Day 1 (Scorecard)

After winning the dramatic test at Newlands, we expected more of the same at Wanderers. Batting first, South Africa rode on the back of impressive fifties by Kallis, AB, and Prince looked comfortable placed at 241/4 before Siddle, Lyon, and Clarke shared the last 6 to wrap up the South African inning at 266. Australia were in for a tricky hour of batting with Steyn and their first Test tormentor Philander raring to go at them but poor light saved them for the day as Umpires called the day off with 19 overs still remaining.

Day 2 (Scorecard)

Second day saw Australia get off to a solid start with both Watto and Hughes notching up fifties. At 174/0, Australia looked all set to take a huge lead and grin out a win. But then how can there be a day of cricket in this series without any drama? Steyn led the South African comeback as they destroyed the Australian middle order and it took late salvaging by Mitch Johnson that helped the Aussies take the lead before Tahir redeemed himself, ending their inning at 296 with a lead of 30 runs. South African reply lasted just 4 balls before bad light interrupted again.

Day 3 (Scorecard)

Day 3 belonged to South Africa as Amla and AB batted brilliantly to deny Australia any further inroads after Cummins double strike had them in bother at 90/3. Amla and AB notched up fifties as they put together an unbroken 139 run partnership as they put South Africa in a commanding position at 229/3, with Amla on 89* and AB on 70*,before bad light continued to play a truant and forced the Umpires to call for the stumps without the full quota being bowled. 21 overs were lost to bad light as it threatened to ruin the match.

Day 4 (Scorecard)

On the penultimate day, South Africa resumed at 229/3 but were soon tottering at 266/7 as Cummins continued to be a thorn in their side. An unlikely stand between Philander and Steyn resisted any further drama as South African battled their way towards a sizeable target. But in the end it was Cummins again who came back to wreck their revival to end with 6/79 as South Africa were bowled out for 339. As Aussies began their chase of 310, Philander knocked off the openers for next to nothing. But Khwaja and Ponting played innings belying their age and form respectively as their fifties gave Australia a solid platform to push for a win. Light interrupted soon after Khwaja’s dismissal as Aussies ended the day at 142/3.

Day 5 (Scorecard)

The last day of the two Test series was bound to be a battle to remember if remaining days of this series were anything to go by with. South Africa dealt two early blows, removing the skipper and ex-skipper as they exposed the Australian lower middle order with 145 runs still to be scored. Hussey and Haddin looked like they had stemmed the rot before Hussey fell to Philander again. Haddin and Johnson batted to save their careers as they counter attacked sensing that the target was not so far off. Haddin notched up a vital fifty before he became Philander’s fifth victim. Siddle fell to Steyn, setting up a tense end as Aussies still needed 18 runs with 2 wickets in hand. But Cummins, in company of Mitch, not only survived a hostile spell of bowling including a dropped catch and a DRS referral to smash the winning boundary as Aussies won by 2 wickets to tie the series.