da bet7： South African Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour may not know who he is but SriLanka’s batsmen need no introduction after the world’s leading all-rounder,Jacques Kallis, ripped through their middle order on the opening day of theCastle Lager/MTN Test
Charlie Austin08-Nov-2002South African Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour may not know who he is but SriLanka’s batsmen need no introduction after the world’s leading all-rounder,Jacques Kallis, ripped through their middle order on the opening day of theCastle Lager/MTN Test series at Wanderers on Friday.Kallis would have had every right to feel aggrieved by the comments ofBalfour, who has been quoted in the South Africa media of saying: “I don’tgo to Newlands to watch Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis, I go to watch PaulAdams and Makahaya Ntini…who is Jacques Kallis anyway?”But the comments, although they clearly disappointed captain Shaun Pollock,had no adverse effect upon Kallis, who claimed three wickets in six ballsshortly before the tea interval, snatching the initiative away from the SriLankans who were just starting to prosper.Sanath Jayasuriya’s side were eventually bowled out for 192, a total thatseverely dents their hopes of overcoming a disastrous record outside of thesub-continent and winning their first ever series against South Africa.Sri Lanka’s day did not improve in the field either, as South Africa finishedwith a solid opening partnership between Gary Kirsten, who passed6000 Test runs, and Graeme Smith that has so far yielded 51 runs.Mahela Jaywardene (39) and Sanath Jayasuriya (32) had added 51 runs afterthe loss of three top order wickets for 86, threatening to lay thefoundations for the kind of score that the tourists would have been lookingfor having decided to bat first after winning the toss.But Kallis, who had only just recovered from a hamstring injury that hadthreatened his participation in this game, broke through with an outswingerthat caught the outside edge of Jayawardene’s defensive bat.In his next over he surprised Jayasuriya with a well-directed short deliverythat the Sri Lankan captain, batting in his new position of number five,fended off into the safe hands of Graeme Smith at third slip.Three balls later debutante Hasantha Fernando (0) betrayed his experience,unwisely attempting an ambitious hook. Gary Kirsten clung onto a good catchrunning back from short leg.When Chaminda Vaas guided another catch into the slips in the last overbefore tea, Sri Lanka had lost four wickets in the space of 17 deliveries,collapsing from the relative comfort of 137 for three to 141 for seven.After the break Hashan Tillakaratne and the tail eked out 51 valuable runs,ten of which were scored by a smiling Muttiah Muralitharan who swung hisfirst delivery from Pollock for six and then drilled Easterns all-rounderAndrew Hall straight down the ground before holing out at long leg.For the Sri Lankans it was a thoroughly disappointing day. All the batsmenhad come into the Test having spent time at the crease during the warm-upgames and were desperate to show that they could perform on the fast-bowlerfriendly surfaces expected in South Africa.In the event, Jayasuriya may have rued his decision to bat first. Pollockclaimed that he would have bowled first, understandable given the fact thathis selectors had opted for a five-pronged pace attack in the morning afterseeing the green-tinged wicket.Indeed, his seamers did extract considerable seam movement during themorning, regularly beating the bat. But of the first three Sri Lankanwickets to fall, all the batsmen contributed to their downfall.Russel Arnold (0) pushed hard at a short delivery from Makhaya Ntini that hewould with hindsight have preferred to leave alone. Kumar Sangakkara (26)was guilty of hanging on the back foot when he should have come forward andMarvan Atapattu (34) wasted a lot of hard work when he drove loosely againstthe probing Pollock.Earlier in the day, Hershcelle Gibbs was forced out of the final XI minutesbefore the toss after sustaining a back injury during the team warm-up. Theteam management were forced to send an emergency SOS to Martin vanJaarsveld, who was practicing with his domestic club in Pretoria at thetime.The South African selectors had gambled with their original selection,leaving out left-arm spinner Claude Henderson, their only slow bowlingoption. They made the surprise decision to include the inform Hall ahead ofMornantau Hayward.Sri Lanka included left-arm seamer Perera for the first time since he wasreported for having a suspect action during the Lord’s Test earlier thisyear. They also gave a first cap to all-rounder Hasantha Fernando.