Player of the Match
Player of the Match
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    7.2 caught! Loose drive from Hayden and he's fallen at his fortress! He moves forward to drive a good length ball which moves away from him a touch, he slices it in the air straight to Duminy at point who takes a pretty simple catch, a hush falls over the tens of thousands of fans at the MCG 21/1
    54
    109
    153
    6
    0
    49.54
    33.6 bowled him! Steyn pitches the ball on a good length and angles it into the left-hander, Katich moves across and tries to drive on the up through the off side, the angle into him forces the inside edge and the ball thuds into the stumps off the bat, South Africa have struck just when Australia were getting away 128/2
    51.2 caught! In the last over before tea! Ponting lunges forward at one that angles into him, he gets an inside edge on to the pad and it bobs up to Amla to short leg who takes an easy catch, what a boost for South Africa 184/4
    37.3 caught! Hussey was in two minds whether to leave the ball or not, he began to push forward to a good length ball just outside off stump but then decided to lift his bat out of the way, he was late in doing so and the ball clipped the bottom of his bat and went through to Boucher who took an easy catch 143/3
    not out
    88
    208
    330
    4
    1
    42.30
    66.1 gone! that was short outside off, Symonds tries to cut that powerfully towards point, gets a thick outside edge and Kallis dives well to his right at second slip to pouch onto a sharp chance. Australia five down now and McKenzie can breathe easy 223/5
    88.3 edged and caught! Ntini has struck a vital late blow! He pitched it on a good length outside off and got the ball to straighten off the pitch, Haddin got on the front foot and drove away from his body, the ball flew off the outside edge towards Smith at first slip who held a sharp catch towards his right 277/6
    21
    21
    33
    5
    0
    100.00
    95.2 but the fun is over for Lee, courtesy a sharp catch from Kallis at second slip! Steyn comes back after going for a boundary, pitching the ball up and inviting the drive, gets the ball to move, Lee doesn't play it well at all and gets a thick outside edge to Kallis who cups it in front of his face 322/7
    95.5 see, thats all you need to do, Steyn, its simple ... pitch it on the stumps! The change of angle eventually works after two wayward deliveries to Johnson, who gets one on a near-perfect length, watches it swing a shade, doesn't defend in time and loses his stumps 326/8
    101.5 edged and it doesn't carry, or does it? Steyn draws a regulation thick outside edge off the bat as Hauritz plays off the back foot, which starts dipping on Smith at first slip as Boucher doesn't go for it ... the ball hits the fingers on the full, sort of jamming them, Smith is not sure and so the two umpires get together and after some communication with the television umpire it is decided that Smith took it cleanly ... still some confusion but Hauritz has to go, I saw replays a couple times and it looked a very tough call to make .. it looked like Smith jammed his fingers under the ball in time, though he was quick to say he wasn't sure 352/9
    113.4 nicked to second slip and thats the end of the innings! Kallis ends Siddle's impressive resistance with another shortish delivery which squares up Siddle, who edges into de Villiers' lap, so no century for a stranded Michael Clarke 394/10
    Extras
    24 (b 5, lb 12, nb 7)
    TOTAL
    394 all out (113.4 Overs, RR: 3.46, 500 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Matthew Hayden, 7.2 ov), 2-128 (Simon Katich, 33.6 ov), 3-143 (Michael Hussey, 37.3 ov), 4-184 (Ricky Ponting, 51.2 ov), 5-223 (Andrew Symonds, 66.1 ov), 6-277 (Brad Haddin, 88.3 ov), 7-322 (Brett Lee, 95.2 ov), 8-326 (Mitchell Johnson, 95.5 ov), 9-352 (Nathan Hauritz, 101.5 ov), 10-394 (Peter Siddle, 113.4 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    DW Steyn2968753.0000
    M Ntini27710824.0001
    JH Kallis18.445512.9400
    M Morkel2238914.0406
    PL Harris1733812.2300
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    37.6 edged and taken! Siddle dismisses Smith by following up with a half-volley, real wide of off stump and Smith admonishes himself for falling to such a poor delivery, nicking to Haddin 126/4
    1.4 he's bowled him! Siddle succeeds in the first over, justifying Ponting's move to hand him the new ball ahead of Johnson, McKenzie's woeful form continues as he plays all over one pitching on length and deviating fractionally back into him, he was rooted to the crease and playing down the wrong line and the ball hit the top of off stump 1/1
    8.3 oh well held Symonds! Johnson gives Amla room outside off stump and he crashes the cut rather forcefully but Symonds intercepts it at backward point in front of his chest 39/2
    26.4 massive strike on the stroke of tea! Kallis perishes to the sweep, lobbing the ball up off bat, glove, then forearm and offering the dolliest of catches to Haddin and Australia celebrate 102/3
    41.5 he's on a roll is Siddle, and he's being mobbed in the middle! He pitches on a length, jags it back ever so little and, like McKenzie, de Villiers is beaten for pace and hears the ball clip off stump, while Siddle goes red-faced in exaggerated appeal for the lbw only to realize he's bowled the batsman when his team-mates converge on him 132/5
    152.6 and he's been caught! Duminy tries to sweep once again from outside off but gets a top edge that lobs up towards Siddle at short fine leg, he's gone for 166, I'll stick my neck out and say it's probably the best innings he'll ever play! 459/10
    46.4 and he goes sweeping! Hauritz picks up a second wicket with a batsman perishing to this shot, though Boucher's attempt was far more attacking than what Kallis had tried to play, he gave the ball a mighty thump but straight to Hussey at square leg who intercepted it 141/6
    21
    39
    45
    4
    0
    53.84
    57.1 and he cleans up Morkel first ball! A punchy innings comes to an end with a Johnson specialty, the full attempted yorker, drawing the thinnest of inside-edges onto off stump 184/7
    77.5 caught! Harris plays one attacking shot too many! He lines Hussey up and lofts the ball over mid-on, he hasn't timed it well though and Johnson runs back from mid-on and takes a well-judged catch while looking over his shoulder 251/8
    76
    191
    238
    9
    1
    39.79
    141.3 finally, finally, Australia have a wicket! Siddle bowls a fast and full delivery that swings into the right-hander, Steyn defends down the wrong line and the ball seams through the bat-pad gap and hits middle stump 431/9
    not out
    2
    29
    49
    0
    0
    6.89
    Extras
    38 (b 5, lb 13, nb 15, pen 5)
    TOTAL
    459 all out (153 Overs, RR: 3, 615 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Neil McKenzie, 1.4 ov), 2-39 (Hashim Amla, 8.3 ov), 3-102 (Jacques Kallis, 26.4 ov), 4-126 (Graeme Smith, 37.6 ov), 5-132 (AB de Villiers, 41.5 ov), 6-141 (Mark Boucher, 46.4 ov), 7-184 (Morne Morkel, 57.1 ov), 8-251 (Paul Harris, 77.5 ov), 9-431 (Dale Steyn, 141.3 ov), 10-459 (Jean-Paul Duminy, 152.6 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    B Lee1326805.2307
    PM Siddle3498142.3804
    MG Johnson39612723.2503
    NM Hauritz43139832.2701
    MJ Clarke802603.2500
    MEK Hussey502214.4000
    A Symonds1131401.2700
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    10.4 and he's gone! Smart captaincy from Smith to put in a short extra cover, Steyn pitches just back of a length and an aggressive Hayden drives it straight into Duminy's lap 37/1
    12.2 edged and gone, and a silly shot! Katich sees a full and wide ball and chases it only to get a faint edge through to Boucher, who dives to pouch it low to his left, well held there 40/2
    71.3 oh would you believe it? He's gone for 99! Morkel hits a tempting length, up goes Ponting's back foot as he pushes at the ball, and Smith at short cover snaps it up 212/8
    15.3 he's gone! The MCG is stunned! Morkel gets into the wickets column with a ripper of a short ball, banged in on the stumps to unsettle Hussey, hopping on his crease, the ball rears up and takes his helmet before it balloons up for a simple catch for Amla at midwicket, South Africa celebrate but Hussey and Ponting are livid ... a poor call indeed from Aleem Dar, as ball missed the bat by some distance 49/3
    43.1 a sharp catch to a short ball! This pretty much sums up Clarke's innings, as he gets back and reaches out to slap a short and wide ball off the lower half of the bat to short cover, where McKenzie dives to his left and cups the catch 145/4
    43.6 now thats well taken by Kallis at second slip! A superb delivery to Symonds again, pitched up on nearly a perfect length and a leaden-footed Symonds goes for a duck, pushing hard and sending the ball low to Kallis, who cups it low in front of him 145/5
    53.1 edged and taken! Ntini gets into the action with a full ball just outside off stump and sucks Haddin forward, the ball bounces a shade and Haddin's wide shot goes nowhere but into the safe hands of Kallis at second slip 165/6
    8
    21
    23
    1
    0
    38.09
    58.3 bowled em and thats Kallis' 250th Test wicket! Lee drives and gets a thin inside edge back onto middle stump and South Africa take tea on a high 180/7
    not out
    43
    85
    111
    5
    0
    50.58
    78.6 bowls em with the off cutter! Hauritz stands rooted and pushes at one that pitches back of a length and breaches his defences, making it 9 for 231 231/9
    84.2 150 wickets from 29 Tests! Steyn bursts into tears after Siddle tickles a shorter off cutter through to Boucher, capping a wonderful Test match, ten wickets and a fifty 247/10
    Extras
    9 (b 1, lb 3, nb 5)
    TOTAL
    247 all out (84.2 Overs, RR: 2.92, 370 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Matthew Hayden, 10.4 ov), 2-40 (Simon Katich, 12.2 ov), 3-49 (Michael Hussey, 15.3 ov), 4-145 (Michael Clarke, 43.1 ov), 5-145 (Andrew Symonds, 43.6 ov), 6-165 (Brad Haddin, 53.1 ov), 7-180 (Brett Lee, 58.3 ov), 8-212 (Ricky Ponting, 71.3 ov), 9-231 (Nathan Hauritz, 78.6 ov), 10-247 (Peter Siddle, 84.2 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    DW Steyn20.236753.2901
    M Ntini1412611.8500
    M Morkel1524623.0604
    PL Harris2114702.2300
    JH Kallis1415724.0700

Close of Play

  • Fri, 26 Dec - day 1 - Australia 1st innings 280/6 (MJ Clarke 36*, B Lee 0*, 90 ov)
  • Sat, 27 Dec - day 2 - South Africa 1st innings 198/7 (JP Duminy 34*, PL Harris 8*, 63 ov)
  • Sun, 28 Dec - day 3 - Australia 2nd innings 4/0 (ML Hayden 1*, SM Katich 2*, 3 ov)
  • Mon, 29 Dec - day 4 - South Africa 2nd innings 30/0 (GC Smith 25*, ND McKenzie 3*, 6 ov)
  • Tue, 30 Dec - day 5 - South Africa 2nd innings 183/1 (48 ov) - end of match

Match Notes

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    South Africa's epochal series win in Australia had everything international sport should

  • An empire in disarray

    Australian cricket's fortress hasn't just cracked - that has been happening for the past 12 months - it has now officially imploded. The foundations began to shake during last summer's home series against India, the roof caved in with the 2-0 loss in Indi

  • 'Absolutely incredible'

    South Africa greats hail triumph in Australia

  • It's not funny anymore

    Australia's rebuild has turned into a major unplanned renovation after the series defeat to South Africa

  • 'Rebuilding will take a while' - Ponting

    Ricky Ponting is resigned to a rebuilding period that could last years after Australia lost their first home Test series for 16 seasons. South Africa will overtake Australia to become the No. 1-ranked Test team if they complete a clean sweep in Sydney, ha