South Africa's Jacques Kallis approached Sir Donald Bradman's 66-year-old record of six centuries in as many tests when he hit an unbeaten 150 on the last day of the drawn first test with New Zealand on Sunday.
Kallis came to New Zealand after making four centuries and more than 700 runs in four home tests against the West Indies. He extended that mark to five at Hamilton which leaves him second only to Bradman.
PHOTO: AFP
South Africa reached 313-4 in its second innings and declared after tea, leaving New Zealand 263 to win in a minimum of 23 overs. New Zealand, which replied with 509 to South Africa's first innings of 459, was 39-1 when the match ended.
"It's certainly something I'm really proud of and it's a great honor to be up there in that league," Kallis said. "I'm obviously going to go out there in the second test and try to make it six from six. That's my next goal."
The second test begins Thursday in Auckland.
Between 1936 and 1938, Bradman amassed 1,159 runs in 11 innings in Ashes series in Australia and in England.
His sequence was only broken when injury prevented him from playing in the fifth test of the English series. He resumed in the following test.
England versus West Indies
England battled to a narrow first-innings lead over the West Indies on Saturday's rain-shortened third day of the gripping test at Sabina Park.
The tourists, overnight 154 for three, were bowled out for 339 in reply to the West Indies' 311 for a 28-run lead despite a three-wicket haul by fiery Tino Best.
In fading light on a day reduced to 58.3 overs, the home team closed at eight without loss.
Nasser Hussain, resuming on 41, reached 58 to join Mark Butcher, also 58, as England's best batsman. Andrew Flintoff hit an enterprising 46 off 50 deliveries, receiving handy support down the order.
Extras provided a whopping topscore of 60, with 28 leg-byes and 18 no-balls.
Best claimed three wickets for 57 off 19 overs, leading the home team's attack after pace ace Fidel Edwards left the field Saturday morning to receive treatment on a strained side.
Like Edwards, the 22-year-old Best clocked regularly at over 145kph, and broke through after Hussain and Graham Thorpe stretched their fourth-wicket stand to 42.
Best earned his long-overdue first test wicket as Thorpe (19) top-edged a bouncer straight to fine leg. The Barbadian Best had gone wicketless in his only other test, against Australia a year ago.
Best soon added Hussain's wicket, as England slipped to 209-5. The former England captain spooned a catch off the leading edge to extra cover after striking seven fours off 158 deliveries in 278 minutes.
Flintoff and wicket-keeper Chris Read blunted Best and the rest of the attack in a busy sixth-wicket stand of 59. But just as they began threatening an English initiative, Flintoff fell to the innocuous leg-spin of Ramnaresh Sarwan.
The hard-hitting right-hander casually smacked six fours off 50 balls before he advanced to Sarwan and mishit a catch to midwicket.
Read fell 10 runs later, as an energized Best returned with the second new ball.
The Nottinghamshire man spiraled an easy catch to midwicket as he tried to pull a Best bouncer. He counted two boundaries off 46 balls.
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