South African cricket team in Australia in 2005–06
No Date Opponents Venue Result
W 10 January Queensland Brisbane Cricket Ground , Brisbane Won by 94 runs
W 13 January Queensland Academy of Sport Allan Border Field , Brisbane Won by 46 runs
2 15 January Australia Brisbane Cricket Ground , Brisbane Won by 5 wickets
3 17 January Sri Lanka Brisbane Cricket Ground , Brisbane Lost by 94 runs
4 20 January Australia Docklands Stadium , Melbourne Lost by 59 runs
6 24 January Sri Lanka Adelaide Oval , Adelaide Won by 9 runs
9 31 January Sri Lanka WACA Ground , Perth Won by 5 wickets
10 3 February Australia Docklands Stadium , Melbourne Lost by 80 runs
11 5 February Australia Sydney Cricket Ground , Sydney Lost by 57 runs
12 7 February Sri Lanka Bellerive Oval , Hobart Lost by 76 runs
Tour itinerary
Warm-up matches marked ' W ' . Other matches numbered as their match as part of the VB Series as a whole :
The South African cricket team toured Australia for cricket matches during the 2005-06 season. South Africa had already played two One Day International series during this season, beating New Zealand 4-0 at home before travelling to India and drawing the series there 2-2. The team had been playing 14 successive ODIs (tour matches excluded) before arriving in Australia, with their last Test match against West Indies in April and May 2005. South Africa played one first class warm-up match, one three-day warm-up match without first class status, and one one-day match before they embarked on the three-Test series, which began on 16 December and ended on 6 January. They also participated in the 2005-06 VB Series, a three-team one-day tournament, along with Australia and Sri Lanka, where they finished last. The hosts Australia, meanwhile, came off a win in the Frank Worrell Trophy Test series against West Indies in November, where they won all three matches in the series. They also spent a week in New Zealand playing three ODIs for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy while South Africa played their first warm-up games; Australia won that trophy after winning two of the three ODIs. South Africa started with a draw, batting out 126 overs in the fourth innings to draw the match at the WACA, though they finished on a total of five for 287, well short of the winning target of 491. In the second Test match, South Africa trailed by 44 on first innings, but a century from Matthew Hayden took Australia to a lead of 365 before declaring, and Shane Warne took four wickets in the second innings as Australia bowled their way to a 184-run win. South Africa came back to earn a lead of 92 on first innings in the third Test at the SCG, but after 70 fourth-day overs were lost due to rain South Africa declared in the first session of the fifth day to give themselves a chance of victory and a series win. However, Ricky Ponting hit 143 not out to become the first batsman to hit centuries in both innings of his 100th Test, and in the process took Australia past the winning target to secure a 2-0 win.