WTC Final 2025: Revisiting top 5 Australia-South Africa Tests of all time

Australia-South Africa Tests may not have the hype of an Ashes series or an India-Australia duel but the two sides have produced several classics over the years

sa-australia-wtc - 1 South Africa captain Temba Bavuma; Australia skipper Pat Cummins

There are fewer high-octane moments than Australia taking on South Africa in Test cricket. It isn't a documented rivalry like the Ashes or India vs Australia, but it still has a charm of its own. Statistically, Australia and South Africa have battled each other in 101 Tests, with the Aussies holding a 54-26 win-loss record against the Proteas. There have been just 21 draws between the two sides, another indicator of the competitive levels on display. The two teams have featured in a one-off game, but the dynamics of a WTC final means that this will be a unique contest in that regard.

While it is tough to pick from such a big sample size of games, let's look at five of the greatest Australia-South Africa Tests, ranked in no particular order.

Perth 2008 - South Africa won by six wickets

Just two years after the world record ODI run chase, South Africa proved that they could do it in Test cricket too, upsetting the same opponents in a historic clash at the WACA. On a typically lively surface that also aided strokemakers, Australia rode on fifties from Simon Katich, Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds, with support from the lower order as Australia got to 375. It seemed a competitive total initially, but Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla led a solid riposte, followed by fifties from Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers. At 234/3, the visitors were on top before a young Mitchell Johnson let loose. The left-arm seamer, who had picked up two of the previous three wickets to fall, picked up six more to return astounding figures of 8-61 as South Africa collapsed to 281 all out.

With a 94-run first innings lead, Australia then got to 319 on the back of Brad Haddin's counterattacking innings of 94 and a flurry of lower-order contributions. It meant that South Africa needed a daunting target of 414 to win. Not many gave Smith's men a chance to hunt it down, but the skipper led from the front, as he did in that famous ODI chase of 434, producing a masterly ton to set the platform. Kallis and Amla also chipped in with fifties, but it was de Villiers' unbeaten ton that ensured the job was done. It was a riveting Test match from the word go and produced lively cricket throughout, much like the nature of the surface.

Johannesburg 2006 - Australia won by two wickets

An edge-of-the-seat thriller ensued at the 'Bullring' as Australia eked out a fascinating two-wicket win with Brett Lee's cameo doing the trick for the visitors. Chasing a competitive target of 292, Australia were in cruise control through a 165-run second-wicket stand between Damien Martyn (101) and Michael Hussey (89), but once the partnership was broken, Australia stumbled against Makhaya Ntini's inspired burst of hit-the-deck bowling. 198-2 became 237/6 and 275-8 but Lee held his nerve to get Australia across the line in a tense finish. Ntini had a memorable game, collecting a ten-wicket match haul after having prised out six in the first innings.

Ashwell Prince's 93 held South Africa's first innings together on a spicy surface, where most batters got starts but were unable to kick on. Lee and Stuart Clark returned three-fers while Nicky Boje's quickfire innings towards the end helped South Africa to 303, a handy total. It was Lee with the bat as well, smashing 64 lower down the order to keep the deficit to just 33 when it could have been a lot more. Michael Hussey stroked 73, but didn't find much support from the other specialist batters. Lee's momentum continued into the third innings of the game as he, alongside Clark and Shane Warne, kept South Africa to 258. Mark Boucher chipped in with a neat fifty while Herschelle Gibbs and Shaun Pollock also struck valuable knocks. The target of 292 was competitive and provided for a pulsating final act.

Adelaide 2012 - Match drawn

It's not always that a drawn game makes it to the greatest Tests between two teams, but this encounter can just not be left out. With the first Test of the series ending in a tame draw at the Gabba, Australia came out all guns blazing at the Adelaide Oval, putting on a dominant show for the first four days of the game. Centuries from David Warner and Michael Hussey, headlined by a Michael Clarke double ton, powered Australia to a huge total of 550. Morne Morkel earned a fifer, but it was largely a laborious outing for South Africa's bowlers. The tourists responded with a century opening stand as Graeme Smith (122) and Neil McKenzie (54) gave the perfect start for South Africa. Faf du Plessis and Jacques Kallis also stroked fifties, but Australia's bowlers kept pegging away to restrict the total to 388.

The hosts then added 267 more in their second essay, thereby swelling the lead to 429. It meant that South Africa needed a mammoth target of 430 to take the lead in the series. While they had performed the heroics at Perth in 2008, these were different times. On the final day, Australia had them reeling at 77/4, setting the tone for a possible victory. However, AB de Villiers and du Plessis brought their defensive game to the forefront, blocking anything and everything that Australia threw at them. The pair batted together for 68 overs, adding just 89 runs, but crucially, batted out time to earn South Africa a priceless draw.

Sydney 2009 - Australia won by 103 runs

Another last-ditch thriller between the two sides, against the backdrop of the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Chasing 376 for victory, South Africa were 202/8 at one stage before Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini started a blockathon to frustrate the Australians. Skipper Graeme Smith later came in at no.11 owing to a broken thumb and the trio tried their best to defy the Aussies. It seemed improbable at one stage but the Steyn-Ntini stand chewed up 105 deliveries and took South Africa to the brink of saving the game. However, Andrew McDonald's innocuous medium pace broke the stand, giving Australia the belief once again. Smith, though, hung in there with unreal grit as Ntini too held his own. Mitchell Johnson ended the game by dismissing the Proteas skipper with barely five minutes left to play.

It was a game to remember for Johnson who also smashed 64 in the first innings coming late down the order, ensuring that Michael Clarke's masterly 138 didn't go in vain. Nathan Hauritz and Peter Siddle also weighed in, as Australia got to 445 on a dry Sydney surface. There was a lower-order rearguard from South Africa too, as Morne Morkel replicated a bit of Johnson, with a handy 40. The burly seamer's partnership with Mark Boucher (89) lend stability to the SA innings after the top order had all failed to convert their starts. It was early in this innings that Smith was forced to retire hurt after copping a blow on the thumb. Siddle's fifer meant that Australia gained a 118-run lead, which they stretched to 375 with a brisk second innings effort. Eventually, it was time that challenged them than the volume of runs.

Melbourne 2008 - South Africa won by nine wickets

This game enters the list purely due to the significance of the result. Australia hadn't lost a Test series at home to South Africa until Graeme Smith's men put on a swaggering display at the MCG. Dale Steyn was the star of the show, picking up five-wicket hauls in each innings while also producing a game-defining innings of 76 in the first innings to give the Proteas a crucial lead of 65. JP Duminy's role was also as impactful, if not more influential, as the left-hander produced a marathon innings of 166 to hold South Africa's innings together. The visitors were 184/7 at one stage, before Harris and Steyn joined with Duminy to orchestrate a dramatic turnaround.

Ricky Ponting's century and Michael Clarke's 88 were the major talking points in Australia's first innings total of 394 but it could have been at least 100 runs more if not for Steyn's timely strikes in the innings. As it turned out, that first innings lead of 65 proved detrimental for the Aussies with Steyn running riot in the second innings. Ponting agonizingly fell short of twin hundreds, dismissed as he was on 99 but the captain found very little support from the other specialist batters who were all taken apart by Steyn. There was some resistance down the order from Johnson but Australia folded for 247, which meant a smallish chase of 183 for South Africa. Those formalities were completed at a canter for the loss of just a solitary wicket. This crushing win that sealed the series was also the start of South Africa's rise as a Test side.

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