South Africa reaches 85-3 at close

JOHANNESBURG (AP): Australia batted themselves into a dominant position with a first-innings total of 466 in the first test against South Africa on Friday, and then took two Proteas wickets in four balls to ram home the advantage.

South Africa recovered some composure by reaching 85-3 at the close on the second day of the match, but on 2-2 and with captain Graeme Smith out for a duck, the Proteas had been in dire straits at the start of their innings.

In the first over of South Africa's innings, Mitchell Johnson found the outside edge of Smith's bat and the captain was caught behind. Three balls later Hashim Amla (one) was caught in the slips by Australia captain Ricky Ponting off debutant Ben Hilfenhaus' second ball of the match.