Adelaide Test, Day 5, Close
Tuesday, December 18, 2001

It was all over pretty convincingly today. That's the second-biggest winning runs margin at the Adelaide Oval, and a well-deserved win for Australia.

South Africa were below par, there's no doubt about that. They just weren't intense enough all through the match. I think they're trying too hard against Australia to beat them. They are desperate to beat the Aussies, and they've put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform - and been too tense as a result.

They have to put the significance of this series behind them and get out and enjoy their cricket for a full five days. That will get more out of them rather than worrying about the outcome of the series.

If Allan Donald plays at Melbourne he'll come in under big pressure. They Australians will let him know that he's back in a Test match, and try to make him bowl for as long as they can to earn his wickets. He's still got to come through the next four-day game unscathed. And if he pulls up a bit sore or with any niggles he'll feel them when he's back in the Test arena on Boxing Day.

I think Australia should take Stuart MacGill to Melbourne. Why not? Their fast department is covered, they'll only play three quick bowlers at the MCG, so it's not much use bringing Andy Bichel back. They might as well have MacGill there just in case the wicket looks anything different to what they expect.

As it turned out MacGill might have been more valuable here than the third seamer was. I thought the quicks would get more uneven bounce than they did, so a second spinner could have made life even more difficult.

Shane Warne bowled pretty defensively today. He is probably more of a defensive bowler than an attacking one these days. He doesn't spin the ball past the outside edge as often as he used to.

The highlight of the match for me was Matthew Hayden's hundred yesterday. It was telling. It gave the Australian bowlers the freedom to do what they wanted today - it was an absolutely awesome innings.

Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia. His comments will be appearing on Wisden.com at the end of every session in the series. He was talking to Tim Stoney.

More Ian Healy
Day 5, Lunch: The demons are back
Day 4, Close: Only Australia can win now

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