South African veterans Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher said on Monday they are raring to go for the Test series against England starting on Thursday.
A storm has erupted over a report quoting Cape Cobras coach Shukri Conrad as saying three Proteas players were not good enough to play for the Cobras.
For the briefest of moments, Indian fans could con themselves into thinking that the spirit of Perth was back. Mark Boucher edged behind and South Africa’s resistance was broken. By day’s end Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly had knocked off the 62 needed and all was well in the Indian cricket world again. Or was it?
India dominated South Africa on Sunday to win the third Test by eight wickets inside three days, squaring the series 1-1 and retaining their world number-two Test ranking. In an extraordinary final day, India turned what had been an evenly poised match at the start of play into a rout.
Teenage paceman Ishant Sharma and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh shared six wickets as India restricted South Africa to 265 in the third and final Test in Kanpur on Friday. South Africa were comfortably placed at 152-1 before losing their way on a spin-friendly pitch. Skipper Graeme Smith (69) and Hashim Amla (51) led the way with solid half-centuries.
AB de Villiers scored a maiden unbeaten double hundred and Jacques Kallis struck his 30th century to put South Africa in the driver’s seat against India in the second Test on Friday. The fifth-wicket pair took their overnight stand to 256 — a South Africa record for any wicket against India, who were out for 76 in the opening session of the match.
India made a confident reply to South Africa’s record 540 in the first cricket Test, reaching 82 without loss by stumps on the second day on Thursday. Virender Sehwag smashed a typically aggressive 52 and Wasim Jaffer chipped in with 25 as the Indian openers emerged unscathed from the 21 overs they faced before close.
South African Hashim Amla was elated after scoring his first overseas century in the first Test against India on Thursday. Amla’s 159 led the visitors to 540 all out before India reached 82 without loss by the close of the second day. The number three batsman handled the home spinners and the heat for almost seven hours to register his fourth Test century.
South Africa’s Hashim Amla stroked his second-highest Test score of 159 to put his team in command on day two of the first Test against India on Thursday. Amla, who reached his fourth hundred before lunch, was run out following a mix-up with Mark Boucher but the tourists piled on the runs to reach 501-6 at tea.
Hashim Amla stroked his fourth century to power South Africa to 404-5 at lunch on the second day of the first Test against India on Thursday. The 24-year-old lashed three fours in a row against paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to reach triple figures and was unbeaten on 124 at the interval as the tourists built on a good start. Mark Boucher was 26 not out.
Tearaway South Africa speedster Dale Steyn is smacking his lips in anticipation of a battle royal with India’s batsmen in the upcoming three-Test series. Steyn (24) taught Bangladesh a few lessons in fast bowling in the recent two-Test series, from which he bagged 14 wickets, and is now training his guns on India, who have recently returned from their Australia tour.
South Africa will look to their fringe players to deliver the goods against an unpredictable Bangladesh in the one-day international series beginning in Chittagong on Sunday. The South Africans have rested key players Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Makhaya Ntini for the three one-dayers.
After setting an opening partnership record and declaring their first innings on 583 for seven, South Africa also posted a wicketkeeping record on the second day of the second Test against Bangladesh on Saturday. With two catches behind, wicketkeeper Mark Boucher overtook Adam Gilchrist and took his tally for Test wicketkeeping catches to 401
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/ 28 February 2008
Senior players Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Makhaya Ntini will be rested for South Africa’s limited-overs series against Bangladesh, team officials said on Thursday. Captain Graeme Smith will, however, lead the side in the three-match series starting in Chittagong on March 9, despite speculation that he would return home due to a nagging knee injury.
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/ 28 February 2008
Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola on Thursday congratulated Mark Boucher on reclaiming his world record as the most successful Test wicketkeeper of all time. Boucher contributed five dismissals to the Proteas’ victory in the first Test against Bangladesh, which finished in Dhaka on Monday, and has thus set a new mark of 418 dismissals.
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/ 25 February 2008
Inspired by Jacques Kallis, South Africa wrapped up the opening Test against Bangladesh with a five-wicket victory on the fourth day in Dhaka on Monday.
The South Africans, who resumed at 178-4, collected the required 27 runs while losing the wicket of Ashwell Prince (38) in 10.4 overs in the morning.
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/ 23 February 2008
Bangladesh were eyeing a major upset on Saturday after bowling out South Africa cheaply and building a solid lead on a thrilling second day’s play in the opening Test. Lanky fast-bowler Shahadat Hossain picked up a career-best 6-27 to help Bangladesh bowl out their mighty rivals for 170 inside 61 overs.
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/ 22 February 2008
Bangladesh bounced back into the reckoning after South African paceman Morne Morkel rocked the hosts with a five-wicket haul in the opening Test on Friday. After being bowled out for a sub-par 192, Bangladesh struck through the pace-spin combination of Shahadat Hossain and Mohammad Rafique to reduce the visitors to 76-4 at stumps.
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/ 22 February 2008
South Africa pacemen Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel took two wickets apiece to help the tourists rip through the Bangladesh top order, leaving the hosts on 85 for five at lunch on the opening day of the first Test on Friday. After winning the toss and opting to bat, Bangladesh’s hopes of making a good start were dashed almost immediately when Steyn caught and bowled promising opener Tamim Iqbal.
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/ 8 February 2008
Trish Pollock might disagree, but what the hell: there is nothing sexy about her husband. Not for him the off-duty rock-star life loved and lived by Herschelle Gibbs, nor the model-go-round that Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis seem to spin on endlessly and effortlessly.
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/ 2 February 2008
AB de Villiers struck a confident 77 while Shaun Pollock bid an emotional home town farewell as South Africa beat the West Indies by five wickets at Kingsmead on Friday to maintain a perfect record in the one-day series. Pollock delighted a capacity crowd by hitting the winning boundary to seal South Africa’s win.
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/ 25 January 2008
Captain Anil Kumble fell short of a second Test century as India’s tail wagged strongly to help the tourists post a big score in the fourth Test against Australia on Friday. After winning the toss and electing to bat, India were dismissed for an imposing 526 just after tea on the second day, Sachin Tendulkar top-scoring with a majestic 153.
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/ 25 January 2008
Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh completed half-centuries as India’s tailenders piled on the runs in the fourth and final against Australia on Friday. Kumble crafted an unbeaten 86 over more than four hours while Harbhajan blasted a quick 63 as India reached 525 for nine in their first innings when tea was taken.
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/ 24 January 2008
Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar posted a fairy-tale century to lift his side towards a challenging total on the first day of the fourth and final Test against Australia on Thursday. In what seems certain to be his last Test on Australian soil, Tendulkar shook off a personal hoodoo at Adelaide Oval to score his 39th Test hundred.
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/ 21 January 2008
JP Duminy scored a career-best 79 not out to guide South Africa to a six-wicket victory over West Indies on Sunday in the first game of their five-match one-day series. South Africa won with 12 balls to spare after scoring 176 for four in reply to West Indies’ total of 175. Rain reduced the match to 36 overs a side.
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/ 17 January 2008
Shaun Pollock said he didn’t want his final round of international matches to be a ”Polly parade” but it is inevitable that South Africa’s star all-rounder will be feted as he makes his last appearances at the country’s major grounds during a five-match one-day international series against the West Indies, which starts at Centurion on Sunday.
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/ 12 January 2008
Despite beating the West Indies by an innings and 100 runs with two days in hand to win the Castle Lager series two-one, South Africa will go down one place on the international rankings, dropping below Sri Lanka to third place, but Proteas captain Graeme Smith is not too concerned.
South Africa were in charge on Friday at the close of play on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies at Newlands in Cape Town. The visitors were in trouble on 96-4, for a slender lead of 18. The two teams played a game of cat and mouse for most of the afternoon, as each tried to gain the upper hand, but the South Africans took control as they claimed four vital wickets.
Sachin Tendulkar provided a masterful demonstration of batting to give India an unexpected but fully deserved lead in the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Tendulkar defied Australia’s bowling attack for almost seven hours, striking 14 boundaries and a six to chalk up his 38th Test hundred.
Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher ground out an unbeaten 87-run partnership to enable South Africa to seize a slight advantage as the second day of the second Test against the West Indies developed into a war of attrition at Newlands on Thursday.
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/ 31 December 2007
South Africa called up experienced batsman Neil McKenzie for the second Test against the West Indies starting at Newlands on Wednesday after their shock 128-run defeat in the first match in Port Elizabeth. McKenzie (32) is expected to end a three-and-a-half year exile from Test cricket and open the batting in place of out-of-form Herschelle Gibbs.
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/ 29 December 2007
The West Indies made history at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth on Saturday when they beat South Africa in the first Test by 128 runs with a day to spare. It was their first Test victory in South Africa, and their first away win against a team ranked above them since they beat England in 2000. They outplayed the home side in all departments.