Warne shatters record as Test hangs in balance
Warne captured the wickets of A.B. de Villiers, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher to take his tally this year to 87 and restrict the Proteas to 296 in reply to Australia’s 258.
Australia were 38 for one in their second innings at the close, exactly level with South Africa with three days to go at the WACA.
Justin Langer was unbeaten on 15 with night-watchman Brett Lee yet to score after Matthew Hayden threw his wicket away in the last over of the day.
Hayden had raced to 20, comprised entirely of boundaries, before he skied an attempted pull shot off Charl Langeveldt that ended up in the gloves of wicket-keeper Boucher.
Boucher also blazed 62 with the bat and shared a vital seventh-wicket partnership of 77 with Shaun Pollock to ensure the South Africans led on the first innings after a mid-order batting collapse.
The tourists had been cruising at 127-1 before lunch but lost five wickets for 60 before tea until Boucher and Pollock’s rescue operation.
Warne bowled de Villiers for 68 to match Lillee’s record of 85 wickets in 1981 then trapped Prince lbw for 28 to set his own benchmark.
Lillee, who lives in Perth and was at the ground to see Warne break his record, said he was delighted the record went to Warne.
Lee was also in devastating form on Saturday, using his express pace to mop up the tail and finish with 5-93, while Glenn McGrath and left-arm paceman Nathan Bracken collected one each.
Bracken made the initial breakthrough before lunch when he removed South African captain Graeme Smith for 34, brilliantly caught by Ricky Ponting at second slip, while McGrath sent Justin Kemp packing with Brad Hodge taking the catch at mid-off.
Lee grabbed his first wicket in the second last over before lunch when he bowled Herschelle Gibbs for 21 then added Jacques Rudolph for eight in the middle session, caught by Langer at third slip.
He bowled Pollock for 34 after tea to break his stubborn partnership with Boucher then trapped Langeveldt lbw for a golden duck and had Makhaya Ntini caught behind for 12 to complete his sixth five-wicket haul in Tests.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 258 (R.T. Ponting 71; M. Ntini 5-64).
SOUTH AFRICA (1st Innings, overnight 38-0):
A.B. de Villiers b Warne 68
G.C. Smith c Ponting b Bracken 34
H.H. Gibbs b Lee 21
J.A. Rudolph c Langer b Lee 8
A.G. Prince lbw b Warne 28
J.M. Kemp c Hodge b McGrath 7
M.V. Boucher c Hayden b Warne 62
S.M. Pollock b Lee 34
A. Nel not out 4
C.K. Langeveldt lbw b Lee 0
M. Ntini c Hodge b Lee 12
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, NB-12) 18
TOTAL (all out, 81.2 overs) 296
FALL OF WKTS: 1-83 2-127 3-135 4-145 5-167 6-187 7-264 8-282 9-283.
BOWLING: McGrath 18-3-59–1; Lee 22.2-1-93-5 (11nb); Bracken 12-3-46-1; Warne 29-4-92-3.
AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings):
J.L. Langer not out 15
M.L. Hayden c Boucher b Langeveldt 20
B. Lee not out 0
EXTRAS (NB-3) 3
TOTAL (for one wkt, 11 overs) 38
FALL OF WKT: 1-37
BOWLING (to-date): Pollock 5-1-12-0 (1nb); Ntini 5-2-24-0; Langeveldt 1-0-2-1 (2nb).—Reuters
Warne’s record
87 – S.K. Warne (Australia) 2005*
85 – D.K. Lillee (Australia) 1981
80 – A.A. Donald (South Africa) 1998
80 – M. Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 2001
77 – J. Garner (West Indies) 1984
75 – Kapil Dev (India) 1983
75 – M. Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 2000
74 – Kapil Dev (India) 1979
74 – A. Kumble (India) 2004
73 – M.D. Marshall (West Indies) 1984
*Current year in progress.