Australia take the upper hand as Lee strikes

A blistering spell of pace bowling from a fire breathing Brett Lee has given Australia the advantage in an intriguing exhibition of Test cricket.

Lee rattled the Proteas middle order in a damaging spell which saw him yield 4/5, giving him 5/67 for the innings, dismissing the South Africans for 267.

At stumps, Australia, through prolific batsmen Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting, had reached 1/125 (?), taking a lead of 227 into the fourth day.

The day began poorly for the home side, losing the skilful AB de Villiers for a gritty 50, falling to Stuart Clark the man who had given the Proteas so much grief last week in Cape Town.

This brought the run grinding Ashwell Prince to the crease, and relished the opportunity to work in tandem with the main attraction – Jacques Kallis. While Prince held up his end, Kallis was cool, calm and collected at his, moving along quietly to a classy 114, before he was sent packing by Clark – cleverly caught and bowled by the New South Welshman.

Prior to Kallis’ dismissal, another Jacques – he of the Rudolph name – departed for 13, giving Warne his second wicket for the day.

The loss of Kallis stunned the Africans, with Brett Lee only too happy to announce to all that he is back in his menacing form of the latter stages of 2005, blasting the Proteas out of the water – snatching the wickets of Pollock, Boucher, Nel and Ntini in the space of only 13 deliveries, ending the South African innings, all out for 267.

The normally reliable Michael Kasprowicz again struggled with his no-balls, losing the fight to keep his foot behind the line on 6 occasions – the affable Queenslander under the pump to hold place ahead of the spinning Stuart MacGill.

With the home side notorious for their uphill battle with facing spinners, Australian captain Ricky Ponting and the National Selection Panel may be temped to include MacGill ahead of the unlucky Kasprowicz.

Australia slammed their foot on the pedal in the opening stages of their second innings, with the rock solid pair of Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden causing the scorers to work overtime, the former racing to 37 before falling to the spin of Boje for 37.

If Langer's knock had given the Australians the ascendancy, Ponting (48) and Hayden (35) confirmed it, guiding the team to a comfortable position at stumps – 1/25 with still two whole day’s play remaining.

Hayden took 101 balls to reach 35, suggesting that he is in for the long haul, while Ponting played the role of the showman, flaying the Proteas attack, going at a strike rate of 73.84.

Australia is now in command, thanks to the brilliance of Lee and the consistency of the top order, and are favourites to seal a series victory.

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