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WI v SA - 3rd Test - Day 3

Monday, January 5 2004

Brian Charles Lara created history in another enthralling day of cricket at the Newlands in South Africa. On day three of the third Test between the West Indies and South Africa, a determined rear-guard effort by the West Indians kept them in contention for the match and series.

Resuming on 178/1, Gayle (116) never really got going from his overnight 112 and was soon out to Pollock padding up. His partner Sarwan (44) managed to add 5 runs to yesterday's effort before slashing a rather mediocre delivery from Nel to McKenzie in the gully. Suddenly a healthy position slipped to 187/3 and this was worsened when Hinds (13), all but hopelessly out of form, edged Kallis to Boucher.

With that debutant Devon Smith moved to the crease with Lara being the only constant for the West Indies on the day. Lara, who took 23 balls to get his first run, combined watchful batting with timing and shot selection to continue his prolific from of 2003. Young Smith, batting with a dislocated finger (sustained whilst fielding), moved rather impressively and solidly to 20, dispatching Adams for a couple of good boundaries.

Then, rather unsurprisingly he succeeded in giving away his wicket to a shot outside offstump, out for 20. Jacobs, like everyone else in the West Indian order, looked at ease in playing the South African bowlers and smacked a glorious straight drive to move to 23. He was then dismissed to a sharp delivery from Ntini which caught his edge and went to slip.

Now, at 306/6, there was much work to be done as with every other innings in the series. The good news for the effort was that Lara looked set at the crease and it would be a matter of whether the lower order and tail would give him any support. With two consecutives trips to the rope, Lara reached the milestone of 9000 Test match runs as the fastest to it in history. Ahead of Tendulkar by two innings, Lara reached the mark in 177.

Steadily he moved onward and gained support from Drakes (20) and Mohammed (a run-a-ball 36 with seven fours and a six on debut) and, after being stranded for five overs on 99, Lara hooked Kallis for six. The century is Lara's 24th and follows on from his five scored in 2003.

Ultimately Nel bowled Lara looking to force a ball back overhead and missing. He was last man out in an innings of 427 runs of which 115 were his. South Africa walked off the field with a 105-run lead and two days to play. Nel (5/87) captured 5 wickets in the innings, his first such haul in his Test career to date. On the other side of the coin, Ntini, the bowling star of the first two Tests, struggled through the day and finished with 1/105 from 20 overs.

In the remaining 10 overs of play South Africa progressed to 38/0 which included a dropped catch. Hooking at Edwards whilst on 4, Graeme Smith survived as Sanford dropped a simple catch at fine leg. At stumps, Smith is on 18 with Gibbs on 19.

Match Summary:

South Africa 1st innings 532 ao (145 overs)
(MV Boucher 122 not out, JA Rudolph 101, ND McKenzie 76, JH Kallis 73)
(A Sanford 4/132, D Mohammed 3/112, FH Edwards 3/132)
West Indies 1st innings 427 ao (112.1 overs)
(CH Gayle 116, BC Lara 115, RR Sarwan 44)
(A Nel 5/87, SM Pollock 2/88)
South Africa 2nd innings 38/0 (10 overs)
(HH Gibbs 19 not out, GC Smith 18 not out)

Posted by Liam