Warne takes Australia to series victory

Australia 369 and 307 for 4 dec (Ponting 116, Hayden 102) beat South Africa 267 and 297 (Boucher 51*, Warne 6-86) by 112 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Shane Warne dragged Australia to an incredibly narrow victory in their day-long race with bad light as they claimed the Test and the series with minutes to spare. With the umpires conferring regularly and only Warne and Andrew Symonds able to bowl because of the murky conditions, Warne delivered a wrong'un to Makhaya Ntini, he offered no shot, and Billy Doctrove raised his finger to complete Australia's 112-run victory. They almost didn't make it.

The last dismissal carried doubt over height and direction, but Warne deserved his 6 for 86 - although Ricky Ponting harshly missed the Man-of-the-Match award to Warne and most of the final day to a stomach illness - as he virtually carried the bowling through 35.5 overs of drift, big spin and never-give-up desire. Despite seemingly staying ahead of the weather as they picked up seven wickets before tea, the tourists were held back during an 82-minute stand between Nicky Boje and Mark Boucher before South Africa's wicketkeeper held on for another 68 minutes with Andre Nel and a further 4.1 overs with Ntini.

In a gripping conclusion Australia had numerous near misses - Nel edging Stuart Clark short of Adam Gilchrist; Boucher's leave to Brett Lee that almost shaved off stump; Nel almost playing on to Clark via bat and leg; Warne appealing in vain for last-ditch lbws; a catch flying at Michael Clarke's fingers at leg slip; Gilchrist's apparent miss of Ntini second ball; Warne's first wrong'un barely clearing Ntini's stumps - before Warne closed out with his 35th five-wicket haul and the weather closed in.

Gilchrist, the stand-in captain, could be heard continually telling his players there was plenty of time left and he was right. Just. "We still felt like we had a lot of deliveries left, but it was getting darker and darker," Gilchrist said. (There were 6.1 overs remaining and it was unlikely all those would have been delivered.) "But we've got the world's best legspinner that we've ever seen so that helped."

It was a bonus in the first session too as Warne ended South Africa's relatively easy opening stand of 91 by racing through three wickets - AB de Villiers was stumped and Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis were eked out with the help of Steve Bucknor - as they dropped to 122 for 4. Warne popped in again in the middle of the day to undo Jacques Rudolph, who padded up only to see the ball rebound off his glove above his head to bat pad, and with the bonus of Stuart Clark's dismissals of Herschelle Gibbs and Ashwell Prince to searing short balls, Australia were marching to victory.

However, Boje and Boucher seriously worried them in a 72-run partnership that gave the home side hope of holding on after they were in desperate trouble at 181 for 7. Boje played aggressively in his 48 and things seemed to be going his way when he was brilliantly caught by Warne at second slip from a Michael Kasprowicz no-ball. Kasprowicz was then planted for three consecutive boundaries before Boje tried for a fourth and found Clarke, the substitute for Ponting, at cover. In hindsight it was a telling moment as the defences of Nel and Ntini were exposed for too long.

Boucher was solid, awkward and admirable as he diffused Warne, avoided the fierce bouncers of Lee and weaved from the trouble of Clark and Kasprowicz. But he couldn't protect his tail-end team-mates all the time and his fantastic effort ended in disappointment. Soaking up 52 balls for 6 at tea, he finished on 51 not out from 156 deliveries of defiance and was a sombre figure as the Australians cheered and whooped.

They had looked to the skies most of the day wondering when the bad light would intervene, but their wishes of an uninterrupted day - the first of the Test - were granted. When Warne flicked Nel's glove on 14 and broke through Ntini with his 13th ball he had won another Test and series for Australia. Even the master of patience and precision understood the closeness of the call.

AB de Villiers st Gilchrist b Warne 46 (91 for 1)
Drifting, spinning ball that teased the batsman into over-balancing

Graeme Smith c Langer b Warne 40 (98 for 2)
Sweeping into the rough and taken at leg slip; came off the forearm

Jacques Kallis lbw Warne 7 (122 for 3)
Hit on back leg sweeping; may have been missing off

Herschelle Gibbs c Warne b Clark 17 (122 for 4)
Surprised by extra bounce and popped catch to first slip

Ashwell Prince c Hussey b Clark 7 (146 for 5)
Tried to avoid short ball that sailed off glove to midwicket

Jacques Rudolph c Langer b Warne 36 (170 for 6)
Padded up with hands above his head and ball spurted off gloves to bat pad

Shaun Pollock b Lee 4 (181 for 7)
Off-cutter through bat and pad

Nicky Boje c (sub) Clarke b Kasprowicz 48 (253 for 8)
Drove hard above head of cover

Andre Nel c Hayden b Warne 14 (292 for 9)
Gloved ball to first slip

Makhaya Ntini lbw Warne 0 (297)
No shot to high-bouncing wrong'un