The Hindu : Sport : South Africa levels series

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Friday, Jan 07, 2005

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South Africa levels series

By Ted Corbett

WOW, WHAT A CATCH! South African wicket-keeper, Abraham de Villiers celebrates Jacques Kallis' brilliant effort to send back Geraint Jones. — Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images

CAPE TOWN, JAN. 6. South Africa won the third Test by 197 runs, levelled the series at 1-1 and inflicted the first defeat on England for more than a year that has brought 11 victories, at Newlands today.

The next two Tests will be a measure of England's power. If the English can come back with a handful of powerful performances we will have to acknowledge their right to challenge Australia next summer. If not we will have to think that the Ashes and the world crown remain Down Under.

England will be encouraged by the X-ray and scan on Andrew Flintoff, the talismanic all-rounder, which took place this morning. The backroom staff say the tear to his minor oblique muscle is tiny and that he is expected to be fit for the fourth Test in Johannesburg a week from today.

We'll see. The London newspapers reported he had a torn intercostals muscle and might go home. Neither is true but I wonder if he will be risked in the all-rounder role; more likely as a specialist batsman. Mark Butcher's wrist is not recovering quickly enough and Matthew Hoggard's bruised heel will soon repair.

The disappointment of the England second innings was that every batsman got a start yet none reached 43. I find that extraordinary. The pitch was in good shape, only a few balls misbehaved and there was time for a long innings. Thanks to injuries, poor umpiring, terrific fielding, the clockwork precision of Shaun Pollock and timid batting England never threatened to win the game or last five sessions.

Gem of a delivery

It took the best ball of the series from Shaun Pollock to get rid of Graham Thorpe at his most dogged. The new ball was taken after three overs and three overs later Pollock produced the unplayable delivery. Thank heavens for slow motion television; it means we can see the beauty of such deliveries.

This one pitched on the nasty length between forward and back and curved inward as it came to earth. From that point it curled towards the slips, kissed the edge of Thorpe's bat which was dragged into the equation because he knew his stumps were under attack and changed rotation as it dived towards the ground. A.B. de Villiers also dived, got a glove under the ball and snatched it up.

Thorpe stood motionless for a full five seconds before he headed slowly towards the pavilion. That moment of bewilderment was all Pollock should have needed by way of congratulations from a foe. His teammates crowded round to add their own words of encouragement but as a bowler with 365 Test wickets Pollock knew the worth of his delivery which left him with 12 wickets in the series and his own special place among the greats.

Ashley Giles knows a thing or two about batting which enabled him to survive until five overs before lunch and score 25 in a stand of 67 with Geraint Jones who abandoned his usual dash for defence, although occasionally he proved he had not lost all his scoring shots before he was caught stunningly by Jacques Kallis to give Nicky Boje his fourth wicket.

Tail wags

The ninth-wicket pair of Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones, no mugs with a bat in hand, stuck in after lunch. Hoggard defended ruggedly; Jones let fly as he did in his first Test innings at Lord's until his edged shot from Pollock's wide ball was caught by Kallis for his third catch of the innings.

Madly, the last pair did even better. Steve Harmison hit at a run a ball, Hoggard continued his none-shall-pass routine and the South African bowlers rarely aimed at the stumps.

It is true that there are no hapless tail-enders any more because the selectors will not tolerate their presence. Harmison made 42, the highest score of the innings off 42 balls in 50 minutes with seven 4s and a 6. It meant the Barmy Army went home cheerfully and may have put new heart into an England dressing room in need of a lift after a poor performance.

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