3rd Test: South Africa v West Indies at Durban

Durban - When he finally arrived in the country almost two months ago West Indies captain Brian Lara told South Africa he was sorry for delaying the start of the tour.Ê Perhaps he should now issue a second apology yesterday for yet another sub-standard batting performance: this one at Kingsmead on the opening day of the third Test.

Not even the lower fourths at St Bumbles could have pieced together a worse excuse for a batting display than this motley crew, now masquerading as the alleged third best Test side in the world. After all a first innings total of 198 on a pitch which is worth more than double that.

At the close South Africa's first innings reply ofÊ 46 without losing a wicket was not without some drama as Gary Kirsten was dropped by 19-year-old Test debutant Darren Ganga in the gully. Yet as the floodlights went on mid-afternoon it was at about the time when the lights went out in the Caribbean dressingroom as they fell apart in typical collapso fashion: five wickets crashing for only 20 runs in a matter of only 46 balls as Hansie Cronje enjoyed his best return of three for 18.

It was yet another slippery slide into the sort of ignominy which would find even the usually muddled Mad Hatter battling to describe the events ofÊ the debacle to Alice. After all we still have had Lara's chapter and verse of ``We must dig deep and come back . . .'' from Port Elizabeth still on tape to remember. But the batting trademark of the top-order remains the same. Flat-footed wind up drives which wound up with the ball being gobbled up in the cordon of slips and wicketkeeper.

Perhaps he should have tapped into Malcolm Marshall's thoughts and listened to what the former West Indies fast bowler thought. It is a pity that he is not a heavy weight boxer: a few right hooks might have sorted out the technique in unique fashion.ÊÊÊ

Even Lara's technique seemed to have found a few extra gaps in the A, B and C book ofÊ organised batting skills, despite putting together a top-score of 51 with a six off David Terbrugge which, in a sense, led to his undoing. In the Gauteng bowler's next over he attempted to play the same stoke only to top-edge a catch Cronje.

It was a foolish attempt to plant a second six, this oneÊ over mid-wicket, but his over-eagerness to hit some of the stuffing out of the South African attack. At one stage he rode his luck and batted with selective aggression. He smacked Allan Donald around a bit but laboured to get after Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis.

Whether Lara would have sent South Africa in to bat is another matter. Cronje did and back his bowlers and the knowledge that the Windies are down and out on this tour. Marshall, the West Indies coach, agreed with Cronje's decision to send in the tourists. But then he would: he has quite enough knowledge of Kingsmead's conditions.

It could be the bounce of the pitch, along with the overcast conditions which enticed Cronje to make a decision which, at 50 without loss into the 19th over, was causing a few frowns in the South African dressing room. Then Jacques Kallis, now better than Eddie Barlow as the man to dismantle partnerships, who had Philo Wallace wrecking all the hard work. And when he upended Shivnarine Chanderpaul, in spectacular fashion after scoring a century only a week ago, the seeds of a top-order failure had been well sewn by the 23-year-old all-rounder.

Kallis' third wicket, Carl Hooper, was another batting misdemeanor which defies logic. At least Gary Kirsten, who was undefeated on 15 at the close, could smile at the two landmarks posted yesterday. The first was helping Herschelle Gibbs, not out on 26 to a first wicket record partnership against the West Indies: if 14 can be constituted as a record; and he became only the third South African batsman to score 3 000 Test runs - after Bruce Mitchell and Hansie Cronje.

Day 2: Rhodes adds life to Kingsmead drama

Durban - For some one who barely a year ago was written off as a has-been at test level Jonty Rhodes has found a remarkable abilty to thumb his nose at his detractors in the nicest possible way in this series against the West Indies.

A century at Lord's earlier this year is the first of several rescue acts during a period of seven months which has seen the 29-year-old establish himself as the permanent No 6 in the South African side and how they were in need of his guiding hand at Kingsmead yesterday.

Although South Africa are well placed to take 3-0 lead in the five match series, it is not quite as easy as it appears with bad light and a batting surface which demands care and attention adding to the tension of the second day's play.

With a series top-score of 85 not out and a career best at test level at Kingsmead yesterday he helped South Africa to a first innings total of 292 for eight at the close and a lead of 94 at the end of day two of a series which has limped along as well as stealing some of the glamour from Franklyn Rose's superb bowling effort which earned him six for 75 in what has been one of the tougher day's play in this five match series.

For the tourists Rose's efforts has given them some hope of a way back in a match their batsmen abjectly surrendered on the first day with display that was so desperate as to be laughable. It could be summed up through the way Curtley Ambrose was run out by Rhodes. A jerky, clockwork style stroll down the pitch by the lanky Antiguan saw him giving up once he saw Rhodes swoop into action and before his accurate throw flatten the stumps.

Not that Rose is a new boy on the West Indies block. He picked up a six for 100 against India on his debut at Sabina Park in Jamaica two summers ago when barely 23.

As for Rhodes he arrived with South Africa at 140 for four after Cronje had been bowled by Courtney Walsh for 30 which terminated a partnership of 60 with Daryll Cullinan. And it needed some steady batting from the Pietermaritzburg-schooled local hero who has rescued South Africa before in this series with an innings of subtstance at St George's Park.

As he later admitted his extra net sessions yesterday and today were part of the plan to get his timing working on what he knew would be a difficult pitch. The first was after the Windies had collapsed from 178 for five to 198 - five wickets falling for 20 runs during a period when 46 balls were bowled: a mid-summer touch of madness after Darren Ganga was removed by Shaun Pollock for 28. Ganga, making his debut at the age of 19, seemed to attemp to take over from Brian Lara's slap-dash efforts on Saturday. Rhodes knows the Kingsmead pitch well enough and felt the practice on Saturday and again during lunch yesterday when Cronje and Cullinan were still batting was ``all part of the plan to bat as long as possible on a pitch which is far from easy to bat on''.

He hit some fine drives off the front foot and the sweep with which he reached his half century was part of the comedy of errors which has smudged Ambrose's record this match. The ball was whipped backward of square of the leg-spinner Rawl Lewis, and as he bent down to stop the ball it went through the gangling fast bowler's legs into the fence, much to the delight of large holiday crowd and the chagrin of Lara and Ambrose's West Indies teammates.

Frankly Lewis did not at all look to be part in conditions which Shane Warne would have thrived and the West Indian bowler's figures of none for 70 in 20 overs tells a story of terror. It was while Rawle was bowling with Hooper and Ambrose that the run rate rattled along. No mistaking Rhodes' part in all this, however: his 50 off 81 balls which included two sixes off Ambrose tells the story of how a wiry Natal battering ram slammed the Windies bowling into near submission.

South Africa, with Rhodes and Pollock in charge, were looking to build a substantial first innings lead, faced the Rose-Walsh assault with the new ball and only two slips in place with Pollock facing the swing bowler. The third ball Pollock straight drove for four which gave notice that anything too full was going to end up in more runs than the West Indies can afford to give away.

When Pollock finally departed to what was possibly the best slip catch so far this series by Carl Hooper, South Africa had built a tidy lead, but not one which was not as commanding as to place pressure on the tourists. Mark Boucher came and went to delivery which rocked back his off stump and give the swing bowler his fifth. Just how Boucher manages to command a place in the order ahead of Pat Symcox is one of those mysteries which only Cronje can answer yet no one seems to bother.

All the time he has been batting in this match Rhodes has been in command and when he plays a false shot he steps away from the crease and calms himself. Just the sort of player South Africa needs in a crisis.

Not that it needed much to surpass anything the West Indies managed to put together on Saturday. The tourists made four changes - three designed to strengthen the batting, but which generally failed. Lara may have scored 51 but there was no sense of permanency about his innings and he fell into a trap of his, and Cronje's making with David Terbrugge the recipient of a well-taken catch.

More: Jonty plans his innings

Durban - Jonty Rhodes, South Africa's second day batting hero of the third test at Kingsmead had no plan in mind when he launched his attack on the gangling feared West Indies fast bowler Curtley Ambrose yesterday. He pulled the tall Antiguan square for two sixes bedfore he reached his 50 - the second a deft flick which seemed to take the stuffing out of the West Indies fast bowler, who delivered a 10-ball over at one stage which raised the spectre of his horrendous spell at Adelaide in Australia three seasons ago.

Yet the 29-year-old Rhodes admitted that watching Allan Donald and Pat Symcox ``guts it out with tenacious courage'' at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth had acted as ``a motivation cause'' after he played what he described as a ``flashy innings'' and was then criticised for his effort. ``It is something you learn and I know that Brian Lara (the West Indies captain) had jokingly criticised me for having too many net sessions, but when you are as limited as I am you need to have as much practice as possible,'' he said.

Rhodes also felt umpies David Orchard and Russell Tiffin, from Zimbabwe, made the right decision, to take the players off as ``artificial light such as this is not all that easy in which to bat''.

He pointed out that Shaun Pollock had lost his wicket to a particularly good ball from Franklyn Rose and he had received a similar delivery a short while later.

But of his assault on Ambrose he said that the West Indies duo of Ambrose and Courtney Walsh did not give the batsmen too many chances when they bowled in tandem and the short ball was easier to play than the fuller delivery.

``They are the sort of bowlers who don't give you many half volleys and I think that Curtly (Ambrose) lost his length a little when he bowled that 10-ball over. You don't get that too often.''

He was also full of praise for the Jamaican Rose, whose six for 75 is a career best at this stage of his career. He pitched the ball up and moved it away : the Fanie de Villiers theory working at its best; they were also a Christmas gift to his mother, with Rhodes and De Villiers commenting on his accuracy during his four spells, which included starting the day and taking the new ball ahead of Ambrose.

Day 3: Third day drama mars Third Test

DURBAN - Hansie Cronje did his best to squash the growing controversy which should see South Africa take a 3-0 lead in the first test series against the West Indies today, but Kingsmead was still dripping with drama after a dismissal which might have turned the third match of the series.

As the South African captain and Clive Lloyd, the West Indies manager, tried to take the heat out of the episode in which Mark Boucher was the focus of doubtful catch decision, there was muted criticism from West Indian supporters after viewing replays of Boucher's ``catch'' which dismissed Carl Hooper.

On a day when the test series finally came alive with a West Indies fight back through some superb batting from Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the South African wicketkeeper's credibility was being questioned after the giant screen in the ground showed there was serious doubt whether the catch which sent Carl Hooper back to the pavilion was fair.

Hooper's ``dismissal'' for two was the third wicket to fall during a spell when the West Indies lost five wickets for only 13 runs during a period when 46 balls were bowled and the bottom fell out of the innings. In the end it saw the West Indies limped on 246 for eight, a lead of 132, and the much-needed 200 lead which loomed at one stage fast disappearing.

Boucher's misdemanour on the big screen is not the first time he has claimed a wicket with the dismissal in some doubt. The wicketkeeper rolled over after taking the catch and Hooper, according to Lloyd, ``walked'' although it was also claimed that Dave Orchard, the umpire nodded his assent that the catch had been taken.

Although in Lloyd 's opinion while the technology is there to be used, it did not mean the decision over Hooper's decision was neither right nor wrong but a matter for judgement.

Boucher's catch and the way he charged up to the stumps to ``run out'' Franklyn Rose who had been bulked after a collision with Jacques Kallis indicates a lack of knowledge of the laws.

It also brought controversy to a game which, from the time Lara joined Chanderpaul with the score 41 for two, saw some of the most commanding batting in the series. Neither batsman showed that they were under pressure and gave spine to a performance where as in the past it had lacked substance and character.

While Lara displayed rich strokeplay with some glorious driving, especially square of the wicket and through the covers, Chanderpaul's technique was one of sublime skill as he cut and drove with purpose and beat his captain to reach 50.

He glanced Shaun Pollock for four, the ninth of his innings, and played much in the way those who remember Rohan Kanhai, batted: feet well positioned, hands moving in unison and often using the widt the bowlers gave him to score his runs.

Lara's 50 came through a well executed and well placed cover drive off Pat Symcox's bowling. In fact both batsmen took on the abrasive Symmo who was under threat of being reprimanded under the ICC code of behaviour for bringing the game into disrepute.

Lara and Chanderpaul took the Windies to tea with the score at 193 for two and a lead of 79.

Just as they were re-establishing their partnership a brilliant catch at square leg by Herschelle Gibbs ended the South African nightmare and started the Windies descent into yet another callapso patter. Although Hooper's questionable dismissal raised the ire of the Windies fans, the question of whether it indeed has cost the tourists any chance of winning the game will always remain unanswered.

But a solid display from the vice-captain might have changed the course of the game.

Gibbs second brilliant catch of the afternoon sealed the tourists hopes when he dived at square leg to get rid of Darren Ganga for five.

Day 4: Record looms for Pollock

DURBAN - There are two tests still to run in this series against the West Indies and already Shaun Pollock is capable of adding a second record to his growing list of test achievements as the fourth match looms at Newlands in Cape Town and starting on Saturday.

This time he did not collect the man of the match award, this went to Jonty Rhodes, as South Africa cruised to a nine wicket victory in the third test at Kingsmead early on the fourth afternoon of the third test to give Hansie Cronje's side an impressive 3-0 lead in the five match series.

But Pollock's third five wicket haul this series has taken his wicket tally to 22 which is now 16 wickets shy of beating Hugh Tayfield's record haul of 37, bagged against England in 1956/57. It still needs a lot of hard work if he hopes to achieve that particular goal, although he added only one wicket to his tally yesterday when he dismissed Curtly Ambrose for five as the tourists did their best to extend their lead.

And the six wickets in this match has taken his overall total to 113 in 28 tests and is now only the wickets short of surpassing his father's total of wickets in what was a career spanning eight years and 28 tests, which will be one less than his youngest son has managed since making his debut against England at SuperSport Centurion four summers ago.

After Rhodes fine innings of 87 ended on Monday morning and enabled South Africa to stretch their lead to 114, it needed someone like Pollock to go out and wrap up the test. There were a few hiccups though. As his father, Peter, convener of the national selectors pointed out, the South Africans were not at all impressed with the way the had played when bowling in the morning session.

``They were not impressed with their efforts and reprimanded themselves for the way the had bowled and fielded,'' Pollock (snr) said.

Which says much for the way Pollock (jnr) and Cronje pulled things together, especially during the batting fireworks provided by Messrs Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul who added 160 in a partnership of such quality it was a shame to have it curtailed by that jack in the box Herschelle Gibbs.

It was left until yesterday, however, before the younger Pollock had his name engraved for the second time on the honours roll at Kingsmead. Which is one better than his dad did, not that it bothers the older Pollock. His was against John Reid's Kiwis in 1961/62 while Polly (jnr) managed to do it twice in a year: six for 50 against Pakistan back in March to be joined by his five for 85 against the West Indies.

Yesterday, however, belong to Gibbs, the young man who takes drink likely to give most people a kick in the pants. Known as ``Scooter'' to his teammates, Gibbs put his foot flat on his moped as he went on to score a stylish 49 in a partnership of 97 which ended whatever faint sniff the Windies had of pulling one back.

With Gary Kirsten scoring a steady, yet fluent 71, the South Africans had little trouble in knocking off the runs needed to win the game in the 49th over.