Pouncing South Africa have rid the choker tag to underline superiority in Test rankings South Africa could easily have stumbled in Australia just before Christmas, but they showed the qualities of world champions in two different sets of crisis. Firstly they had to bat out for a draw in the second Test at Adelaide, and lost four wickets in the first 21 overs. In the last 127 overs of the match they lost only four more wickets and hung on to keep the series at nil-all. Now you can argue that hanging on grimly is in the South African tradition: that what AB de Villiers and the debutant Faf du Plessis did on the last day in Adelaide was indeed superlative but nothing new. When South Africa went to Perth, however, they did something they had not done before - not in the era since unification, or the end of apartheid, at any rate. They sensed the moment and seized the initiative by attacking. They did not concentrate on saving the game before thinking about winning it, which had been their habit. This moment came when South Africa had made 225 in their first innings and Australia 165. When South Africa lost an early wicket in their second innings, the game was in the balance. It was the time to choke again. But they didn't. They counterattacked instead. Hashim Amla joined his captain Graeme Smith and together they took the game away from Australia - at a rate of knots. If you were suffering from a dose in India, during England's Test series there, it was enough to make you sit up in bed. Smith and Amla added 178 runs in only 25.3 overs. They did not choke - they pounced. It was what Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting or Adam Gilchrist would have done in their prime, only Ponting was playing his final Test. It is unquantifiable, but Gary Kirsten has manifestly had an enormous impact since taking over as South Africa's coach less than two years ago. Jacques Rudolph and Imran Tahir have been shunted out, but the main difference is a maturity of mind: South Africa have shed their desperation to win without losing their desire. The next step for South Africa, if they are to remain No 1, is to show they can win without Dale Steyn or Morne Morkel, or both. More so than any pair of Hollywood stars, they make a perfect couple. Steyn swings, Morkel seams. Steyn specialises in right-handers (213 at 18 runs each - that's ridiculously good), Morkel in left-handers (64 at 23). Steyn bowls a full length, when his bouncer isn't hitting people, and Morkel short of a length. No wonder batsmen don't hang around when Vernon Philander comes on. So South Africa, after becoming number one, are still the team to beat. And England's next chance to do that? It comes in December 2015. England play 15 Tests against Australia before they play their next one against South Africa. How's that - you might say - for fixture-planning? Team Matches Points Rating South Africa England Pakistan Sri Lanka West Indies New Zealand Bangladesh