West Indies v South Africa (5th Test)

IN CENTURION

South Africa's ability to find the locksmiths to pick the right lock and effect a jailbreak was highlighted yet again yesterday when lower-order bravado mixed with top-order common sense to help post a competitive first innings total.

On what has been one of the better days of this test series sunbathed Centurion Park played host to moments of drama as well as batting commitment from South Africa and bowling passion by the West Indies, with South Africa ending ahead on points on the first day of this final test at 311 for nine.

Although Mark Boucher's gutsy maiden test century had much to do with a lower-order rescue act, the credit for South Africa's position of strength rests with his roommate Jacques Kallis whose batting skills and temperament overrode whatever the West Indies attempted to do to upset his concentration levels.

Then again, Courtney Walsh, after missing the Newlands test through injury, put together the sort of inspiration which had the Windies bowlers looking meaner, aggressive and more hungry to take wickets. His 16th five wicket haul saw him move to within four wickets of 400 in a career and his first spell helped him give the West Indies the edge they needed.

Aiming while for a 5-0 whitewash may be Hansie Cronje's dream, at 123 for six in the 33rd over of the innings and Brian Lara's decision to send South Africa in to bat reaping handsome reward for the tourists, a 300 plus first innings total looked to be more than a bridge too far. But first up stepped the reliable Kallis, joined later by young Boucher and they relaid the foundation of an innings which had started crumbling from the first over of the day.

From his advantage point at the other end of the pitch Kallis watched a procession of partners, although Cronje's innings of 25 arrested the slide into chaos.

Gary Kirsten, Daryll Cullinan and Jonty Rhodes will not look back on their efforts with the sort of memories unlikely to raise a smile in the dressingroom and as much as he was assertive, Cronje's error proved to be just as costly. But building a match-winning total requires partnerships and until Boucher joined Kallis when Shaun Pollock departed there was little likelihood of such a possibility.

At the time Kallis was doing his bit to tape the innings together and 38 out of 123 does not seem the sort of solid raft on which to cling for survival as the wave of pace bowling and a lively pitch threatened to swamp the South African effort. Kallis has done it before: all he needed yesterday was a partner and when Boucher arrived, it was not all slap-dash. You could see Kallis talking to his roommate and together patch up the foundations on strokeplay of quality and sensibility.

Yet again Kallis displayed the sort of class and talent which has established him as the best batsman in South Africa. There was class in all his strokes; cover drives, pulls and a hook for six which underlined his ability to withstand pressure and haul South Africa out if trouble. There was a neat clip off his toes which saw a Mervyn Dillon delivery race for one of his seven boundaries.

And went to his half-century with a well-placed pull off that giant of a warhorse Walsh. There had been only 22 scoring strokes up to that stage of his innings as he rotated the strike with his younger partner picking up singles and twos to keep the scoreboard moving.

It says much for Boucher's ability to take over the role of the innings main supplier of runs, steady himself and allow the bravado to take root later. So, while Lance Klusener propped up one end Boucher took on the Windies bowling. Nixon McLean and Dillon did what they could to unsettle him, but as they discovered it is unwise to bowl short to the stocky yet talented young East London.

What could be interesting today is how the South African attack handle the conditions. Lance Klusener was brought into the side at the expense of David Terbrugge who is carrying an ankle injury picked up last weekend in a SuperSport Series match for Gauteng against Border in East London.

As for the West Indies there was the predictable - Reon King earning a first cap - and the unpredictable with Mervyn Dillon in for Curtly Ambrose while Floyd Riefer was a late inclusion for Stuart Williams.

Day 2: Lightning strikes for Donald

CENTURION (South Africa) - If Allan Donald had turned his talents to the culinary variety this West Indies tour chances are he would serve up grilled Bajan duck, turned nicely, too, to his hungry guests.

Just the sort of meal for South Africans to feast on as the fast bowler turned chef struck three times in nine balls to rout the Windies lower order after another feeble batting display against some shock bowling strategy designed in the dressing room and tactically perfected in the middle with Donald as the main agent of destruction.

All part of a match plan to sew destruction in the West Indies batting ranks after lunch on yet another dramatic day's play. And coming as it did after a heated duel in the sun between Donald and West Indies captain Brian Lara it added spice to an afternoon's entertainment. As the words flew around when Lara plastered Donald's bowling around a sunbathed, sunbaked SuperSport Centurion in before lunch, the West Indies, or that should read Lara, were back in control of the match.

It was the sort of batting which was as devastating was it was threatening on a pitch where bounce over the wicket was not as difficult as when bowling around the wicket. The strokeplay was simply explosive, the half-century off only 38 balls with 12 fours as Lara took on the South African fast bowler. A glance at the left hander's wagon wheel showed how effective he was between point and mid-off as much as through the mid-wicket and backward of square areas.

Trying to shut down this form of batting is not easy. We saw it in Durban when Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul put together a partnership of 160 and they plundered the bowling with the sort of gusto which was as impressive as it was entertaining. There were times today when Lara's batting seemed to act as a soothing agent after the top-order had again failed and the good ship Caribbean was listing heavily at five for two - Darren Ganga going for a duck in his new role as opener and Philo Wallace departing for four, the first of Donald's five wickets during his 13 overs.

While Ganga stranded himself in no-man's land and edged Shaun Pollock in to the waiting hands of Jacques Kallis in the slips, Wallace dragged the ball into the stumps: committing the error all too often perpetrated by Gary Kirsten.

Sure there were some harsh words said between Donald and Lara, the West Indies captain and the umpire, Rudi Koertzen stepped in with Srinivas Venkataraghavan to curb the flow of vitriol, which Donald later admitted was ``all part of the game'' and the Warwickshire teammates (but not in the same season).

``You play the game hard, you play the game aggressive, but that's how it goes and you have a drink or two after the day's play,'' Donald admitted with the sort of grin which would have done Frankenstein proud. ``He did mention to me 's a tough game': we all know that, and he knew from where I was coming. But he's a good competitor and played some nice shots before lunch.''

Perhaps Donald did bowl one over too many and get a bit excited the way Lara was batting and went for five runs an over with seven fours being hit off his bowling six by Lara. It was magic batting and Donald, who had every right to be aggrieved, admitted to enjoying the battle of wits.

Donald said a lot more of the same about the contest between the two which enlivened the game. After lunch there was a different tactic: Donald bowling around the wicket with a man back and Lara eliminating the hook from his repertoire.

After lunch it was Donald, however, who turned up the heat. There was a particularly hostile over before he followed the words of coach Bob Woolmer, who had been the Warwickshire coach when Lara played for the county and Donald was in England with the South African side. Bowling around the wicked enabled him to get more bounce out of the pitch and move the ball into the left-hander's ribs.

In the 35th over Donald whipped one in which climbed steeply and instead of Lara taking evasive action and ducking out of the road he spooned a catch to Kallis at backward square. All part of the tactics.

From that point, at 102 for three the innings disinter grated through a succession of poor batting and quality bowling. Donald, after spells from Lance Klusener and Jacques Kallis, ripped through the bottom order as the Calypso Collapso theme, so often the discordant note of this first Test tour, beat their regular tune of inconsistency. And Donald's second five-wicket haul of this series entrench his position as the world No1 as well as take his 17th five-wicket haul despite a slight hamstring niggle.

And as the oculists batting plunged from a position of confidence at 102 for two after lunch to 144, the 5-0 whitewash loomed ominously and the Trinidad section of the crowd cried in anguish as they looked on at a distasteful display of batting technique, flawed and totally lacking in confidence.

With a handy lead of 169, South Africa then plundered a further 100 runs for the loss of Herschelle Gibbs' wicket at the close to stretch their overall lead to 269. At least we saw Gibbs finally put together his first half-century of the series in the last innings and then getting out the following delivery.

There was also a melancholy end to the day's play for the tourists when Courtney Walsh limped off after three balls of the day remaining and the knee which has troubled him on occasions seemed to have cried ``enough of this'' and forced him to reluctantly retire for the rest of the game.

Day 3: Cronje out to crush Windies spirit

Trevor Chesterfield In Centurion

Hansie Cronje has a lot more on his mind than a historic 5-0 whitewash of the West Indies as the final test moves into the fourth day at Centurion Park today. The idea emerged that he also has in mind a 7-0 drubbing of the tourists to set up a an incredible double.

No side has gone on to win a test series 5-0 and then wipe out their opponents in a limited-overs series. Which is what the carefully calculating Cronje has in mind: a mouth-watering desert to be wrung out of the slog circus which starts on Friday.

As Brian Lara's side was beaten to a psychological pulp in searing heat yesterday and they were set what is an unatainable 569 runs for victory, Cronje reflected how important it was to establish superiority over any side and how to win and set up a 5-0 triumph the South African side has to ``still bowl well'' to win the match.

Only two sides, India and Australia have surmounted a 400-plus runs target to win; India did it against West Indies in Port of Spain in 1975/76, scoring the runs and losing only four wickets in the process. But if statistics prove anything, South Africa's second innings of 399 for five, declared further established South Africa's credentials next to Australia as the second top test nation in the game today.

A record crowd of 17 500, baking in the sun, watched the once mighty Windies resemble a side whose record on this tour would even find it hard for Lara to sell a bat used in this series to a pawn shop for some souviner hunter. But that is the way the series has gone. It has the all the markings of Sir Donald Bradman's attitude against England in 1946/47 when he ground England into the Australian turf and added a solid bit of boot leather as well.

This West Indies side have managed only once to bat through a day and that was in the first test at the Wanderers. Since then they have battled to take a game into the fifth day. They managed it at Newlands through some remarkable lower-order heroics led by Ridley Jacobs.

While Lara led the attack on Saturday in a remarkable display of batting which gave the West Indies some hope of showing a competitive streak. It was a rare duel in the sun between Allan Donald and Lara and added spice to a boiling afternoon. as the words flew around when Lara plastered Donald's bowling around a sunbathed colourful test venue, Lara was in control of the match. It was the sort of batting which was as devastating was it was threatening on a pitch where bounce over the wicket was not as difficult as when bowling around the wicket. The strokeplay was simply explosive, the half-century off only 38 balls with 12 fours as Lara took on the South African fast bowler.

A glance at the left hander's wagon wheel showed how effective he was between point and mid-off as much as through the mid-wicket and backward of square areas.

Lara is still to bat in this second innings, but the grave has already been dug in a way which displayed the sort of machine-like precision South Africa have shown this series against a side which has no character and disappointed leadership on the field.

Milestones tumbled yesterday. Jacques Kallis, now looming as the man of theseries, scored 485 runs and with 15 wickets, and an innings left in which to bowl today, has lifted himself into the realms of top all-rounders, and only the second South African to find his name in a list of great names which includes only one South African in Aubrey Faulkner back in 1909/10 in Australia.

Yesterday the Windies bowlers were inclined to bowl too short and paid the penalty, especially when bowling to Cronje and Jonty Rhodes. And how Rhodes enjoyed it. His third century and his first in South Africa was a remarkable piece of footwork and ball placement. But as he said, it was the sort of innings he enjoys playing. There was a theory that Cronje delayed his declaration to save Donald's niggling hamstring injury, a factor which might see him rested for the one-day series. But Cronje rejected the idea although Donald bowled on two overs yesterday after getting rid of Philo Wallace for four and breach the Windies order.

Where as Rhodes, Cronje and Gary Kirsten made use of the good batting conditions, the West Indies have battled to make an impression.

Day 4: Lara sees more trouble ahead

CENTURION (South Africa) - if you are one of those who subscribe to the Collapso Calypso theory of what went wrong with the West Indies Test series in South Africa, listening to Brian Lara paint a grim picture added to the misery of the 5-0 whitewash was part of the painful exercise Neatly executed at SuperSport Centurion on the fourth day of the final Test, the Windies crumbled through a mixture of poor strokeplay and a lack of batting basics which must have made manager Clive Lloyd and coach Malcolm Marshall wonder about what happened to a myth called West Indies flair.

Defeat by 351 runs was not so much crushing as it was humiliation. Little wonder there was some booing from one section of the crowd of patriotic Caribbean islanders who left the ground as humiliated and confused as had been the West Indies batting throughout the series.

What was no doubt bothering them was the tour of Australia starting later next month. Another tough, non-compromising foe who would like to repeat what South Africa achieved.

The after lunch twin thrust by Paul Adams, who trapped Lara lbw and Lance Klusener who found Carl Hooper in front without adding to his lunch score of 10, said it all: two prized wickets of a side which had seemingly lost the will to fight until Ridley Jacobs arrived to add his swashbuckling touch. Tears by Windies supporters from a variety of islands told of their grief. They had come to South Africa hoping so much and left with a bruised pride.

Not that the West Indians were alone lacking in batting exercise: until the fourth Test and the heat if not pressure was off did South Africa find anyone capable of sticking around long enough to score a century. The Windies failed to provide one, which is a black mark against the school of thought which had claimed a dash of spiced rum mixed with natural batting flair was enough.

If 31-year-old Ridley Jacobs, making his debut, is the best they have in terms of new talent this summer it says nothing at all for a first-class system once help up as one of the three pillars of modern batting technique. Hansie Cronje yesterday became one of six captains to lead a side in a 5-0 series whitewash. Although South Africa duly wrapped up the series half an hour of tea yesterday, Cronje was as cautious about the limited-overs series as he had been about winning the Test series. He dismissed suggestions the Standard Bank series would result in stringing together a succession of easy wins.

``All it needs is for one player in any match to pull together a good performance for your game plan to go awry,'' he said after Jacques Kallis was named as South Africa's man of the match for the series, elbowing aside Shaun Pollock.

``Test matches are much harder. They are over five days (normally) and it requires a lot of team work and playing together as a unit. But one -day matches are very different. All it needs is for one player to make an outstanding contribution and you are in trouble,'' he commented.

Cronje still has a lot of respect for the West Indies side, despite their abysmal performance this series with only 21 days play squeezed out of a possible 25; two matches ended in four days, the second test was over in three and only at the Wanderers (affected by the weather) and Cape Town went to five.

Cronje felt the timing of his declaration an hour after tea on Sunday was the right one although Jonty Rhodes had scored a quick century which perhaps delayed the closure by a few minutes.

``We wanted to leave ourselves with enough time to bowl them out in the second innings,'' Cronje said. ``I did not want the problem of Old Trafford again and with Brian (Lara) still to bat, you cannot be sure of how things are going to turn out,'' he added.

Perhaps it was a cautious approach as Cronje gave his bowlers, minus Allan Donald yesterday, 180 overs to dismiss the Windies. They needed only 75.2 overs before they were dismissed for 217 and South Africa inflicting the second heaviest defeat on the tourists in a test and the second biggest victory in terms of runs, beaten only by the win over England at Lords in 1994.

Had it not been for their man of the series, Jacobs, who top-scored with 78 off 92 balls, the tourists plight would have been even more embarrassing to watch.

Kallis who picked up Jacobs wicket to take his haul of the series to 17, and along with his 485 runs at 69.29, he was ahead of Pollock who picked up 29 wickets in the series.

Lara partially admitted after the heavy defeat that his side was divided and The Management needed to take a hard look at the game in the West Indies if they were to recover.

``We have been in decline for some time and this the culmination of that decline,'' he said, admitting the team's top batsmen had not performed, and this included himself.

For the South African players the 5-0 win means the side earns R750 000 (about US$122,000) with bonuses for wins by four wickets at the Wanderers, 178 runs at Port Elizabeth, nine wickets at Kingsmead and by 149 runs at Newlands in Cape Town.

Cronje and his team were awarded the ``man of the match'' award by adjudicator Denis Lindsay for this Test win.