There could not have been a better illustration of why Test matches will never go out of fashion. Dodgy weather, exemplary batting from opening batsmen, desperate defending and attacking, debatable declarations, bad light controversies and fines, and a pulsating finish made for a heady five-day long cricket concoction at the Wanderers, Johannesburg. Cometh the last hour on day five, South Africa found themselves in a position similar to the one in Durban, wherein they had to bat desperately to save the Test. But much to the shock and dismay of the host nation, gloomy weather and fading light that hampered play throughout the Test stayed away, perhaps as if to make amends to England for the narrow miss at Kingsmead.

Earlier in the game, Michael Vaughan was left contemplating if his first-innings declaration at 411 for eight was premature, as South Africa rode on the back of a fifty-run partnership between Nicky Boje and super centurion Herschelle Gibbs and some destructive hitting by Makhaya Ntini to gain a slender but psychologically important lead of eight runs on the morning of day four.

Andrew Strauss' early exit in the tentative period before lunch worsened matters for the visitors. Apart from Marcus Trescothick who seemed in sublime touch, no one came close to offering resistance. The English were left licking their wounds with half their side down and the injury-list of their bowlers becoming an agonizing cause for concern. The morning of the ultimate day proved to be no different for England with Andrew Flintoff departing for his second poor shot of the match. But South Africa's folly lay in being unable to restrain Marcus Trescothick from making his tenth Test century a truly memorable one. The left-hander lofted the ball high on the off-side no less than four times as he punctured South African hopes of a potential victory with some aggressive batting in the company of tail-enders for a selfless and fabulous 180. Once again, Vaughan's declaration came under scrutiny as there appeared to little time in which to push for a win. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep one man out of the limelight. Matthew Hoggard had responded to his skipper's worries with a five-wicket haul in South Africa's first innings when Steve Harmison and Ashley Giles were battling injuries and James Anderson was combating rustiness. For the second time in the match, Hoggard rattled the South African dressing-room eith a deadly exhibition of fast bowling.

He first struck when the hosts were 10 for no loss, chasing an unlikely 325, and did not look back. Herschelle Gibbs' strokeful first-innings hundred was reduced to a distant memory as he dug in to halt the sudden change in momentum. Graeme Smith had suffered a concussion after a nasty blow to the side of his head in a training session before the start of the fourth day's play, and consequently stayed off the field for most of the day. His head must have spun as South Africa lost five wickets by tea on day five! While Jacques Rudolph found his stumps in disarray, Jacques Kallis could do no more than offer the simplest of nicks. Matters turned murkier as Gibbs departed after a valiant ninety-eight and left the gate wide open for England. Smith fought hard in the company of his woefully inadequate tail-enders. Despite brief resistance from Dale Steyn, Hoggard struck the last blow to secure a tally of twelve wickets in the match, and a seventy-seven run victory for England. Smith was left stranded on sixty-seven.

Graeme Smith, who braved a sickening head injury and fought hard for his team, takes evasive action against a bouncer.

For Michael Vaughan, who incurred the ire of the Match Referee and lost his match fees for speaking out against the umpire's dubious decisions in England's light and rain-marred first innings, the day could not have ended on a sweeter note.