Jacques Kallis hit a majestic century as South Africa moved into a dominant position on the second day of the second Test against England at Kingsmead on Monday.
Kallis was last man out for 162 in a South African total of 332, a first-innings lead of 193.
PHOTO: AFP
England were 30 for no wicket in their second innings at the close and faced an uphill battle to prevent South Africa from hitting back to level the five-match series after losing the first Test in Port Elizabeth.
PHOTO: EPA
"It's as good [an innings] as I've played. My number one will always be my first Test hundred in Melbourne," Kallis said, referring to an innings in the 1997/1998 season which saved a Test against Australia.
Kallis, with good support from the lower order batsmen, had the England bowlers virtually on their knees as they toiled in hot weather. England's attack was a man short, with left-arm spinner Ashley Giles unable to take the field because of a back spasm.
Matthew Hoggard, who finished with the best England figures of three for 58, said the loss of Giles had been a big blow.
"Ashley could have bowled 20 or 30 overs from one end and locked it up. His absence took a lot of energy out of us. But I thought we stuck to our task well."
Hoggard said England were still in with a chance.
"South Africa's innings was dominated by Jacques Kallis who played tremendously well. But if one or two of our guys can get in we believe we can set a target for the South Africans that will put them under pressure.
In the corresponding match five years ago, South Africa followed on 210 runs behind and scored 572 for seven in the third innings, with Gary Kirsten making 275.
A measure of Kallis' superiority was that no other batsman in the first innings scored a half-century.
The match was evenly poised when Shaun Pollock joined Kallis with South Africa on 118 for six, still 21 runs behind England's first innings total of 139.
At that stage no partnership in the match had been worth more than 31. But Kallis and Pollock put on 87 for the seventh wicket.
As the England bowlers flagged, Kallis shared stands of 38 with Nicky Boje, 50 with Makhaya Ntini and 39 with last man Dale Steyn before he was caught on the square leg boundary. The last four wickets put on 214 runs, with Kallis making 120 of them.
"A lot of credit must go to the South African lower order, especially Shaun Pollock, which just goes to show that you can't buy experience at the supermarket," Kallis said.
"The guys down the order showed a lot of determination and guts, particularly with the England bowlers dishing out a fair number of bouncers," he said.
Kallis, who reached his 18th Test century off 186 balls with 13 fours, added another eight fours and a pulled six off Andrew Flintoff before he tried to hit Hoggard for another six and was held above his head by Paul Collingwood on the boundary.
He faced a total of 264 deliveries in an innings which is likely to be remembered as one of his career highlights.
England had fought their way back into the game at the start of the day, reducing South Africa's run scoring to a trickle with a preponderance of short-pitched bowling.
Hoggard and Steve Harmison, who took three for 91, were England's most successful bowlers but Harmison, who had three for 31 at one stage, took some heavy punishment in the later stages of the innings with Ntini hitting him for three fours off four balls after coming in with the second new ball just four overs old.
Australia vs Pakistan
Australia were steaming towards a series-clinching win over Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test after a major momentum shift on the third day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday.
The Australians seized control of the match after Damien Martyn's second consecutive century, a spirited 93-run eighth wicket stand with Jason Gillespie and a clatter of Pakistan wickets in the final session.
Pakistan, from having the world-beaters under pressure for the first two days, were fighting for every run against a resurgent home bowling attack and trying to avoid another heavy loss after their humiliating 491-run defeat in the first Perth Test.
At stumps with two days to play, Pakistan were 85 for five, an overall lead of 47 with Shoaib Malik on 11 and Mohammad Sami on eight.
Martyn was Australia's hero, batting for over six hours for 142 and the senior partner in a near-century stand with fast bowler Gillespie, which steered the home side past Pakistan's first innings 341 for a psychological 38-run lead.
Youhana may have been unlucky with television replays suggesting the ball came off the Pakistan skipper's pad to Ricky Ponting at silly mid-point, leaving the tourists in strife at 60 for four.
Younis Khan, who scored 87 in a 192-run partnership with Youhana in the first innings, then played an miscued pull shot to Michael Kasprowicz and was caught by a diving Matthew Hayden in the gully for 23 leaving them 68 for five.
India vs Bangladesh
India went on a batting blitz to make amends for Sunday's shock defeat, trouncing Bangladesh by 91 runs in the third and final one-day international to clinch the series 2-1 on Monday.
Opener Virender Sehwag hit an explosive 70, Rahul Dravid struck a breezy 60, Saurav Ganguly added 55 and Yuvraj Singh blasted a 32-ball 69 as the visitors racked up 348 for five.
The visiting bowlers restricted Bangladesh to 257 for nine, only Rajin Saleh putting up any resistance with a career-best 82 off 114 deliveries. Sachin Tendulkar finished with four for 54 with his occasional spin.
Tsunami may affect tour
Sri Lanka's cricket tour of New Zealand will proceed tentatively with a revised itinerary following devastating tidal waves which killed more than 6,000 people in the island nation.
The second of five limited-overs matches, scheduled to be played at Napier today, was rescheduled for Jan. 11 and the start dates of the team's two test matches in January may be pushed back by a day.
New Zealand and Sri Lanka will meet next in the scheduled third one-day match in the South Island resort of Queenstown on Sunday, New Zealand Cricket said.
The decision to proceed with the tour for the time being was made after the Sri Lankan cricket board held an emergency meeting in Colombo on Monday night. The touring players met in Napier on Monday to discuss the tour's future and manager Brendon Kuruppu held talks with New Zealand cricket officials.
"The last thing on our minds right now is cricket," Kuruppu said. "One player's relative has lost his life and so many others have no contact with their relatives. It is a very sad situation for us."
Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who was to join the touring team for test matches starting at Hamilton on Jan. 15 and Wellington on Jan. 22, may not play in the series.
Muralitharan was reported to be in the Sri Lankan coastal town of Galle when the tidal waves struck and narrowly avoided injury.
"I missed the wave by 20 minutes," Muralitharan told the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday. "I had only just left Galle so I am very lucky to be alive.
"The wave was over 6m high and it went 2km inland. A lot of our cricketers are from there and we don't know how their families are."
Kuruppu earlier said the mother of one player was among those injured. Several other players were still trying to contact members of their extended families.
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