Cape Town - Shane Warne's genius was often on full high-colour display when he faced the Proteas. IOL Sport's Zaahier Adams chooses five epic performances by the Australian "Sheikh of Tweak".
1.7/56 & 5/72: 2nd Test, Sydney, Jan 2 - 6 1994
Proteas fans may remember this match as "the Fanie de Villiers Test" but prior to "Vinnige Fanie" heroics it was Warne's brilliance that had placed South Africa in that perilous position. His match haul of 12/128 was a career best. The Aussies may not have won the Test but it was a clear warning of the stranglehold Warne would have on the Proteas for the next decade and more.
2. 5/75 & 6/34: 2nd Test, Sydney, Jan 2 - 5 1998
Warne ensured South Africa's return to the scene of their famous victory four years earlier was not going to be repeated. He orchestrated Australia's revenge at the SCG with a match haul of 11/109 to power the Aussies to an innings and 21 runs victory.
3. 4/29: ICC World Cup semi-final, Birmingham, June 17 1999
It is no coincidence that the greatest heartbreak South African cricket has experienced had to be inflicted by none other than Warne. Although Lance Klusener and Allan Donald will forever be cast as the villans for their shambolic run out in the last over, it was Warne that engineered all the chaos with a spellbinding act that included the "Ball of the Century 2.0" to Herschelle Gibbs early on in the tragedy.
4: 2/70, 63, 6/161: 2nd Test, Cape Town, Mar 8 - 12 2002
Born for the show lights, Warne hauled out one of his best ever performances for the grand stage of his 100th Test that was played under the picturesque setting of Newlands' Table Mountain. After suffering a record-breaking mauling the previous week at the Wanderers, the Proteas overhauled their team and fielded three debutants including a 22-year-old Graeme Smith. The home side produced a much more spirited effort but Warne wasn't going to allow his party to be spoiled. He bowled a herculean 98 overs in the game - 70 in the second innings which yielded 6/161. His determination was so fierce that he also struck 63 in the first innings before finishing it off with an undefeated 15 to take Australia over the line as the visitors chased 328 with four wickets remaining. "The way I'm feeling at the moment it probably does pip the (first Test in Sri Lanka in 1992) as my favourite. From my own individual point of view this was probably my favourite Test," Warne said at the time.
5. 2/80 & 6/86: 2nd Test, Durban, Mar 24 - 28 2006
Warne left South Africans with a final douse of his genius on his last visit to this land as a Test player on the 2006 tour. His 6/86 in the second innings of the second Test closed out yet another series victory for the Aussies on South African soil as the visitors took an unassailable 2-0 lead. Warne never lost a Test series to South Africa throughout his career.
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