Australia vs South Africa 2016: 6 memorable Tests played between the two nations

#1 Johannesburg 2011

Mitchell Johnson delivered with the bat to help Australia win a thrilling encounter

One of the most exciting clashes between Australia and South Africa in recent years took place in the 2^nd Test of a 2-match series at Johannesburg in 2011. The Proteas won the toss and batted first but could not make the most of their advantage as they ended up being all out for 266 in their first innings.

Australian openers Shane Watson and Phil Hughes gave their innings a great start with a brilliant 174-run partnership. However, the rest of the batsmen were unable to capitalise on it as the visitors could only manage to take a slender 30-run lead.

A cracking century from Hashim Amla helped South Africa improve on their first innings performance by putting 339 runs on the board thereby giving their opponents a fourth-innings target of 310. After being reduced to 19 for 2 in their 2^nd innings, the Aussies were staring down the barrel and risked losing the series 2-0.

But Ricky Ponting and Usman Khawaja restored order with their 122-run partnership and gave the innings some much-needed momentum. The match swung back in favour of the home side, though, as Australia lost Khawaja, Michael Clarke and Ponting in no time.

The repair job was carried out courtesy of two decisive partnerships – 50 between Brad Haddin and Mike Hussey and 72 between Haddin and Mitchell Johnson. With Haddin gone for 55 and 23 runs still required, Johnson took control in the company of Pat Cummins and manoeuvred the Aussies to an unlikely 2-wicket victory .