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Australia engineered a thrilling last-gasp win in the dying overs of yesterday’s third Test at Cape Town to complete an upset series win over South Africa.
The Proteas battled manfully for 134 overs and looked a strong chance of earning a draw before veteran Ryan Harris took the final two wickets in the space of three balls.
The victory pushed Australia to number two in the Test rankings and confirmed they are now the side to beat in international cricket.
It was a fitting end to what has been an extraordinary summer for Australia during which they have transformed from a rabble to a wrecking ball.
While the result will have proved a sour end for retiring South African skipper Graeme Smith, he will surely have felt immense pride at the way his charges fought to the end.
Point of contention #1: Philander’s overturned dismissal sparks controversy
The Australian celebrations were raucous.
Vernon Philander was on his haunches by the side of the pitch.
Australia had made the breakthrough which signalled the match and the series was almost theirs.
Then Philander signalled for a review of his caught behind dismissal.
Mitchell Johnson had got the ball to leap towards his throat and, in a moment of desperate self-preservation, Philander had thrust his gloves and blade into its path.
The review process found no heat mark on Philander’s gloves on Hot Spot.
But television replays showed the delivery just clipping the thumb of his right glove.
Complicating the decision was the fact the Proteas bowler was in the process of removing his right hand from the handle of his bat when the ball struck it.
At the moment of impact Philander had loosened his grip but the angles of replay were inconclusive as to whether part of his glove was still touching the bat.
To overturn an on-field dismissal there must be conclusive evidence that the batsman was not out.
The replays I saw did not provide such proof.
Philander’s glove may have been on the bat or it may not have been.
There was significant doubt, hence the the third umpire taking several minutes to adjudicate.
This decision will be debated for years to come.
Pattern of play: Lyon again fails in fourth innings
The parched state of this Newlands deck from the first day suggested Australia would hold a significant edge by having a specialist spinner.
South Africa appeared to have erred in fielding a four-man pace attack on such a dry surface.
Australia’s blossoming Nathan Lyon was expected to pose a strong threat, particularly in the fourth innings.
The pitch yesterday was coarse and sported generous patches of rough – enough to plant a grin on the face of any tweaker.
Yet it was part-timer Steve Smith who was the most incisive slow bowler on display.
While he offered up his typical assortment of full tosses and long hops, in between he bowled some devilish deliveries.
Smith ripped the ball from his fingers, imparting heavy spin which caused the ball to dip, drift and then bite off the deck.
Lyon, meanwhile, operated with a far flatter trajectory and was unable to regularly gain any disconcerting turn.
His hurried, benign spells evoked memories of his similarly ineffective performance in the 2012 Adelaide Test which South Africa managed to draw.
He finished with 0-10 from 22 overs and barely created a chance all day.
Lyon has taken giant strides as a player since that series.
He has improved his flight and accuracy and earned a reputation for making key breakthroughs.
But one glaring weakness remains in his game – an inability to counter stonewalling batsmen.
He has become a canny operator against aggressive players.
However, if he is to take the next step and become a genuine matchwinner, he must conceive and execute intelligent strategies for dislodging defensive batsmen.
Point of contention 2: Using bounce throws as part of reverse swing strategy
Bombastic Australian opener David Warner last week tried to put the spotlight on South Africa’s alleged tactics for gaining reverse swing.
Warner was fined for his comments in the media questioning the manner in which Proteas keeper AB de Villiers handled the ball.
On yesterday’s evidence it seems he may have succeeded in getting the attention of those officiating the game, but not in the way he had hoped.
In the 74th over of South Africa’s innings, umpires Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena called over Michael Clarke and engaged in an animated discussion.
Both umpires repeatedly gestured towards the ball.
While those of us incapable of reading lips were not privy to the specifics of the conversation, it appeared the umpires may have been warning Clarke about the behaviour of his fielders.
In the overs prior to this on-field pow wow, the television coverage had shown footage of Australian fieldsmen seeming to deliberately throw the ball into the turf on its way to ‘keeper Brad Haddin.
The laws of the game state that excessive use of bounce returns to the gloveman can be considered an effort to tamper with the condition of the ball.
Of course it is well known that sides regularly do just that to try to scuff the ball.
Once it is sufficiently weathered they can work on shining one side and leaving the other scuffed in the hope this imbalance will prompt reverse swing.
With AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis looking immovable Australia would have been desperate to gain such movement.
The umpires were clearly monitoring Australia’s bounce returns, perhaps because of the controversy stirred by Warner.
During the interview in which he questioned the behaviour of de Villiers, Warner unwittingly admitted that his side was prepared to bend the rules in the hunt for reverse swing.
“I think it comes down to the umpires warning both teams not to throw the ball into the wicket which you generally try and do,” he said.
“They did it better than what we did, or more obvious than what we did. At the end of the day it comes down to who can do that the best and work on the ball.”
Warner’s comments may have backfired yesterday.