The Hindu : Sport : Injured Kallis saves Proteas the blushes

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Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

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Injured Kallis saves Proteas the blushes

By Vijay Lokapally

LOCK, STOCK AND BARREL: On what was expected to be dull day, the Board President's XI bowlers came up with a good performance to push the South Africans to the brick. Here Amit Bhandari castles Thami Tsollkile. - Photo: Rajeev Bhatt.

JAIPUR, NOV. 16. Even as concern gripped the South African camp regarding Jacques Kallis' availability for the first Test at Kanpur, he was forced to walk to the middle and save the South Africans from possible embarrassment at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Tuesday.

Kallis, suffering from a side sprain, was compelled to put his pads on as the Board President's XI raised visions of an upset victory. With 19 overs still left and just two wickets in hand, the South Africans saw off the danger as Kallis joined skipper Graeme Smith to deny the young opposition the chance to force a win.

The South Africans were placed precariously at 172 for eight when the contest was called off with five mandatory overs remaining. Resuming at 320 for five, the BP XI declared at 361 for six, with a lead of 135 runs. Dinesh Mongia, adjudged the `man of the match', compiled an impressive 148 (289 balls and 18 fours) before he was bowled by Smith while Hemang Badani cracked an attractive 123-ball innings of 74 with 11 fours.

On what was feared to be a meaningless day of cricket, the game was enlivened by some inspiring bowling by the Mumbai spin pair of Sairaj Bahutule and Ramesh Powar. On a pitch where the odd ball tended to stay low, batting though not hazardous was not easy either.

Indiscreet

When concentration ought to have been the key factor, the South Africans indulged in a mix of complacent and indiscreet play. The potential of some may have been exposed but all credit to the BP XI for creating a winning opportunity in the afternoon.

The South Africans opted to experiment with the batting order but it was not flexible enough to take on the challenge of lasting the possible 73 overs that remained. Despite a sound start by Jacques Rodolph and Zander de Bruyn, the South Africans slid steadily and even rapidly at one stage to come close to defeat.

BP XI's opening came through a twin strike off successive balls by Powar. The confident de Bruyn was snapped at silly-point and Shaun Pollock, eager to have a bat, perished to the first ball, his tentative prod ending in an edge to the wicketkeeper. In his 53-ball knock that contained four fours and a long-on six off Powar, de Bruyn had looked in control. Rudolph's run out dismissal raised the BP XI hopes. He had looked good enough to bat long and was in excellent touch, particularly playing shots square of the wicket. His hooked six off Amit Bhandari was.

Amla fails again

Hashim Amla failed to impress in his second venture too, paying the penalty for playing across. Boeta Dippenaar was foxed by a slower one from Powar, who took a fine return catch to his right. Justin Ontong made the mistake of playing back to be beaten by a faster one. When Thami Tsolikile was beaten by pace and Andrew Hall snapped behind, the South African innings was in a mess.

Defeat loomed large before Kallis joined Smith to stave off the danger with some sensible batting. Smith was happy to face 49 balls as he set his sights on Kanpur. The reliable Kallis, with an experience of 80 Tests, will undergo more tests on Wednesday before deciding on playing the first Test. The indications here were not very encouraging despite his outing in the middle. For Smith and his men, the draw earned the hard way was certainly not the best way to prepare for the first Test.

The scores:

South Africa — 1st innings: 226 for five decl.

BP XI — 1st innings: D. Jadhav lbw b Ntini 12, G. Gambhit c Tsolikile b Pollock 26, S. Ramesh lbw b Hall 9, D. Mongia b Smith 148, Y. Venugopala Rao c Hall b de Bruyn 29, M.S. Dhoni c Tsolikile b Ontong 39, H. Badani (not out) 74; Extras: (b-2, lb - 17, nb-5) 24; Total (for six wkts decl.): 361.

Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-55, 3-61, 4-117, 5-208, 6-361.

South Africa bowling: Pollock 15-7-25-1, Ntini 20-5-53-1, Hall 17-4-54-1, Kallis 3-1-6-0, Ontong 19-1-100-1, de Bruyn 14-6-23-1, Smith 8.2-0-40-1, Amla 11-1-41-0.

South Africa — 2nd innings: J. Rudolph (run out) 31, Z. de Bruyn c Venugopala b Powar 35, S. Pollock c Dhoni b Powar 0, B. Dippenaar c and b Powar 23, H. Amla lbw b Mongia 15, J. Ontong lbw b Bahutule 11, T. Tsolikile b Bhandari 18, A. Hall c Dhoni b Bahutule 15, G. Smith (not out) 6, J. Kallis (not out) 12; Extras: (b-1, lb-2, nb-3) 6; Total: (for eight wkts) 172.

Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-62, 3-72, 4-104, 5-108, 6-122, 7-148, 8-150.

BP XI bowling: Bhandari 8-3-33-1, Paul 3-0-9-0, Bahutule 27-6-68-2, Powar 26-10-50-3, Mongia 4-0-9-1.

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