Johnson rips through South Africa as Australia grab control of first Test

Bowler calls his form better than it was during Ashes whitewash of England

Australia's Mitchell Johnson, second right, celebrates the dismissal of South Africa's Faf du Plessis during Day 2 of the first Test on Thursday. Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson produced a devastating performance on the second day of the first Test against South Africa on Thursday.

Johnson took four for 51 as South Africa crashed to 140 for six at the close, 257 runs behind Australia’s first innings of 397. AB de Villiers was the only man to withstand the onslaught, scoring 52 not out.

The raw figures do not do justice to the destruction caused by Johnson against the world’s top-rated team. He needed just four balls to strike a blow, when he dismissed South African captain Graeme Smith with a vicious bouncer. He followed up with the wickets of Alviro Petersen and Faf du Plessis in his third and fourth overs.

Hashim Amla was leg before wicket to Peter Siddle to reduce South Africa to 43 for four before De Villiers and JP Duminy staged a minor recovery with a fifth-wicket stand of 67.

Johnson was involved in Duminy’s dismissal, taking a superb diving catch running back from mid-off when Duminy mistimed a lofted drive. Johnson the bowler struck again when he beat Ryan McLaren for pace.

Johnson was man-of-the-match in the first Ashes Test against England in Brisbane last November, taking nine wickets and to start a 5-0 sweep. He was eventually named man of the series, taking 37 wickets at an average of 13.97.

“I started a bit better here,” he said. “To come out and get three quick wickets was definitely a great start for me personally, but the game has been set up by the way the boys batted earlier on.”

Johnson said he had noticed that South African bowlers Morne Morkel and McLaren found extra bounce when they bowled around the wicket – a similar angle to him bowling left-arm over the wicket. “I just wanted to utilise that. I didn’t think the ball was swinging, so my plan was just to bang the wicket hard and it came off.”

He said he believed he was a better bowler than when he faced South Africa five years ago, when he twice broke bones in Smith’s hand.

Johnson’s first ball to Smith was short, and there was a half-hearted appeal as it thudded off the batsman’s thigh pad to short leg.

The next ball was a fast bouncer that climbed towards Smith’s head. The South African lifted his bat in front of his face and the ball looped over the slips, with Shaun Marsh running back from third slip to take a fine catch.

“It’s nice when a plan comes off,” Johnson said. “Like I said when I first got here, I think it’s definitely at the back of his mind what happened previously. But he’s done so well for his country, you never know. It was just one of those balls that took off.”

South African coach Russell Domingo admitted that the situation seems dire.

“It’s going to be tough to get out of this position. Australia are well ahead,” he said.

Domingo described Johnson as an “X-factor” bowler.

“We’ve got him on a hot streak,” Domingo said. “We prepared as well as we could, but there’s no way you can prepare for the intensity of a Test match.”

Australia earlier lost their last six wickets for 66 runs.