That Mitchell Johnson....is now demolishing South Africa!

[Barrel of Fun]

7/68 in the first innings and 2/12 in the second so far for the tamed loose garden hose.

SA are currently 21/2 and require another 461 to win...

 

[albion534]

I love Mitchel Johnson

 

[KZNSeagull]

Straight forward 300 run victory for Aus against the best test team in the world, away from home. Johnson with match figures of 12 for 127.

 

[sydney]

Straight forward 300 run victory for Aus against the best test team in the world, away from home. Johnson with match figures of 12 for 127.

does this make our capitulation any easier to take....? no , no it doesn't.

 

[KZNSeagull]

does this make our capitulation any easier to take....? no , no it doesn't.

Nope, but shows that Aus are better than people give them credit for.

 

[chimneys]

Nope, but shows that Aus are better than people give them credit for.

True. Really could do with SA putting them back in their box for rest of the series or I fear we will be back to their world domination we worked so hard to destroy.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Australia are getting better, but they are also playing South Africa at a point when they are vulnerable. Jacques Kallis has glued their middle order together for nearly 20 years and has been a talismanic figure for them. This is their first series since he called it a day and I think they could be far more prone to collapse without him to call upon.

 

[rcf0712]

Confidence is a marvelous thing, and the Aussies have it in spades curently

 

[spring hall convert]

2 wickets in 20 overs to win the series for Australia. It's been an absolutely superb contest, should be 5 rather than 3 tests....

 

[The Lemming Stomper]

Gripping stuff this

 

[KZNSeagull]

Good stuff.

This has been a very good series, but mainly decided from the toss again. If Twitty Smith had batted on the first day of the first test, SA probably would have won that one.

And Mr Johnson has ended another career this summer - Smith could not handle him either.

 

[spring hall convert]

5 overs, 1 wicket remaining.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Oh my - Harris takes 2 wickets in 3 balls. Aus win the series.

 

[spring hall convert]

Ryan Harris is some bowler eh?

 

[keaton]

Ryan Harris is some bowler eh?

What could have been for Sussex

 

[spring hall convert]

What could have been for Sussex

Of course, I had totally forgotten about that. He could have qualified for England, eventually!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Australia are getting better, but they are also playing South Africa at a point when they are vulnerable. Jacques Kallis has glued their middle order together for nearly 20 years and has been a talismanic figure for them. This is their first series since he called it a day and I think they could be far more prone to collapse without him to call upon.

Getting better...that's an understatement if ever there has been one! Australia were awful last summer. Some of us on here were saying how awful England were as well, but it seems most were happy to ignore this given we were beating probably the worst Aussie team to visit these shores in living memory.

To go from last summer to winning 5-0 then winning in South Africa is an astonishing turnaround. I genuinely think they've gone from awful to the best test side in about 5 months. Incredible.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Getting better...that's an understatement if ever there has been one! Australia were awful last summer. Some of us on here were saying how awful England were as well, but it seems most were happy to ignore this given we were beating probably the worst Aussie team to visit these shores in living memory.

To go from last summer to winning 5-0 then winning in South Africa is an astonishing turnaround. I genuinely think they've gone from awful to the best test side in about 5 months. Incredible.

I didn't really go along with the school of thought that last year's touring Ashes side was the worst Australian side to tour England. I remember the 1989 series and the Australian side that year was pretty mediocre, despite beating England 4-0. It helped that England self-destructed that year and got through 29 players in 6 tests. You could see that Australia were a work in progress last summer and had they selected Mitchell Johnson for the tour, the series would've been much more closely fought.

The big difference for Australia, other than Johnson's resurgence and Ryan Harris staying fit is the introduction of David Warner at the top of the order. Not only is he scoring runs regularly, he is scoring quickly. The last test against South Africa he scored 2 centuries and the 2nd innings he scored 145 off about 155 balls! Makes such a difference if you have an opener getting the scoreboard accelerating early on and converting good starts, as it means the middle order aren't then pressurised to whack the covers off the ball the moment they come in. Australia had missed that type of player at the top of the order since Matthew Hayden retired, and England haven't had one consistently since Marcus Trescothick left the scene. They badly needed one in the winter and their lack of one heaped all the pressure on Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen.

It was a good time to play South Africa, mind you. Their best player since their re-introduction to test cricket retiring before the series began left a gaping hole in their middle order and in the dressing room, their best strike bowler was short of full fitness and then their inspirational captain decides he's had enough.