Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla hit centuries as they took South Africa towards an indomitable position on the third day of the first Test against New Zealand at the Wanderers Stadium yesterday.
South Africa were 287 for two in their second innings at lunch, an overall lead of 395.
Kallis was unbeaten on 151 and Amla had made 108. They had shared a partnership of 267, a South African third wicket record against New Zealand.
When he was on 120 Kallis became the eighth batsman in Test history to score 9,000 runs. It was his 28th Test century, putting him in sixth place on the all-time list.
It was a demoralizing morning for New Zealand, who were again without former captain Stephen Fleming, who did not take the field at the start of the innings because of a badly bruised right forearm.
Daniel Vettori, Fleming's successor, rotated his bowlers without achieving a breakthrough. He had the frustration of having Kallis dropped at mid-off on 108 by substitute fielder Michael Mason.
Amla was the first to a century, his second in Tests, when he glanced Chris Martin to the fine leg boundary. He made his hundred off 211 balls with 16 fours.
Kallis followed in spectacular style when he pulled a rare short ball from Vettori for six. He had faced 166 balls and hit 14 fours and a six. In the next over he hooked Jacob Oram for another six.
Kallis continued to attack, racing ahead of Amla as he made his third fifty off just 52 balls with seven fours and a six.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barça secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barça a 2-0 win over
RSS