Imran Tahir broke a menacing partnership between Ricky Ponting and Usman
Khawaja with what turned out to be the second last ball of the day at
the Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on Sunday to leave the second Sunfoil Test
balanced on a knife edge.The Pakistan-born spinner dismissed the Pakistan-born batsman with a
perfectly pitched googly that found the outside edge of the
left-hander's bat and gave Jacques Kallis his second slip catch of the
innings.It brought to an end a third-wicket partnership of 122 runs in 34 overs
with Khawaja'scontribution being 65 off 110 balls with 10 fours and a
six. It was his maiden half-century in Test cricket and could not have
come at a better time for his side.It followed a double breakthrough by Vernon Philander who dismissed both the Australian opening batsmen in his new ball spell.Ricky Ponting finished the day unbeaten on 54 (104 balls, 6 fours) with
the Australians needing a further 168 runs on Monday's final day.It is impossible to say which team is on top at the moment. The Proteas
will feel they are no more than a couple of wickets away from a major
breakthrough into the tail while the Australians know that another
century partnership will finish the job for them.Imran is probably going to be the key bowler as even Ponting failed to pick his googly on one occasion.The Australians had earlier dismissed the Proteas' Castle Lager squad
for 339 to leave themselves with the victory target of 310 to square the
two-Test series. New Cap Patrick Cummins completed an outstanding debut
with innings figures of 6/79. At one stage he was on a hat trick
immediately after lunch when he dismissed Vernon Philander and Morne
Morkel with the first two balls of the afternoon session.Hashim Amla completed his 14th Test century - this puts him joint fourth
on the South African all-time list along with Daryll Cullinan and
Herschelle Gibbs - early in the day but the Proteas were set back by the
quick dismissal of AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince (unnecessarily run
out), and Amla in quick succession.It needed a 48-run stand between Philander and Dale Steyn to stabilise
the innings and take the target beyond 300. In the end Steyn made the
third highest score of the innings of 41
