Print

Mail

wiki links

Hoggard cuts through SA lineup

England's Matthew Hoggard, man of the match, holds the trophy after winning against South Africa on the last day of the fourth five-day Test in Johannesburg on Monday. PHOTO: AFP

Matthew Hoggard produced the performance of his life as England snatched a 77-run win on the fifth and final afternoon of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Monday.

Hoggard took the first six wickets and then dismissed last man Dale Steyn to finish with career-best figures of seven for 61 and win the plaudits of his captain, Michael Vaughan, and his vanquished South African opponents.

"It was a great effort," Vaughan said. "He has bowled well throughout the series. He keeps running in. To bowl South Africa out in two sessions was very special."

South African captain Graeme Smith said Hoggard had bowled "superbly," while South African coach Ray Jennings said the Yorkshire opening bowler had bowled well throughout the series.

"He puts a lot of passion and energy into his bowling and his first two spells today were crucial," he said.

Vaughan had set South Africa to make 325 off 68 overs and they needed all but 8.3 of them to achieve a victory which puts them 2-1 up in the series with one match to play. Only Herschelle Gibbs, who followed up his first innings 161 with a high-quality 98, resisted the Hoggard blitz of the top order.

But there was some late defiance. Smith, advised by a doctor not to bat after suffering concussion in a fielding accident before play on Sunday, batted at number eight and made 67 not out, with the last two batsmen, Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn, both surviving for more than half an hour to take the game down to the last few overs.

Hoggard had match figures of 12 for 205. It was the first time in his career he had taken 10 or more wickets in a match.

"We put a lot of pressure on the South African batsmen. I was able to put the ball in the right places today," he said.

Hoggard, 28, made the ball swing sharply away from the right-handed batsmen and his haul of wickets included the first-ball dismissal of star batsman Jacques Kallis, who was caught at first slip.

Long one of the workhorses in the England team, it was a rare moment in the spotlight for the blond Yorkshireman. But he said he was happy for players like Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison to grab the headlines.

Smith, who said he would definitely play in the final Test starting at Centurion on Friday despite his injury, criticised his team's batsmen.

"We had to bat out two sessions and we didn't do it very well. There was not enough hardness in the middle order. When you see how close we got at the end it is very disappointing. The middle order need to take a hard look at themselves. When the pressure is on is when we need characters to come through," he said.

Opening batsman Marcus Trescothick hit a magnificent 180 off 248 balls as England made 332 for nine declared in their second innings.

Trescothick's innings included 24 fours and eight sixes. With a declaration imminent, Trescothick thrashed his last 52 runs off 35 balls in a ninth wicket partnership of 58 with Harmison, who contributed just three to the stand.

Hoggard, who took five for 144 in the first innings, made his first breakthrough when he had stand-in opening batsman AB de Villiers leg before with the first ball of his third over. Then he took two wickets with successive balls at the start of his fifth over, bowling Jacques Rudolph with a delivery which swung into the left-hander and having Kallis caught at first slip.

Gibbs, meanwhile, timed the ball well and hit 19 fours in a composed 132-ball innings.

He seemed set to become the fourth South African to score two centuries in a Test but he was given out by umpire Aleem Dar when he stretched well forward to a ball from Giles which straightened and hit him on the front pad.

When Gibbs was on 63 he became the third South African, after Gary Kirsten and Kallis, to score 5000 runs in Tests.

Bangladesh wins first series

Bangladesh won their first test series on Tuesday when the second match against Zimbabwe petered out to a tame draw.

Set 378 to win, Bangladesh resumed on 98 for no wicket but never realistically chased the target and finished on 285 for five with Nafis Iqbal scoring 121, his maiden Test century.

Rajin Saleh finished on 56 not out while Khaled Mashud was on 28 to ensure the hosts won their first series since being granted Test status in 2000.

Bangladesh won the first Test in Chittagong by 226 runs, their first test victory in 35 matches.

Tri-nation series

Pakistan are pinning their hopes partly on winning the toss when they take on the West Indies in their tri-series limited-overs cricket match at Brisbane's Gabba ground today.

Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq wants to bowl first so that pacemen Shoaib Akhtar, who has disappointed for much of the Australian tour, can make the most of the local conditions and put the West Indies on the back foot early on.

The match will start at 9am and the forecast is for overcast and humid conditions -- ideal for fast bowlers working with a new ball.

"The early start at nine o'clock ... any team would take the advantage and bowl first because I think there will be some moisture and it's a 20 percent or 25 percent help if you win the toss," Inzamam said.

Both Pakistan and the West Indies lost their opening matches against Australia, even though Inzamam recovered some of the form which has deserted him on this tour with a run-a-ball 68 against the hosts in Hobart on Sunday.

Today's clash could prove crucial in determining which of the two makes the best-of-three finals play-offs.

Shoaib, Pakistan's trump card, has done little on tour since bagging five first-innings wickets in each of the Test losses to Australia in Perth and Melbourne.

His commitment has been questioned and his lengthy run-up criticized as the reason for his team's slow over-rate. He was belted for 54 runs off eight fruitless overs by the Australians in Hobart.

Pakistan are set to stick with the same 12 which lost by four wickets to Australia on Sunday but Inzamam hinted the top order was in for an overhaul.
This story has been viewed 1872 times.