KALLIS CENTURY GIVES SA EIGHT-WICKET VICTORY

The victory was achieved with seven balls remaining and gave South Africa a 3-0 lead in the six-match series. Kallis and Rhodes took South Africa home with a 134-run partnership for the third wicket which built on the 111 added by Kallis and Boeta Dippenaar for the second wicket.

Dippenaar took his chance to open the batting with both hands, and was given a life on 53 by Kaushalya Weeraratne who spilled a sharp return catch. But after reaching 66 off 100 balls, Dippenaar was deceived by Weeraratne’s slower ball and sliced a looping catch to Muttiah Muralitharan at backward point.

The second wicket fell at 116 in the 30th over but Dippenaar’s dismissal brought Rhodes to the wicket and the little Natalian immediately set about lifting the scoring rate.

He produced an extraordinary reverse sweep off Muralitharan which landed just inches short of the boundary rope at backward point and took a run of virtually ever ball as he and Kallis added 50 off just 43 balls.

South Africa reached the last 10 overs of the match needing 69 to win with Rhodes going strong and he reached his 50 off just 42 balls in the 45th over. It was Rhodes’ fourth successive ODI 50 and his third in a row since he announced his retirement from Test cricket to concentrate on the one-day game.

With four overs remaining South Africa needed 34 to win. An inside edge from Rhodes for three brought up the 100 partnership off 101 balls with Rhodes having made 61 of them.

In all 14 came off the over, bowled by Dilhara Fernando, leaving South Africa to get 20 off the last three. A six by Kallis off the last ball of the 48th over from Sanath Jayasuriya enabled South Africa to take 13 off it and only seven more were required off the last two overs.

The last over was not needed, Kallis hitting a four off the fifth ball of the 49th over to reach his century and see South Africa home.

SOUTH AFRICANS CAUTIOUS AFTER EARLY WICKET

Herschelle Gibbs, who made a second-ball duck in his international comeback in the first Test last week, was again out second ball, this time for 1, but Boeta Dippenaar and Jacques Kallis added 91 for the second wicket to take South Africa to 96 for one after 25 overs.

Gibbs barely had time to settle before he was trapped LBW off the first ball of Chaminda Vaas’ second over as South Africa slipped to 5 for one. The wicket gave further heart to the Sri Lankans who had produced their best batting performance of the series, and Dippenaar and Kallis were watchful as they consolidated the innings.

The first boundary came in the eighth over of the innings when Dippenaar pulled Nuwan Zoysa for four and the opener, in the side because of Gary Kirsten’s hand injury, drove Zoysa for a straight four in the left-armer’s next over, it became clear that he had settled.

Kallis took few chances as he played the anchor role, but together the pair brought up the South African 50 in the 14th over with the score reaching 53 for one at the end of the 15th over.

Dippenaar reached an untroubled 50 with a two off Muttiah Muralitharan. He had taken 76 balls and hit five fours along the way.

The South African run rate did not reach four to the over throughout the first 25, but with wickets in hand, the required rate at the halfway stage was 6.1 to the over and not yet out of sight of the home team.

With 25 overs remaining, Dippenaar had 53 while Kallis was on 37.

SRI LANKAN BATSMEN FINALLY RUN INTO FORM

Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana and Mahela Jayawardene all profited from chances as the tourists set South Africa what could prove to be a challenging target. For the Sri Lankans, heavily beaten in the second Test match last week, there was much encouragement to be taken from the form of their top order batsman after Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana had put on 110 for the first wicket.

Vice captain Marvan Atapattu also played himself back into form, hitting an unbeaten 51.

Jayasuriya finally went for 66 in the 27th over of the innings, playing back to Nicky Boje in the left-arm spinner’s first over. It looked a straightforward LBW decision for umpire Dave Orchard and Sri Lanka’s first wicket had fallen at 110. Jayasuriya had at last shown some form in facing 83 deliveries and hitting seven fours and a six.

Kaluwitharana, meanwhile, forged on to his 50 off 86 balls, but, now in harness with Marvan Atapattu, he started to take chances as the Sri Lankans sought to lift their run rate above five runs to the over.

He might have been run out on 73 when Jonty Rhodes hit the stumps with a close range underarm throw when it seemed easier to miss and then, on 77, he top-edged a therpull off Shaun Pollock but the ball fell harmlessly next to the stumps as three South African fielders converged on it.

Kaluwitharana had another life on 81 when he skied Boje to Alan Dawson at long on, but the fielder dropped the most straightforward chance of the innings. He had also been missed by Herschelle Gibbs, a much more difficult chance, two balls earlier.

Finally, at 83 his luck ran out. He tried to hit across the line against a good length ball from Pollock, but managed only to drag it on to be bowled at 184 for two. Kaluwitharana faced 117 balls in an innings that had done much to lift Sri Lankan spirits, hitting eight boundaries.

Another spilled catch gave Mahela Jayawardene a life on 15 when he reverse swept Boje, but Makhaya Ntini, running in hard from the cover boundary, dropped it.

He added only another seven, however, before being bowled as he went down the wicket to Boje for 22 at 217 for three.

There was a nasty collision between Atapattu and umpire Dave Orchard as the former scampered for a quick single, but although Orchard appeared to be hit on the chin by Atapattu’s helmet, the blow seemed to be cushioned by his beard.

Chaminda Vaas was in and out for 3, slogging a Kallis full toss to Gibbs at midwicket at 225 for four and Atapattu reached his 50 with a single off Kallis in the last over of the innings.

LANKANS POST CENTURY OPENING STAND

The tourists reached the halfway stage of their innings without losing a wicket having laid the platform for a substantial total. Jayasuriya was 61 with Kaluwitharana on 40 as Sri Lanka fought to get themselves back into the six match series. South Africa won the first two ODIs.

Jayasuriya, who has had a dreadful time of it in South Africa, signalled his intentions by thrashing the first ball he faced from Alan Dawson past point for four. Dawson, who has not been in the South African team for over 15 months, proved expensive in his opening burst, giving both batsmen too much width and when he tried to straighten his line against Jayasuriya, he found himself flipped over square leg for six.

Kaluwitharana had a life early on, albeit a very difficult one, on 11 when Shaun Pollock could not hold a sharp return catch. It was a miss that was to prove more expensive as the innings wore on.

Jayasuriya was the dominant partner as Sri Lanka raised their 50 in the 14th over of the innings and when the fielding restrictions were lifted at the end of the first 15 overs, the total had mounted to 60 for no wicket.

Jayasuriya played almost the first false shot of his innings on 41, when a top edge off Jacques Kallis was just too high for Mark Boucher to hold and the ball sped away for four.

And then Kaluwitharana had a second life on 30, Kallis failing to hold onto a return catch that flew back down the wicket at him.

A single off Kallis took Jayasuriya to his first international 50 of the tour, a landmark he reached off 67 balls and which included five fours and the six.

KIRSTEN FORCED OUT OF PAARL ODI

Kirsten has a bruised left hand and joins fast bowlers Allan Donald and Roger Telemachus on the injury list. In Kirsten’s absence Boeta Dippenaar was expected to open the batting for South Africa.

In the Sri Lankan side, Dilhara Fernando and Kaushalya Weeraratne were both included to give the tourists a four-pronged seam attack.

Teams

South Africa: Herschelle Gibbs, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Neil McKenzie, Mark Boucher, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje, Shaun Pollock (capt), Alan Dawson, Makhaya Ntini.

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Umpires: Dave Orchard and Wilf Diedricks. Third umpire: Barry Lambson. Match referee: Raman Subba Row.

© CricInfo

Date-stamped : 10 Jan2001 - 02:27