Australia achieved the first whitewash of South Africa in South Africa in more than a hundred years when they won the third Castle Lager Test at the Wanderers on Tuesday by two wickets.
The small crowd that came to the ground knew that they were in for an exciting morning — Australia needed just 44 runs, South Africa needed four wickets and the new ball was due after nine balls. While they would have been disappointed with the result, they enjoyed an hour of thrilling cricket.
Makhaya Ntini — who took six wickets in the first innings — took the new ball as soon as it was available. The crowd applauded as Damien Martyn reached his 13th century off 203 balls. But they cheered even louder when he was given out lbw to Shaun Pollock soon after.
Stuart Clark joined Brett Lee at the crease and they were content to just chip away at the target. Clark hit two boundaries playing the square cut but then skied a ball. The crowd held its breath as Boucher waited for it, but it landed safely in his gloves and Clark was out for ten.
Michael Kasprowicz, who has a back injury which kept him from bowling more than two overs in South Africa’s second innings, then came to the crease with Australia needing 17 more runs. As the winning target drew closer, the crowd became more excited, chanting their support with every ball.
Brett Lee hit the winning runs with a cracking shot that sped to the boundary. The two Australians hugged each other, and the South Africans had to come to terms with the fact that for the first time since England beat them three-nil in 1895/96, they had suffered a series whitewash at home.
The only other times South Africa have lost every game in a series was against Australia in Australia in 1931/32, when Australia won five-nil, and also against Australia in Australia in 2001/02.
South African captain Graeme Smith has frequently said that the difference between the two teams was that Australia were always able to dominate the key moments in a match, whereas South Africa lacked the killer punch. That was proved again at the Wanderers on Tuesday. — Sapa