Print

Mail

wiki links

South Africa crushes England batsmen

South African bowler Shaun Pollock, second left, celebrates with teammates Graeme Smith, second right, and Hashim Amla, right, as he dismisses England batsman Andrew Flintoff in England's second innings on the fourth day of the third Test at Newlands in Cape Town. PHOTO: EPA

South Africa completed a 196-run win over England on the fifth day of the third Test at Newlands yesterday to draw level in the five-match series.

Shaun Pollock took four for 65 and left-arm spinner Nicky Boje four for 71 as South Africa gained their first win in seven Tests. Their previous win was against New Zealand in Wellington last March.

Defeat ended a 13-match unbeaten streak by England going back to December 2003 when they were beaten by Sri Lanka in Colombo.

England's top score was made by last man Steve Harmison, who hit a career-best 42 off 42 balls before being caught at gully off Makhaya Ntini.

England resumed at 151 for five yesterday and quickly lost Graham Thorpe, the last of their top-order batsmen, for 26.

Pollock struck in the sixth over of the day. Operating with the second new ball which had been taken three overs earlier, he produced an excellent delivery which swung in to the left-hander and straightened off the pitch. AB de Villiers took a good diving catch.

England's Robert Key ducks a bouncer at Newlands in Cape Town yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Wicketkeeper Geraint Jones and spin bowler Ashley Giles defied the South African bowlers for 83 minutes, putting on 62 runs before Giles edged left-arm spinner Nicky Boje to Jacques Kallis after scoring 25.

Boje then took the wicket of Jones, who was out in the last over before lunch, superbly caught by Kallis, who had to fling himself low and to his right at slip.

South Africa struggled to take the last two wickets. While Matthew Hoggard defended grimly, making an unbeaten seven off 64 balls, Simon Jones made a breezy 19 and Harmison struck the ball with gusto to spoil the figures of both Pollock and Boje, who until then had kept a tight clamp on the batsmen.

South African bowler Nicky Boje celebrates taking a wicket yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

There was a boost for the England camp when it was announced that a scan on a side injury suffered by star all-rounder Andrew Flintoff revealed only a minor tear.

Team spokesman David Clarke said the injury, under the 12th rib, was expected to respond to treatment and that Flintoff was expected to fit to bowl in the fourth Test in Johannesburg.

Batsman Mark Butcher, who missed the current Test because of a wrist injury, was still wearing a brace to immobilize the wrist, which had not responded to treatment. Clarke said the injury would be re-assessed when the team move to Johannesburg on Sunday.

The teams move inland for the remaining two Tests, in Johannesburg and Centurion, starting on Jan. 13 and Jan. 21 respectively.

South Africa, who started the series as underdogs, owed much to Jacques Kallis, who made 149 and 66 in which only two other batsmen, South African captain Graeme Smith and Boje, made scores of more than 50.

England's batting lacked resolve against disciplined bowling, with several batsmen making reasonable starts but no one scoring more than Andrew Strauss' first innings 45. In the second innings no fewer than eight men reached 20 but the highest score was Harmison's 42.

On the fourth day on Wednesday, England, set to make a world record 501 to win, were 151 for five at the close.

England recovered from the loss of Marcus Trescothick to the second ball of the innings when only one wicket fell between lunch and tea.

Andrew Strauss, England's top scorer in the first five innings of the series, was leg before wicket to left-arm spinner Nicky Boje for 39.

Robert Key and England captain Michael Vaughan stayed together for 20 overs and were looking solid before there was a dramatic change of fortunes, with both men out in quick succession.

Key, who made 41, went down the wicket against Boje and the ball spun past his bat for wicketkeeper AB de Villiers to make an easy stumping.

In the next over umpire Daryl Harper turned down a concerted appeal after Vaughan appeared to glove a ball from Makhaya Ntini down the leg side to De Villiers.

Two balls later, though, Vaughan played a poor shot, pulling Ntini to deep square leg to be caught by Jacques Rudolph for 20.

Andrew Flintoff was out five overs before the close, caught behind off Shaun Pollock, leaving Graham Thorpe as the last specialist batsman on 22 not out.

There was concern in the England camp about an injury suffered by Flintoff while bowling.

He left the field towards the end of South Africa's second innings and was said to be suffering discomfort to his left side.

Matthew Hoggard did not bowl on Wednesday after suffering a bruised right heel when Flintoff hit a ball hard back at him in the nets before play.

Charl Langeveldt, who took five wickets for South Africa in the first innings, bowled less impressively on Wednesday.

He saw a hand specialist before play who said the broken bone in his left hand was "an uncomplicated fracture" with no displacement. A special splint will be made for the player in an effort to enable him to bat despite the injury.

Langeveldt will receive intensive treatment and according to team spokesman Gerald de Kock he is "not out of the equation" for the fourth Test starting in Johannesburg on Jan. 13.

South Africa declared their second innings on 222 for eight after a frenetic first hour of play during which they lost five wickets for 38 runs in a quest to score quickly.

After their slow progress after tea on the third day, South Africa showed attacking intent from the start of play on Wednesday.

Boeta Dippenaar was out to the second ball of the day when he was caught at midwicket off Flintoff trying to play a forcing shot.

Boje was sent in to force the pace but was soon run out for four when Vaughan hit the stumps from cover after Jacques Kallis called him for a risky single.

First innings centurion Kallis was also run out, falling for 66 when he attempted to run two after hooking Steve Harmison to deep square leg. Ashley Giles threw in to wicketkeeper Geraint Jones who flicked the ball into the stumps.

Hashim Amla and De Villiers were out to ambitious shots before captain Graeme Smith declared when the lead reached 500.

The highest winning fourth innings total at Newlands is 330 for five by Australia against South Africa three seasons ago.

With a minimum of 167 overs remaining in the match, England made a disastrous start to their second innings when Trescothick pushed at Pollock's second ball and the ball looped off a leading edge to Amla at silly mid-off.

Strauss and Key batted solidly for most of the afternoon before Strauss was trapped in front of his stumps.

Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe

Habibul Bashar slammed a solid 94 as Bangladesh survived a minor scare to reach 280-4 at stumps on the opening day of the first Test against Zimbabwe yesterday.

Bangladesh, seeking their first win since gaining Test status in 2000, had slipped from 91 for no loss to 153-3 before Bashar bolstered the innings with a 119-run stand for the fourth wicket with Rajin Saleh (60 not out).

Fast bowler Mluleki Nkala led a brief Zimbabwean recovery with two wickets in the afternoon session, but Bangladesh's skipper Bashar soon restored the balance with his impressive knock in a clash between the Test minnows.

Bashar looked set to complete his fourth Test hundred when he edged debutant seamer Christopher Mpofu to be caught by wicket-keeper Tatenda Taibu, who dived to his right to bring off a low catch.

Bashar made the most of an inexperienced Zimbabwean attack as he hit 14 fours in his 128-ball knock, while Saleh struck one six and seven fours in his third Test half-century.

The hosts got off to a solid start after winning the toss on a slow pitch as Nafis Iqbal (56) and Javed Omar (33) put on 91.

Their stand was Bangladesh's best for the opening wicket in 35 Tests, surpassing the previous highest of 73 between Al Sahariar and Omar against the same opponents at the same venue in 2001.
This story has been viewed 2319 times.