able to fight back and the rollercoaster throughout the Tests, the light, the weather, the chasing, the record last-innings total, for so many reasons it's one of my most special Test matches and I'll remember it for a long time." Winning from any position was a hallmark of the great Australia sides of the past. Clarke's side is not great, but this victory will give them confidence. Young men like Cummins, Khawaja, Phillip Hughes and Nathan Lyon might just begin to believe that they are never beaten. The challenge is not to fall backwards. Late in 2008, Graeme Smith's side chased down 414 at the WACA to beat Australia, and although they won the series, within four months they had lost to Australia at home as their self-belief waned. Australia's next series is against New Zealand, and that will be followed by a tough four-Test battle against India. "To be able to fight back and the rollercoaster throughout the Tests, the light, the weather, the chasing, the record last-innings total, for so many reasons it's one of my most special Test matches." "I think it will certainly help, we will continue to grow in confidence," Clarke said. "I said after Sri Lanka we would bring confidence into this series because of our success there and I hope we do the same; take momentum into the Australian summer. There will be some challenges that lie ahead and we've already seen that in Sri Lanka and on this tour, but we're getting better." Not that it wasn't a nervous time for Australia as the chase came down to the wire. Clarke was bowled early on the final day, the victim of a fine ball from Vernon Philander, but also through a significant gap between bat and pad. When Ponting fell for 62, Australia still needed 145 runs with five wickets in hand. Clarke had been nervous the previous day; he was even jumpier on Monday. "I started counting the runs down from 190 [required] yesterday," Clarke said. "I was next in the batting, I was walking back and forth while the boys were batting, they would get a single and I would say '189 more of those, Huss', '188 more of those, Huss'. When I came here today I thought we were in a really good position. I thought the way Usman and Ricky batted the night before was outstanding. "They played really positive cricket so I was confident we could win the game today. I would have liked Ricky and I to have spent more time out in the middle but that's the way it goes. A lot of credit goes to our middle order batting in tough overcast conditions with a bit of rain around. We managed to hang in there and the youngster [Cummins] decided as he did in the one-day series to finish it off with ease." As a result, Australia will fly home without having lost the series in any format on this trip. It is an outcome that has left Clarke proud and buoyant. "We drew the Twenty20 series, we've won the one-day series and now we have drawn the Test series against a fantastic opposition in their own backyard," he said. "We should be so proud of that. That's an amazing performance by Australian cricket in my opinion."

[Bradman99]

I've got to see it was a great series between two very evenly matched sides, it's a shame it was only a 2 match series!

[maverick451]

also a great shame to see the stadium empty on the last day, In England it would have been absolutely packed out.