Top 20 in 2020: The best Test moments, No.2

There are moments in cricket, as in all sport, that are so memorable you can recall exactly where you were and who you were with when they happened.

Be they back-to-the-wall hundreds or feats of individual brilliance, they are the moments you've re-watched countless times in the years since and still get chills every time.

Re-live the countdown so far: 20-18 | 17-15 | 14-12 | 11-9 | 8-6 | 5 | 4 | 3

As part of our 20 in 2020 countdown series, we're looking back at the 20 most memorable moments from Test matches played on Australian soil in the past 20 years.

They might not be the best innings ever played, or the perfect bowling performance, but rather moments that are quite simply unforgettable.

We continue today with number 2 in our Top 20 countdown of the best Test moments and we will take a look at the top batting and bowling performances in the coming weeks as well.

Make sure you return to cricket.com.au and the CA Live app on Wednesday as we reveal the No.1 Test moment in Australia this century

2) Johnson’s Adelaide annihilation

Adelaide Oval, 2013

Image Id: A6FD76DDA5854443A4F713BDD806383E

By Andrew Ramsey

This is Andrew Ramsey’s original match report from December 7, 2013

Even allowing for the plush new development that has rendered Adelaide Oval more a modern amphitheatre than a village green, it’s doubtful the grand old ground has been rocked in quite the way that Mitchell Johnson managed with his mesmerising bowling effort on the afternoon of December 7, 2013.

Perhaps not since the infamous Bodyline series blew its lid in Adelaide 80 years earlier have local crowds been whipped into such a state of frenzy as was the case when Johnson scythed through England with a four-over spell that went a long way to deciding the second Test of the 2013-14 Ashes campaign, as well as the series itself.

Johnson opened up the tourists’ batting and countless mental scars as he captured 5-12 in the space of four electrifying overs after lunch, before finishing with remarkable innings figures of 7-40.

His dominance, which began in the first Test in Brisbane, led to England being humbled for 172 – their third sub-200 Test total in as many attempts – and staring at a first innings deficit of 398.

By stumps, Australia had extended their lead to 530 with seven wickets intact and two days to play, an assignment which would have been unassailable even for a team that had some sort of batting acumen to point to.

Image Id: D0432B4796E944E6A3D15EEB6497FF8F Image Caption: Cook was out late on day two // Getty

And while the pitch was beginning to produce variable bounce and was offering increasing encouragement to the spinners, it was the moustachioed countenance of Johnson – as well as his lethal left arm – that remained squarely between England and a way back into the series.

Quite simply, Johnson has his opponents spooked.

It could be seen from the opening overs of England’s innings on the Friday evening when captain Alastair Cook was pinned so far back in his crease he would have surely trod on his stumps had Johnson not spreadeagled them with the ball first.

It became even more obvious at the height of the day-three carnage, as the sell-out crowd of 36,414 abandoned the usual Saturday afternoon Test match niceties in the oyster tents and champagne bars behind the members stand to cram every available vantage point.

In the space of a single over, Johnson blasted out debutant Ben Stokes (1), woefully out-of-form vice-captain Matt Prior (0) and Stuart Broad for a first-ball duck which carried the Australian to the cusp of his first Test hat-trick.

That was denied him, but he had another opportunity three overs later when he removed Graeme Swann (7) and James Anderson in consecutive balls, the latter dismissal prompting a provocative, in-your-face stare from Johnson who clearly carries clear memories of the pair’s verbal sparring in Brisbane.

Image Id: D2AE86819DE641509B79EE81D0EA21D7 Image Caption: Stuart Broad was bowled first ball // Getty

Johnson's performance was even more meritorious than his player-of-the-match efforts in Brisbane given the nature of the Adelaide pitch and the fact that his rivals knew what to expect and had been granted a fortnight to prepare.

Although in fairness to Cook's men, there is no simple solution to countering an opponent capable of hurling a rock-hard missile at you in excess of 150km/h.

Top 20 in 2020: Best Test moments countdown (so far)

20) Legends bid farewell

19) Warner dines out before lunch

18) Smith's brave last stand

17) Hussey and McGrath's final stand

16) McGrath predicts his milestone moment

15) Perfect delivery cooks England skipper

14) McGrath's miracle catch

13) Perry celebrates 200 ... twice

12) The Harmison ball

11) Warne falls heartbreakingly short

10) A trio of Test triples

9) A fitting tribute to a fallen friend

8) McGrath & Gillespie's batting masterclass

7) Collapses and controversy in SCG nail-biter

6) Amazing Adelaide

5) Peter Siddle's birthday hat-trick

4) Shane Warne's 700th wicket

3) Gilchrist launches at the WACA

2) Johnson's Adelaide annihilation

Make sure you return to cricket.com.au and the CA Live app every day this week as we continue the countdown all the way to No.1