ADELAIDE — A fired-up Australia attack skittled South Africa's top order late on the fourth day to march to the brink of victory in the second Test Sunday. Set a mammoth target of 430 for victory, the tourists' chase began disastrously, captain Graeme Smith out for a duck with the sixth ball of the innings and three more wickets tumbling quickly in the afternoon heat at Adelaide Oval. Wicketkeeper batsman AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis dug for more than an hour-and-a-half, but South Africa staggered to 77-4 at the close, trailing their target by 353 runs. De Villiers was on 12 and Du Plessis on 19, with injured Jacques Kallis the last recognized batsman in the Proteas' dressing room. South Africa's hopes may again rest on all-rounder Kallis, who battled a hamstring strain to score a half-century in the first innings and help the tourists avoid the follow-on. With Smith and No. 3 Hashim Amla out before tea, Jacques Rudolph and opener Alviro Petersen resumed at 40-2 but their partnership lasted only five more runs before spinner Nathan Lyon claimed his second wicket of the innings. Lyon, who two years ago worked as a groundsman at Adelaide Oval, had Rudolph poke the ball to Ed Cowan, who lunged low and to his left to take a sharp catch at short leg. Out for three, Rudolph's dismissal was his fourth at the hands of the 25-year-old off-spinner from four innings in the series. Petersen's celebrations for his 32nd birthday were tempered an over later, when he was out for 24, dragging a Peter Siddle delivery onto his stumps to leave his team reeling at 45-4. Charged with steering South Africa to safety, De Villiers and Du Plessis slowed their scoring to a crawl, with any thoughts of victory apparently banished. The pair added only 10 runs in little more than an hour after the drinks break of the last session, looking determined not to play any offensive stroke if it could be helped. Any wafer-thin South African hopes may lie with the Australians running out of steam on the final day, with paceman James Pattinson ruled out for the remainder of the series with a rib injury and Australia's bowlers forced to shoulder a greater workload. The news marred a dominant day for the hosts, who resumed on 111-5 and declared after lunch at 267-8 following a feisty ninth-wicket stand of 47 from Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus. — Agencies
Scoreboard
Australia (1st Innings) 550 Australia (2nd Innings) Cowan b Kleinveldt 29 Warner c du Plessis b Kleinveldt 41 Quiney c de Villiers b Kleinveldt 00 Ponting b Steyn 16 Clarke lbw b Steyn 38 Siddle c de Villiers b Morkel 01 M. Hussey c Steyn b Morkel 54 Wade c De Villiers b Morkel 18 Pattinson not out 29 Hilfenhaus not out 18 Extras (b4, lb10, nb9) 23 Total (for 8 decl.; 70 overs) 267 Falls: 1-77 (Warner), 2-77 (Quiney), 3-91 (Cowan), 4-98 (Ponting), 5-103 (Siddle), 6-173 (Clarke), 7-206 (Hussey), 8-220 (Wade). Bowling: Steyn 17-5-50-2 (1nb), Morkel 19-4-50-3 (1nb), Tahir 14-1-80-0 (2nb), Kleinveldt 19-2-65-3 (5nb), Du Plessis 1-0-8-0. South Africa (2nd Innings) Petersen b Siddle 24 Smith c Ponting b Hilfenhaus 00 Amla c Clarke b Lyon 17 Rudolph c Cowan b Lyon 03 De Villiers not out 12 Du Plessis not out 19 Extras (b1, nb1) 2 Total (for 4; 50 overs) 77 Falls: 1-3 (Smith), 2-36 (Amla), 3-45 (Rudolph), 4-45 (Petersen) Bowling: Hilfenhaus 12-6-23-1, Siddle 11-5-23-1 (1nb), Clarke 5-2-4-0, Lyon 15-7-15-2, Warner 3-0-10-0, Quiney 3-2-1-0, Ponting 1-1-0-0.
