OTD| Mitchell Johnson took 12 for 127 to register Australia’s second-best match figures in South Africa in 2014

11 years back on this day (February 15) in 2014, it happened to be a historic day for Australia and the former pace-bowling great Mitchell Johnson in Test cricket. The former Aussie pacer registered his name in history books for his sensational bowling figures scalping 12 wickets at just 127 runs in the game, which are also the second-best match figures for Australia.

Speaking of the action of the entire first Test of the three-match Test series between South Africa and Australia, the hosts’ skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and asked the Aussies to bat first. Batting first, Australia posted a total of 397 runs in the first innings courtesy of two amazing centuries scored by Shaun Marsh and Steve Smith, scoring 148 and 100 runs, respectively.

Dale Steyn scalped 4 wickets, alongside 2 wickets each bagged by Ryan McLaren and Robin Peterson. Besides these three, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel also claimed a wicket each.

Mitchell Johnson outmuscled the Proteas batters in both the innings

In response to Australia’s first-innings total of 397, the Proteas were bundled out at the score of just 206 runs as their batters struggled against the sheer threat possessed by Mitchell Johnson. The star pacer ran through the hosts’ batting attack and scalped 7 wickets at just 68 runs in 17.1 overs. Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon also claimed 1 and 2 wickets, respectively.

Later in the second innings, former Australia opener David Warner played an amazing century, scoring 115 runs followed by Alex Doolan’s 89 runs and Shaun Marsh’s 44 runs. On the back of these knocks, Australia scored 290 runs for the loss of 4 wickets before declaring their second innings.

While defending the massive target of 483 runs in the fourth innings of the game, the Aussie bowling attack was once again led by the star pacer Mitchell Johnson in the second innings. He claimed another five-wicket in the same match, scalping 5 wickets at just 59 runs in 16 overs.

On the back of Mitchell Johnson’s historic bowling performances in the match, Australia outplayed South Africa by a huge 282-run margin to start the three-match Test series on a winning note. Johnson won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his iconic and match-winning bowling performance.

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