South Africa vs Australia

At Cape Town, March 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Australia won by four wickets. Toss: South Africa. Test debuts: A. J. Hall, D. Pretorius, G. C. Smith.

Shane Warne flew 16 friends and relatives to Cape Town for his 100th Test, and they saw him bowl 98 overs, take eight wickets, score a half-century, win the match award - and propel his team to yet another series triumph, which cemented their place at the head of the Test Championship. In the end, it was a memorable five-day battle. But that hardly looked likely when South Africa crashed to 92 for six on the opening day in the face of some tremendous fast bowling inspired by McGrath. They clawed their way back to 239, thanks to the street-fighting qualities of Andrew Hall, who scored 70 on debut, while Adams marked his first Test in nearly 11 months with an unorthodox but hugely welcome 35.

As Australia cruised to 130 for one, the script seemed depressingly familiar. But when Hayden top-edged a hook at Kallis to fine leg, the innings took a dramatic turn. Australia lost four more wickets in the next 20 overs, slithering to 185 for six - still 54 behind. The fact that those wickets were shared by a Cape-coloured spinner, Adams, and a Xhosa pace bowler, Ntini, stoked a frenetic atmosphere in the country's best-supported stadium. The controversy over quotas made a packed house cheer all the more loudly.

Then came Gilchrist. Again. It was impossible to imagine he could equal his feats at Johannesburg, but he did. Within five minutes, he was charging down the track at Adams, and after his first 26 balls he was on 42, with nine blazing fours. As a statement, it was devastating, and his form actually improved. A modicum of caution as Australia reached parity meant his first fifty took 53 deliveries, but then came feverish butchery as Gilchrist made fun of the bowlers. His second fifty needed 38 balls, and his final 38 runs just 17. He hit Adams's last two overs for 36. Like a dog that has been kicked too often, the South African attack were reduced to hiding, relieved by every delivery that wasn't drilled to the fence. Most memorable was Gilchrist's ability to hit good-length deliveries square of the wicket, cutting or pulling, while he drove yorker-length balls off the back foot like half-volleys. Australia had trailed by 63 when he came to the crease. When he ran out of partners 36 overs later, they led by 143 - thanks also to a mightily enjoyable 66-ball 63 by Warne, who gleaned plenty of wheat from the chaff of Gilchrist's harvest.

For once, South Africa's top five were undaunted second time around. They accumulated 366 runs between them - no centuries, but McKenzie fell only one short when Martyn ran him out with a direct hit from cover. Warne was made to work harder than ever before: it took 70 overs from him to dismiss South Africa, finally, for 473. Warne, slimmed down but not wholly reformed, compared his marathon to "a big night out when you think you're gone several times, but you get a couple of second winds".

Australia required 331, the tenth-highest fourth-innings total to win in Test history. But as they were responsible for five of the top nine, history was no barrier. Langer and Hayden launched the assault in fearless style, sharing their sixth century stand in 14 starts. When Dewald Pretorius, who was mostly outclassed, bowled Langer off an inside edge, Ponting helped take the score to 201 before Hayden edged Kallis to the keeper. He failed by four runs to become the second player to score centuries in five consecutive Tests, after Bradman (1936-37 to 1938), who went on to six. Some welcome tension entered the chase when Ntini removed Mark Waugh just before lunch. Then Adams's googlies bowled Steve Waugh and cornered Martyn lbw in successive overs, leaving Australia 268 for five; but Gilchrist effectively finished the job with a carefree, run-a-ball 24. Ponting had the last word in the drama: six short of a meticulous century, but needing only three for victory, he achieved both with a single blow against Adams. The script decreed that Warne should be there at the other end. Not for the first time, he had grabbed the headlines, and he could be proud of every word in them.

Man of the Match: S. K. Warne.