Tough cookies crumble

It was billed as the Test Championship decider - the world's best team against the second-best. And South Africa came off decidedly second-best at Adelaide. Australia won by 246 runs, their biggest victory over SA since 1910-11, and made it clear they weren't going to surrender that new ICC Championship trophy without a fight.

It was the second innings that did it. Things were roughly equal after one - Australia started well, slumped, and the tail lifted them to 439. There were contrasting centuries from the in-form Justin Langer, all fierce cuts and chunky drives on the way to his fourth hundred in five Tests, and Damien Martyn, whose ton was his first in a home Test. Then South Africa did likewise - decent start, slump, rescue act.

It was Neil McKenzie, who cracked a composed 87, who led the fightback. He put on 141 with Mark Boucher, who stirred himself after a slow start to smack the overstretching Brett Lee for five fours in two overs. It may have been this that provoked Lee into a brainless Bodyline over at the last pair. Ntini and Nantie (Hayward) even sound like a pair of rabbits, and if Lee had bowled at stumps instead of heads he'd probably have smartened up his figures with a couple of wickets.

The wheels started to fall off for South Africa when the Aussies batted again. Matthew Hayden muscled his way to 131, strong-arming the wayward bowling repeatedly to the midwicket boundary, and sometimes over it: he hit two sixes off left-arm spinner Claude Henderson - who summed up his team's showing by batting and bowling well in the first innings and less well afterwards - and another off Lance Klusener.

Hayden's fine innings allowed Steve Waugh to declare after tea on the fourth day, setting a target of 375. That was soon academic. First Glenn McGrath had Herschelle Gibbs well caught low down at first slip by Shane Warne. And with the last ball of the day Warne struck a hammer blow, drawing Gary Kirsten forward and into a bat-pad catch to Ricky Ponting at silly point.

It was one of four catches in the match for Ponting, two of them spectacular. His flying left-handed grab at gully to send back Boeta Dippenaar in the first innings was astonishing, doubly so for someone who had needed treatment on a bad back when he'd batted. Catching was another big difference between the sides - Australia clung on to everything within reach, the South Africans dropped a few. Shaun Pollock himself compounded a miserable match - 0 and 1 with bat, 1 for 102 with ball - by shelling a couple at gully.

South Africa never recovered. Two wickets from McGrath early on the final morning made it 21 for 4. McGrath showed he was right back on form after a disappointing series against New Zealand, in which he took only five wickets at 65.40. Warne, too, was back to something like his best. His five-wicket haul in the first innings was his first at the seam-friendly Adelaide Oval, and the vital wicket of Kirsten was his 200th in Tests in Australia (only Dennis Lillee, with 231, has more). For good measure he also sneaked past Wasim Akram (414 wickets) into fourth place on the all-time Test list during the game.

Only Jacques Kallis, with an untroubled 65 not out, resisted for long as the innings crumbled for 128. South Africa have beaten everyone except Australia in recent years - and on this showing it's going to stay that way.