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PERTH, Australia: South Africa undermined two of the ruling assumptions of test cricket Sunday as it scored 414 runs in the final innings to beat Australia by six wickets at Perth in the first of a series of three five-day games.
Historically, large final-innings targets have been hard to attain. Yet, this was the second epic run-chase in less than a week. It followed India's successful pursuit of 387 against England in Madras last Monday. That was the fifth-highest winning final-innings score in the 131 history of tests.
The fourth-innings total by South Africa, compiled over Saturday and Sunday, ranks second, topped only by the West Indies chasing down 418 to win against Australia in Antigua in 2003.
The second assumption was that South Africa would, again, fail to punch its weight against Australia, as it has throughout Australia's long period of dominance of world cricket. South Africa has been second in the world rankings for long periods over the past 15 years but its last meaningful victory over Australia was at Johannesburg in early 1994.
Since then, Australia had won 14 of the 20 tests between the two, with four more drawn. South Africa's only victories came in the final matches of series that Australia already had won.
The opening assault by Graeme Smith, South African skipper, did not have quite the breathless quality of Virender Sehwag's pyrotechnics against England, but it was rapid by any other standards and lasted a little longer.
Smith scored 108 from 134 deliveries, his sixth test score of more than 100 in 2008. It took him to 1,519 runs in the year, overtaking Sehwag as the year's most prolific scorer in tests.
South Africa seemed to be stumbling late Saturday afternoon when Smith and Hashin Amla, who had scored 53, fell in quick succession with more than half of the runs still to be made.
It was stabilized and given fresh impetus by its veteran Jacques Kallis, who scored 57 - his second score of more than 50 in the match.
Kallis fell at 303, with more than 100 runs needed, but South Africa was guided home by two 24-year -olds. Abraham de Villiers and Jean-Paul Duminy share birthdays in 1984 and the South African propensity for being known by initials - A.B and J-P, respectively - but have widely differing test experience.
This was the 47th test for de Villiers but first for Duminy. Both reached landmarks. De Villiers made 106 not out, his seventh test hundred. The debut by Duminy scarcely could have had a more memorable conclusion as he reached 50 by striking the winning run. He may, though, have to search hard for an image of the moment, as the match was boycotted by the major reporting agencies, who are in dispute with Cricket Australia over rights.
The victory is a massive psychological breakthrough for South Africa and a corresponding blow to the Australians. Two of the Aussies are entitled to feel seriously disappointed.
Mitchell Johnson, a fast bowler, took 11 of the 14 South African wickets to fall in the match. On the second evening he produced one of the great spells in test history as he took five wickets for two runs, ripping out the middle of the South African first innings, on the way to an innings analysis of 8 for 60.
Brad Haddin, the Australian wicket-keeper, scored 46 and 94, in both innings ensuring that the lower half of Australia's order was more productive than the top. In the end, though, there was no doubt which team was superior.
South Africa's task now is to maintain that superiority over the remaining matches of this series, at Melbourne and Sydney.
Analysis produced by the Cricinfo Web site after India's victory in Madras, showed that teams chasing final-innings targets of more than 200 in tests have been getting there 28 per cent of the time since 2000, twice the success rate of previous decades.
Possible explanations include the influence of one-day cricket, which means batsmen score more rapidly and are gaining greater experience in chasing down targets, and more efficient pitch-covering, so that playing conditions change less over the five days of a test.
Historically, large final-innings targets have been hard to attain. Yet, this was the second epic run-chase in less than a week. It followed India's successful pursuit of 387 against England in Madras last Monday. That was the fifth-highest winning final-innings score in the 131 history of tests.
The fourth-innings total by South Africa, compiled over Saturday and Sunday, ranks second, topped only by the West Indies chasing down 418 to win against Australia in Antigua in 2003.
The second assumption was that South Africa would, again, fail to punch its weight against Australia, as it has throughout Australia's long period of dominance of world cricket. South Africa has been second in the world rankings for long periods over the past 15 years but its last meaningful victory over Australia was at Johannesburg in early 1994.
Since then, Australia had won 14 of the 20 tests between the two, with four more drawn. South Africa's only victories came in the final matches of series that Australia already had won.
The opening assault by Graeme Smith, South African skipper, did not have quite the breathless quality of Virender Sehwag's pyrotechnics against England, but it was rapid by any other standards and lasted a little longer.
Smith scored 108 from 134 deliveries, his sixth test score of more than 100 in 2008. It took him to 1,519 runs in the year, overtaking Sehwag as the year's most prolific scorer in tests.
South Africa seemed to be stumbling late Saturday afternoon when Smith and Hashin Amla, who had scored 53, fell in quick succession with more than half of the runs still to be made.
It was stabilized and given fresh impetus by its veteran Jacques Kallis, who scored 57 - his second score of more than 50 in the match.
Kallis fell at 303, with more than 100 runs needed, but South Africa was guided home by two 24-year -olds. Abraham de Villiers and Jean-Paul Duminy share birthdays in 1984 and the South African propensity for being known by initials - A.B and J-P, respectively - but have widely differing test experience.
This was the 47th test for de Villiers but first for Duminy. Both reached landmarks. De Villiers made 106 not out, his seventh test hundred. The debut by Duminy scarcely could have had a more memorable conclusion as he reached 50 by striking the winning run. He may, though, have to search hard for an image of the moment, as the match was boycotted by the major reporting agencies, who are in dispute with Cricket Australia over rights.
The victory is a massive psychological breakthrough for South Africa and a corresponding blow to the Australians. Two of the Aussies are entitled to feel seriously disappointed.
Mitchell Johnson, a fast bowler, took 11 of the 14 South African wickets to fall in the match. On the second evening he produced one of the great spells in test history as he took five wickets for two runs, ripping out the middle of the South African first innings, on the way to an innings analysis of 8 for 60.
Brad Haddin, the Australian wicket-keeper, scored 46 and 94, in both innings ensuring that the lower half of Australia's order was more productive than the top. In the end, though, there was no doubt which team was superior.
South Africa's task now is to maintain that superiority over the remaining matches of this series, at Melbourne and Sydney.
Analysis produced by the Cricinfo Web site after India's victory in Madras, showed that teams chasing final-innings targets of more than 200 in tests have been getting there 28 per cent of the time since 2000, twice the success rate of previous decades.
Possible explanations include the influence of one-day cricket, which means batsmen score more rapidly and are gaining greater experience in chasing down targets, and more efficient pitch-covering, so that playing conditions change less over the five days of a test.