AB de Villiers went on a six-hitting spree as South Africa moved into a dominant position on the third day of the third Test against Australia at Newlands on Saturday.
De Villiers hit 163 as South Africa reached a total of 651, a first innings lead of 442.
Australia were 102 for two at the close, still needing 340 to avoid an innings defeat. The batsmen dismissed were Phil Hughes and captain Ricky Ponting.
PHOTO: AP
In an afternoon of rapid scoring De Villiers equalled the world record when he hit four sixes off successive balls from medium-pacer Andrew McDonald. The only other players to achieve the feat were Kapil Dev for India against England in 1990 and Shahid Afridi for Pakistan against India in 2006.
The previous two scoring shots by De Villiers were also sixes, against leg-spinner Bryce McGain, who was replaced by McDonald.
De Villiers finally fell to part-time spinner Simon Katich, caught on the midwicket boundary after a 196-ball innings which included seven sixes and 12 fours.
De Villiers revealed he had been egged on by batting partner Albie Morkel to go for the world first class record of six sixes in an over but had replied: ‘We’re playing Test cricket here, Albs’.
But when a fourth delivery flew into the crowd he had decided to go for the maximum again, only to be foiled by a good yorker.
De Villiers said he had tried to score quickly off McDonald to put pressure on Ponting.
“If his containing bowler went for a few then he’d have no-one to turn to,” he said.
The South African batsman said his team were in a powerful position.
“Australia will probably bat all day tomorrow and they still won’t be in the lead,” De Villiers said.
South Africa lost three wickets during the morning and struggled against tight Australian bowling until a flurry of scoring shortly before the lunch break took the total beyond 500.
De Villiers and new cap Albie Morkel then thrashed the bowlers in a seventh wicket stand of 124 scored in 85 minutes off 120 balls. The left-handed Morkel was bowled by McDonald for 58, made off 71 balls with 10 fours and a six.
Morkel was bowled in the same over that De Villiers hit his four sixes, which he followed with a single before Morkel hit across the line and missed.
Captain Jacques Kallis failed to add to his overnight score of 102 before a lifting delivery looped off the splice of his bat to provide an easy return catch for Ben Hilfenhaus.
Mitchell Johnson then produced his best spell of the match to dismiss JP Duminy and Mark Boucher cheaply.
Johnson finished with four for 148 and Katich, introduced towards the end of the innings, took two for nine.
Katich’s figures were in stark contrast to the none for 149 off 18 overs by leg-spinner Bryce McGain, playing in his first Test.
Peter Siddle, who was Australia’s most impressive bowler despite taking only one wicket, conceding just 67 runs in 35 overs, admitted: “This time they had it over us. We’ve got to bat time, stay positive and stay patient.”
Hughes and Katich made an aggressive start to the Australian second innings, putting on 57. But Hughes was out for the second time in the match in the first over bowled by left-arm spinner Paul Harris, edging a catch to slip.
Ponting was then caught behind off Dale Steyn for 12, three balls after he survived a referral by the umpires when Harris claimed a catch at gully off the fast bowler. Replays indicated the ball bounced just short of the fielder.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS