Despite losing three wickets between lunch and tea, South Africa were in total command of the third Castle Lager/MTN Test at Newlands on Tuesday. They went to tea on 109 for three in their second innings, for an overall lead of 387.
Graham Smith lost his wicket off the 13th ball of the innings, when he was out lbw to Matthew Hoggard for two. Jacques Rudolph and Herschelle Gibbs scored freely, taking the run rate as high as five and a half an over at one stage, until Gibbs was caught behind by Geraint Jones off Andrew Flintoff for 24.
Jacques Kallis, who was greeted with a roar by the Newlands crowd when he came out to bat, looked imperious. He took eight balls before he scored his first run, but hit spinner Ashley Giles for 14 off his first over -two fours and a massive six.
Jacques Rudolph, who was looking far more comfortable than he had done in the first innings, made 23 runs before being caught by Robert Key off Simon Jones.
Kallis was not out on 34 at tea, and Boeta Dippenaar had three.
Two of the England players, Flintoff and Giles, joined an elite group of cricketers to take 100 wickets and score 1 000 runs. Flintoff reached this milestone when he took Gibbs’s wicket, and Giles scored his thousandth run shortly before England were all out.
Charl Langeveldt and Makhaya Ntini tore through the England batting line-up before lunch on the third day of the third Castle Lager/MTN Test at Newlands on Tuesday, to have England all out for 163, for a first innings deficit of 278.
England resumed play on their overnight score of 95 for the loss of four wickets. Night watchman Matthew Hoggard snicked a ball from Ntini to Graeme Smith at first slip and was out for one.
His departure brought Andrew Flintoff, regarded as the best all rounder in the world at present, to the crease, but Flintoff never looked comfortable, and lasted just 13 minutes before he was caught by Herschelle Gibbs off Ntini for 12.
Langeveldt, bowling with a broken left hand, took the wickets of Geraint Jones (13), Graham Thorpe (12), Simon Jones (0), and Steve Harmison (0) to record a ‘five-for’ in his debut Test match.
The big England spinner, Ashley Giles, was the only one to make any meaningful runs, scoring an undefeated 31 off 34 balls.
Although England needed another 79 runs to avoid the follow-on, Smith decided not to enforce it. – Sapa