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Proteas fight to
live yet another day |
July 30, 2006
South Africa may not be winning the SSC Test,
but they get all the accolades for taking the
Test Match to an unexpected fifth and final day.
There was a completely different purpose and
application shown by the Proteas who were
bundled out in just over 50 overs on Day 1. The
batsmen this time around believed that they
could survive Muttiah Muralitharan and the end
result was a far more competitive total of 311
for 4 having batted for 105 overs! The two not
out batsmen at stumps on Day 4 are Skipper
Ashwell Prince who has hardly put a foot wrong
in this innings and is on 60 and with him is the
cool and responsible Mark Boucher on 38. Sri
Lankans may not be utterly disappointed at the
ways things had gone by on the fourth day as
they knew how the pitch was a batsman's paradise
and they never lost patience and waited for the
batsmen to make the mistakes.
The day began with the new opening combination
of Jacques Rudolph and Andrew Hall drawing
inspiration from the record stand of Mahela and
Sangakkara. The South African pair enjoyed
batting on this dead surface and they took South
Africa at no loss at the lunch break. A solid
150 for no loss in 46 Overs was on board for the
Proteas with Rudolph on 80 and Hall on 60 at the
end of the first session. However after lunch,
Dilhara Fernando got his reverse swing going at
brisk speeds and he came round the stumps to
Rudolph who was on 90. Dilhara angled a full
delivery into the left hander from round the
stumps and then got the reverse swing to take
the ball away from the left hander, by then
Rudolph was forced to push and the resulting
edge was safely taken by Chamara Kapugedera in
the slips. That was the breakthrough for the Sri
Lankans and it took them just 52 overs to get
the first wicket! Well that was a fabulous
opening stand indeed putting on 165. But they
were soon 171 for 2 with Dilhara striking once
again with his reverse swing removing Hashim
Amla. The right hander was struck in the crease
in front of the stumps as he was beaten by the
pace and the late inswing from Dilhara. It
wasn't a straight forward lbw decision with
doubts whether the ball would have swung past
the legstump or would have straightened to hit
the legstump.
Skipper Ashwell Prince promoted himself in the
batting order and Herschelle Gibbs was given
enough time to recover from his fever. Prince
looked very relaxed in this innings and his
footwork was very assured. He lost his partner
Andrew Hall though who had also missed a well
deserved century. Hall was done in by the
magician Muralitharan who came round the stumps
to beat Hall with his quick turn to strike the
batsman in front of the offstump. It was a loud
and long appeal from Murali as Billy Bowden's
computer brain seems to have been processing
slow and his crooked finger came up ever so
slowly. Prince and new man AB de Villiers then
carried the South Africans to Tea at 207 for 3
with Prince seeing off 64 deliveries.
The first innings half centurion, AB de Villiers
found the momentum going in his innings after
the break, but was soon out picking the wrong
length in playing the sweep shot off
Muralitharan. It was the second new ball which
Murali was sharing with Lasith Malinga.
Muralitharan bowling round the stumps bowled it
fuller in length and de Villiers who was on his
sweep missed that and got struck in front of the
stumps. South Africa at this stage slipped down
to 234 for 4 with 21 more overs left in the day.
They were thoughts that Murali could run through
the rest of the batting line up in the remaining
overs. But Mark Boucher and Ashwell Prince did
not entertain any thoughts of an early finish to
the Test Match as they batted through for more
than an hour to put up an unbeaten 77 runs
partnership for the fifth wicket.
We will have to see if Ashwell Prince and Mark
Boucher keep their partnership going for the
Proteas in tomorrow's morning session or not.
Herschelle Gibbs is yet to bat and everyone
knows what he is capable of on his day. South
Africans had successfully chased 434 in 50 Overs
against the Aussies, so they should believe in
their abilities in playing out the fifth and
final day on a fifth day pitch that might remain
intact with not much of quick turn for the
spinners.
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