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MITCHELL Johnson is the man who can do everything - and for sheer gladatorial excitement, his duel with Kevin Pietersen late Saturday had the MCG rocking, as only one of the world's greatest sports stadiums can.
But the evil-eyed enforcer was upstaged by the unfashionable, mild-mannered Nathan Lyon - and guess what, another huge crowd probably enjoyed that even more.
If they weren't already doing that, they changed their mind when the smiling off-spinner had England's most controversial cricketer caught in the deep late in the last session, Lyon's 100th Test wicket.
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The crowd of 63,864, which included his family, gave him a rousing ovation when he performed the now ritual gesture of holding up the ball to mark the five-for - and what was probably the decisive wicket of the match.
For any number of reasons, it was a magical moment in what has developed into one of the most interesting - riveting, in fact - Boxing Day Tests in recent memory, the best since England won by 12 runs three tours ago.
And it hasn't been decided yet.
It will be Sunday, with Australia needing 201 with all 10 wickets intact to make it 4-0.
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Given they only managed 204 in the first innings, and the way the match has twisted and turned over the first three days, that's not a doddle, and England wicketkeeper, Johnny Bairstow, insisted on Saturday night that they were confident of turning it around.
But the tourists might be whistling in the dark.
Their' morale won't be helped by the certain knowledge that they surrendered the high ground not once, not twice but three times on Saturday.
They allowed Brad Haddin and Lyon to add 40 for the last wicket - crucial runs in such a low-scoring contest - and then lost 3-1 and 5-6 in embarrassing collapses themselves, bowled out for 179 in just 61 overs.
They squandered a potentially dominating position when they led by 116 with all wickets intact and for their long suffering fans it was beyond disappointing - again.
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Lyon was a big part of both implosions and history is going to record that he has played a bigger part in this summer-long triumph than anyone - himself included, perhaps - would have expected, given he has been dropped from the team twice this year.
He has now taken 16 wickets, more than anyone except the all-conquering Johnson's 31, and it's not just the number but the names - Bell for a first ball duck, Stokes and Pietersen among them on Saturday.
He has become a great story and will remain one whatever happens in the rest of his career, which began in spectacular fashion with a haul of 5-34 on debut against Sri Lanka just over two years ago.
Now, in his 29th match, he has become only the sixth Australian off-spinner to take 100 wickets behind Hugh Trumble's 141 - well over a century ago - Ashley Mallett's 132, Bruce Yardley's 126, former captain Ian Johnson's 109 and, also well over a century ago, George Giffen's 103.
Three years ago he was helping prepare Test wickets in Adelaide, not bowling on them, so it has been a remarkable journey.
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"It seemed a long way away when I started but no-one can take it away from me now," he said.
"It's amazing."
Johnson captivated the crowd, as he had done in the first innings and everywhere else he has been this summer, when he launched the fightback by disposing of England captain Alistair Cook just as he was threatening to take control and put the match out of reach.
Then he threw down the stumps to run out Joe Root and held a good catch to dismiss Bell in quick succession, before challenging Pietersen to a ferocious battle after the tea-break, each man knowing the result of the match might largely hinge on who came out on top.
Johnson was infuriated when Pietersen pulled away during his run-up, saying a child on the boundary was distracting him, and threw the ball towards the slips instead of bowling it.
The pair exchanged plenty of angry words with unpire Kumar Dharmasena forced to order them to cool it.
It might have been ugly but the crowd was loving it.
The running total for the three days is now 233,302, while Channel 9 said 2.6 million watched Friday's play.
If you haven't beern part of it, either on the spot or on the counch, don't miss it on Saturday - it might yet be a thriller.
ron.reed@news.com.au
Twitter: @Reedrw
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