South African cricket team in Australia in 2005–06

Infobox_Cricket_series_begin
series_name = South Africans in Australia in 2005-06
team1_

team1_name = South Africa
team2_
| team2_name = Australia
from_date = 5 December 2005
to_date = 14 February 2006
team1_captain = Graeme Smith
team2_captain = Ricky Ponting
Infobox_Cricket_series_tests
no_of_tests = 3
team1_tests_won = 0
team2_tests_won = 2
team1_tests_most_runs = Herschelle Gibbs
251
team2_tests_most_runs = Ricky Ponting
515
team1_tests_most_wickets = Andre Nel
14
team2_tests_most_wickets = Shane Warne
14
player_of_test_series = Ricky Ponting
Infobox_Cricket_series_footnote
note_header = One-day internationals
note_text = See 2005–06 VB Series

The South African cricket team toured Australia for cricket matches during the 2005–06 season. South Africa had already played two One Day International series during this season, beating New Zealand 4–0 at home before travelling to India and drawing the series there 2–2. The team had been playing 14 successive ODIs (tour matches excluded) before arriving in Australia, with their last Test match against West Indies in April and May 2005. South Africa played one first class warm-up match, one three-day warm-up match without first class status, and one one-day match before they embarked on the three-Test series, which began on 16 December and ended on 6 January. They also participated in the 2005–06 VB Series, a three-team one-day tournament, along with Australia and Sri Lanka, where they finished last.

The hosts Australia, meanwhile, came off a win in the Frank Worrell Trophy Test series against West Indies in November, where they won all three matches in the series. They also spent a week in New Zealand playing three ODIs for the Chappell–Hadlee Trophy while South Africa played their first warm-up games; Australia won that trophy after winning two of the three ODIs.

South Africa started with a draw, batting out 126 overs in the fourth innings to draw the match at the WACA, though they finished on a total of five for 287, well short of the winning target of 491. In the second Test match, South Africa trailed by 44 on first innings, but a century from Matthew Hayden took Australia to a lead of 365 before declaring, and Shane Warne took four wickets in the second innings as Australia bowled their way to a 184-run win. South Africa came back to earn a lead of 92 on first innings in the third Test at the SCG, but after 70 fourth-day overs were lost due to rain South Africa declared in the first session of the fifth day to give themselves a chance of victory and a series win. However, Ricky Ponting hit 143 not out to become the first batsman to hit centuries in both innings of his 100th Test, and in the process took Australia past the winning target to secure a 2–0 win.

Squads

Justin Kemp failed a fitness test before the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, while Jacques Kallis recovered from an elbow injury and would take Kemp's place. For Australia, Phil Jaques made his debut, replacing the injured Justin Langer [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/4554680.stm Kemp ruled out of Boxing Day Test] published on BBC Sport on 25 December 2005] . Spin bowler Stuart MacGill also replaced pacer Nathan Bracken. However, after Australia's captain Ponting had won the toss and set Jaques in to bat with Matthew Hayden, Shaun Pollock got a breakthrough in the third over by having Jaques caught at short leg, and Ponting had to start batting in the fourth over. South Africa could have had another wicket three balls later, as Ponting edged through the spread-out slips cordon, and Ponting was also dropped on 17 by Andre Nel [ [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa/content/story/230710.html Nel devastates after captain's innings from Ponting] by Anand Vasu, published on Cricinfo on 26 December 2005] .

Ponting and Hayden batted until lunch, however, adding 58 in 17 overs before the break was taken, and a further 37 overs was played in the afternoon session. Through 34 of them, Australia lost no further wicket, before Hayden edged a ball from Pollock to Graeme Smith at slip for 65. Pollock got one further wicket on the day, removing Brad Hodge for 7 with the score at three for 176, but Ponting stuck in, getting his 26th Test century in the 68th over [ [http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005-06/RSA_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/RSA_AUS_T2_26-30 December 2005_BBB-COMMS.html 2nd Test: Australia v South Africa at Melbourne, 26-30 December 2005, Ball-By-Ball Commentary] from Cricinfo, URL accessed 27 December 2005] . He pushed on to 117 before he was caught off Nel, who paid back for his dropped catch with four wickets in eight overs; he also got Andrew Symonds for a duck, Adam Gilchrist for two and Shane Warne for nine. Makhaya Ntini then ended the day five balls before the scheduled minimum of 90 overs by having Brett Lee lbw on four, which left Mike Hussey not out on 23 overnight with Stuart MacGill and Glenn McGrath (both with Test batting averages below 10) yet to bat.

On the second morning, MacGill came in to bat with Hussey, and departed in the third over having made four. McGrath was more stubborn, however, totalling 11 not out in his 28-over, 107-run stand with Hussey, who batted until lunch and made 122. The stand of 107 was an Australian tenth-wicket record in Tests against South Africa [ [http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/BY_OPPONENT/AUS-RSA/AUS-RSA_AUS_HIGHEST_PARTNERSHIPS.html Australia v South Africa: Highest Partnerships for Australia] from Cricinfo, retrieved 31 December 2005] . South Africa then batted out the day, scoring 169 in 58 overs with both AB de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs completing half-centuries, while Andrew Symonds bowled the most overs of the three spinners with 13.

On the third day, Brett Lee took two South African middle-order wickets, getting Kallis and Rudolph bowled before Mark Boucher settled in with the top-scorer of the innings, Gibbs. The two batted together for 11 overs, but Symonds removed them both within three overs before getting Shaun Pollock lbw for 9. His seven-over spell yielded three wickets, and spinners Warne and MacGill took care of the last batsmen as South Africa were bowled out for 311. Australia closed the third day on two for 110, with Matthew Hayden on 45, and he continued onto his century on the fourth day.

Hayden and Hussey shared a stand of 62 in 23 overs after Hodge was dismissed early on, but when Graeme Smith had Hussey caught, Hayden and Symonds hit out. Symonds hit a six with his third ball, a straight loft, and the pair hit eight sixes and 124 runs in 85 balls. Jacques Kallis then had three men caught in an over with the new ball, and Australia declared with a lead of 365. Symonds continued on his efforts with the bat, and according to Cricinfo journalist Anand Vasu, he lifted "Australia to within a dreadlock's breadth of victory" [ [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa/content/story/230961.html Symonds and Hayden put Australia on course for win] by Anand Vasu, published on Cricinfo on 29 December 2005] . After Smith, de Villiers and Gibbs had been dismissed by the experienced bowlers of Warne and McGrath, South Africa were three for 58, and needed a rebuilding effort from Kallis and Ashwell Prince. However, after 39 minutes of batting, Kallis dabbled at a ball outside off, and the ball caught the edge and went into Gilchrist's hands to leave South Africa four down. Symonds got a further wicket, ending with 4–2–6–2, and another wicket fell before the close of play, as Australia needed four more wickets on the fifth day for victory. South Africa, meanwhile, needed 267 runs.

South Africa lasted a little more than a session, with Shaun Pollock batting for two and a half hours in a futile attempt to save the draw. However, Ashwell Prince departed just before the drinks break, dismissed by Warne for the fourth time in the series, and Boje held out for an hour before edging a ball from McGrath onto his stumps for 13. One over after lunch, it was all over, with Makhaya Ntini bowled by MacGill as South Africa were all out for 181, losing by 184 runs and going 0–1 down before the third and final Test in Sydney.

Third Test, Australia v South Africa, 2 January–6 January

South Africa batted first at the SCG after winning the toss, in conditions that were "ideal for seam bowling" according to Cricinfo journalist S Rajesh [ [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa/content/story/231325.html South Africa ride on Kallis and Prince] by S Rajesh, published on Cricinfo on 2 January 2006] . No play was possibly before lunch due to drizzle, and when play started overhead conditions were cloudy and the pitch was visibly green. It enabled Australia to take three wickets in the first session, with AB de Villiers caught behind for two in the sixth over off Brett Lee. Lee was also able to grab Graeme Smith, leaving South Africa at three for 86, but Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis batted out the six overs until the tea break, before enjoying conditions that "gradually became batsman-friendly" [See note 20.] . The two put on 146 unbeaten runs on the first day to take South Africa to three for 230 at stumps.

Though Brett Lee opened the second day's play with what was described as a "torrid spell" [ [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa/content/story/231424.html South Africa strike after making 451] by S Rajesh, published on Cricinfo on 3 January 2006] , where he had the batsmen beaten and hit on the body, and even had a "legitimate lbw shout" [See note 22.] against Kallis when on 85. Kallis went on to make 111 before he was caught off the bowling of Symonds (his only wicket of the innings), while his batting partner, Prince, registered his third Test century before he was given out for 119 to a ball that "would have missed off" [See note 22.] . Prince and Kallis' partnership was a South African fourth-wicket record against Australia [ [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/BY_OPPONENT/AUS-RSA/AUS-RSA_RSA_HIGHEST_PARTNERSHIPS.html Australia v South Africa: Highest Partnerships for South Africa] from Cricinfo, retrieved 3 January 2006] , while Australia's slow bowlers, Warne and MacGill, ended with a combined analysis of three wickets for 208. In the final session of the day, Shaun Pollock and Test debutant Johan Botha (who had come in for the injured Ntini) put on 49 for the eighth wicket to take South Africa past 400, and they eventually declared on nine for 451. Then, the last hour of the second day yielded three wickets, with Langer and Hayden inside edging Langeveldt to be bowled before the last ball of the day was fended to short leg to see Hodge out for 6. Australia were three for 54, still 397 behind.

On the third day, a century from Ponting and late hitting from Gilchrist helped Australia to limit the deficit and prevent the follow on, but they were still behind on first innings. An hour's play was lost due to rain, but when it did start Ponting and Hussey batted together for two and a half hours, adding 130 before Botha got his first Test wicket when a straighter ball from the spinner had Hussey caught behind. The Cricinfo report claimed that Hussey was "extremely lucky to survive an lbw shout on 9 off Nel" [ [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa/content/story/231579.html Ponting and Gilchrist reduce South Africa's advantage] by S Rajesh, published on Cricinfo on 4 January 2006] , but he did go on to make 45; Ponting was on 97 when the partnership was broken, and brought up the century with a flick wide of mid-on. He thus became the sixth man to score a century in his 100th Test.

Just before tea, South Africa took three wickets for four runs, with Ponting (lbw to Kallis 120), Symonds (lbw to Nel 12) and Warne (caught behind off Nel for a golden duck) out, and Australia were seven for 226, trailing by 225 and with Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee at the crease. Lee left after an 11-over stand with Gilchrist which had yielded 37 runs, but Stuart MacGill upped the ante with Gilchrist, and the pair hit at more than five an over in a ninth-wicket partnership worth 59. When MacGill went for 29 off 21 balls, Gilchrist then shielded McGrath from the strike, as the No. 11 faced twelve balls in his half-hour innings worth one run, and though Gilchrist eventually gloved a ball to the keeper, he had made 86 runs and helped cut the deficit to 92.

South Africa started their innings with four runs off McGrath's first over, but in the next over de Villiers became Lee's victim once again; in the first innings, he had been caught behind for two, now he was lbw for 1. The South African opener thus saw his average fall by seven runs during this series, after his three single-figure scores in the six innings [ [http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?sdb=player;playerid=46533;class=testplayer;filter=basic;team=0;opposition=0;notopposition=0;season=0;homeaway=0;continent=0;country=0;notcountry=0;groundid=0;startdefault=2004-12-17;start=2004-12-17;enddefault=2005-12-30;end=2005-12-30;tourneyid=0;finals=0;daynight=0;toss=0;scheduledovers=0;scheduleddays=0;innings=0;result=0;followon=0;seriesresult=0;keeper=0;captain=0;dnp=0;recent=;viewtype=bat_cumulative;runslow=;runshigh=;batposition=0;dismissal=0;bowposition=0;ballslow=;ballshigh=;bpof=0;overslow=;overshigh=;conclow=;conchigh=;wicketslow=;wicketshigh=;dismissalslow=;dismissalshigh=;caughtlow=;caughthigh=;caughttype=0;stumpedlow=;stumpedhigh=;csearch=;submit=1;.cgifields=viewtype StatsGuru - AB de Villiers - Test batting - Cumulative Career Averages] , Cricinfo Stats Guru, URL retrieved 6 January 2006] .

then added 86 in 19 overs during showers, and shortly afterwards an early tea break was taken; the players never returned on the fourth day.

South Africa batted for 20 more overs on the fifth day before declaring, with the total on six for 194 after Kallis had got his half-century and Pollock added 26 not out in a 42-run seventh-wicket stand with Kallis. The declaration was described as "extremely sporting" by the Cricinfo reporter [ [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa/content/story/231790.html Ponting inspires Australia to a 2-0 series win] by S Rajesh, published on Cricinfo on 5 January 2006] . Australia were left to chase 287 in 76 overs, and though Langer was dismissed four balls before lunch was taken, South Africa got only one more wicket. Captain Ponting took over from Langer, and accumulated runs on both sides of the wicket [ [http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005-06/RSA_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/RSA_AUS_T3_02-06JAN2006_WAGON.html 3rd Test: Australia v South Africa at Sydney, 2-6 January 2006 - Wagon Wheels] , from Cricinfo, retrieved 6 January 2006] , ending his innings with a strike rate of 90. His strokeplay was described as "delectable" [See note 29.] , and in the two sessions post-lunch, South Africa could not get him out. His century was brought up shortly after tea, and as he was supported by Hayden, who hit 90 in a 182-run second-wicket partnership, Ponting could guide Australia to a 2–0 win margin. With 143 not out, he also became the first batsman to hit two centuries in his 100th Test [See note 29.] . For his efforts, Ponting was named both Man of the Match, and Man of the Series after his 515 runs at a batting average of 103.

Twenty20 International, Australia v South Africa, 9 January

Garnett Kruger got his international debut in what was South Africa's second Twenty20 international, and turned out to be their fifth loss on tour, as they barely made 50 % of Australia's score. The crowd of 38,894 was a record for any sporting event at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, and they got to watch the home side put out "an utterly convincing and breathtaking performance" according to the Cricinfo report [http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa/content/story/232183.html Australia amble to 95-run victory] by Will Luke, published on Cricinfo on 9 January 2006] . Australia opened the batting with James Hopes and Damien Martyn, and after Hopes was out having made 17 in a 57-run first-wicket partnership, Martyn and Ponting continued. Ponting was caught off Johan Botha for 27, in the spinners' first over, but in the next over Martyn brought up his fifty [ [http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005-06/RSA_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/RSA_AUS_TWENTY-20-I_09JAN2006_BBB-COMMS.html Ball-By-Ball Commentary] , from Cricinfo, retrieved 9 January 2006] , and with Symonds hitting a half-century as well, Australia closed on 3 for 209, with Symonds hitting 20 off Monde Zondeki with the last five balls of the last over. Martyn was out with the first ball of that over, hitting to Gibbs at point for 96, four short of the first century in Twenty20 International cricket.

South Africa lost Boeta Dippenaar and Gibbs in the third over, with Nathan Bracken's opening spell yielding both to end with bowling figures of 3–0–9–2. Hopes then got the wicket of Smith, who had been out for 22, and that was to be the third-highest score of the innings. Boucher made 29 and Pollock 24, but by the end of the fourteenth over they were both out, with the score six for 92. Mick Lewis got the last two wickets of Kruger and Zondeki to end the match in the nineteenth over, with South Africa bowled out for 114; all five bowlers got a wicket, though the Cricinfo reporter claimed that the fall of wickets was "not so much due to tight bowling as outrageously slick fielding and catching"

One-day Internationals

:"See also: 2005-06 VB Series"

South Africa failed to make the final of the VB Series, being knocked out by Sri Lanka after losing the final game by 76 runs.

Notes and references

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Tours_2005-06.html CricketArchive]
* [http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005-06/RSA_IN_AUS/ Cricinfo - Australia v South Africa 2005-06]

References

* "Wisden Cricketers Almanack "