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Courtney in his sights
Wisden CricInfo staff - February 22, 2002
Playing in his 99th Test,Shane Warne moved into second place in the alltime wicket-takers list when he trapped Boeta Dippenaar leg-before. It was his 435th Test wicket, taking him past India's Kapil Dev. Warne notched No.436 four balls later when he bowled Mark Boucher. Earlier in the day, Warne moved past Sir Richard Hadlee when he dismissed Andre Nel to take his 432nd wicket.
Australia's margin of victory, an innings and 360 runs, is the second highest in Test history, surpassed only by the innings and 579 runs by which England beat Australia at the Oval in 1938. It is the worst defeat suffered by a South African side, beating the previous low set in March 1950 when they lost, also to Australia, by an innings and 259 runs.
South Africa's first innings deficit of 493 runs was their biggest. The previous highest arrears was 408 when they were bowled out for 30 by England at Edgbaston in 1924. In the third Test at Sydney in January, Australia took a first innings lead of 400 over the South Africans.
Adam Gilchrist's double-hundred came off 212 deliveries, and is the fastest-known in terms of balls faced in a Test. The previous-quickest was Ian Botham's against India at The Oval in 1982, which came off 220 balls. Don Bradman reached 200 in 214 minutes at Headingley in 1930, but the number of balls he faced was not recorded.
Jacques Kallis made 3 and 8, the first time he has been dismissed for two single-figure scores in a Test since Australia's last win in South Africa, at Port Elizabeth in 1996-97, when he made 0 and 2.
Gilchrist and Damien Martyn added 317 for the sixth-wicket, shattering all sorts of records in the process: it is the second-highest stand for the sixth wicket in Test history, behind Jack Fingleton and Don Bradman's 346 against England at the MCG in 1936-37, and the fourth-highest against South Africa for any wicket.
Gilchrist's was also the fifth double-hundred in a Test by a wicketkeeper. The famous five are completed by Imtiaz Ahmed, Taslim Arif, Brendon Kuruppu and Andy Flower. The previous-highest score by an Australian wicketkeeper was Ian Healy's 161 not out against West Indies at Brisbane in 1996-97.
Australia's total of 652 for 7 was their highest against South Africa, and the highest on the New Wanderers ground. The previous-best for both was the 628 for 8 they made on their last visit here, in 1996-97. It was also only two runs short of the highest total South Africa have ever conceded: 654 for 5 against England in the famous timeless Test of 1938-39 at Durban.
In his 29th Test, Gilchrist made his fifth hundred. His previous-highest score was the 152 he smacked against England at Edgbaston in 2001. Four of those five have come in the first Test of a series, the exception being his first ton - 149 not out against Pakistan at Hobart in 1999-2000.
Gilchrist cracked eight sixes in his 204. Only Wasim Akram (12), Wally Hammond (10) and Chris Cairns (9) have scored more in a Test innings.
In the first innings of the first Test of Australia's last three overseas Test series, Gilchrist made 122 (off 112 balls), 152 (off 143 balls) and 204 not out (off 213 balls). In those three innings he hit 17 sixes.
Martyn also made his fifth Test hundred and his highest score, passing the 124 not out he made in the first Test at Adelaide in December. All five of his hundreds have come in 11 Tests since he was recalled against England at Edgbaston last year.
South Africa conceded 600 for only the second time since they returned to Test cricket in 1991-92. The other occasion was in 1996-97 … against Australia on this ground, when the Aussies made 628 for 8 declared.
Australia passed 400 in the first innings for the 10th time in their last 12 Tests. Since the start of the England series in 2001, their first-innings totals before this match were: 576, 401, 190, 447, 641 for 4 dec, 486 for 9 dec, 558 for 8 dec, 351, 439, 487 and 554.
Almost three years after the infamous incident at Headingley, Herschelle Gibbs caught Steve Waugh for the first time in international cricket. Gibbs caught Waugh in a World Cup match in 1999, but lost control of the ball as he prematurely threw it up in celebration. Waugh allegedly said to Gibbs: "You've just dropped the World Cup, mate," although this was later denied. Either way, Gibbs had: Waugh won the Super Six match and then Australia knocked South Africa out with a tie in the semi-final.
Matthew Hayden made his fourth century in consecutive Tests, his eighth in all and his seventh in the last 12 months.
Since the first Test against South Africa at Adelaide in November, his scores have been: 31, 131, 138, 3*, 105, 21* and 122 – 551 runs at an average of 110.20. Before that, in four Tests against South Africa, Hayden made 84 runs at an average of 12.
Eight years ago Hayden made a chastening Test debut on this ground. He was dismissed for 15 and 5, and broke his thumb in the second innings.
In his 13 Tests, up to the beginning of the 2000-01 tour of India, Hayden made 536 runs at an average of 24.36. This is the 15th Test since then, in which time he has made 1631 runs at 74.14 and taken his career average to 49.25.
Hayden and Justin Langer added 46 for the first wicket, only their second sub-50 first-innings opening partnership. This is the eighth Test in which they have opened together, and their first-innings partnerships have been: 158, 224, 223, 3, 80, 202, 219 and 46. Their average first-innings stand is now down to 144.
In his first Test as captain, Mark Boucher became the ninth South African to make 50 Test appearances. He is the first keeper to do so – John Waite played exactly 50 Tests between 1951 and 1964-65, but one of those was as a specialist batsman.
In his 21st Test, Makhaya Ntini took the new ball for the first time. He's not quite in the league of Courtney Walsh, who did not take the new ball in a Test in West Indies until 1992-1993 - almost nine years after his debut.
This is the 69th Test between South Africa and Australia. South Africa have won 14, Australia 37, with 17 drawn. It is also the 23rd Test at The Wanderers in Johannesburg. South Africa have won eight and lost four, with 10 drawn.
Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.
© Wisden CricInfo Ltd
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