South Africa v Australia – 2nd Test – Fifth Day’s Summary
South Africa 266/339 v Australia 296/310 -
Australia won by 2 wickets
Australia kept their nerve to grab an emphatic victory over rivals South Africa on the fifth day of the second Test at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, on Monday, November 21, 2011.
Australia won the match by just two wickets and denied the Proteas a home series victory since their readmission in international cricket in 1992.
This was the first time in decades that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 were in a position to beat Australia at home as they had already won the first Test of the two-match series.
Nonetheless, after playing a commanding role in the final Test, the South Africans still failed to subdue the Aussies who once again proved to the world that even during the current rebuild phase they are still a team to reckon with.
The loss of the match was an obvious disappointment for South African skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625) World Cup 2011.
Meanwhile, for the Australian skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Clarke-c1978 this was a much awaited victory which will now help him stamp his new designation as the captain of team Australia.
Australia after ending the fourth day of the match with 142 runs on the board for the loss of three wickets started the fifth day’s play aiming to chase the required tally of 310 runs for victory.
South Africa made early inroads when they grabbed the wicket of skipper Clarke who was dismissed after adding just a run to his overnight tally of one run. At the time of this wicket, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 were on 145 runs.
With http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377 to get them through as he was showing impressive touch with the bat.
Nonetheless, without putting too much pressure on Ponting, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 joined the party in a bid to humiliate the South Africans in front of home crowd.
Both Ponting and Hussey amassed 20 runs before South Africa saw the back of the former Aussie skipper, who lost his wicket after playing an innings of 62 runs. At the time of his departure, Australia had posted 165 runs on the board for the loss of five
wickets.
With Ponting gone, it was now up to Hussey and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BJ-Haddin-c1170 to steer the team closer to victory.
The Australian duo exhibited tremendous form as they crafted a potent resistance against the desperate South African bowlers who were now impatiently seeking another wicket.
The Aussies clobbered 50 runs together as the partnership proved vital for Australia’s resurgence in the match.
Later, it was the astounding partnership of 72 runs between Haddin and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MG-Johnson-c1945 that ran jitters in the South African ranks as they now saw the match getting away from them.
Later, Australia won the match by successfully chasing the target in 86.5 overs.
Australia’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Vernon-Philander-c2753 from South Africa was named as the Player for the Series.
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