11 Nov 2011

23 wickets fall on day two of opening cricket test

5:55 am on 11 November 2011

The Australian cricketers are facing defeat in the first Test against South Africa in Cape Town after collapsing to their lowest innings total in 109 years.

Day two at Newlands will go down as one of the most eventful in history, but Australia's second-innings capitulation was the stand-out feature.

The tourists collapsed to 21 for 9 and were all out for 47 after South African debutant Vernon Philander took 5 for 15.

Last batsman Nathan Lyon top-scored with 14 and Peter Siddle was 12 not out, the only players to make double digits.

That left South Africa chasing a victory target of 236 and they were 81 for 1 at stumps, needing a further 155 runs to win the match with nine wickets in hand and three full days to play.

Twenty-three wickets fell, the most in a single day since 1902, and it was only the second time in Test cricket that parts of all four innings were played on the same day.

The scores in the match... Australia 284 and 47, South Africa 96 and 81 for 1.