da pinup bet： A gripping final day in the second Test between West Indies and SouthAfrica seems certain after the home side, chasing 232 for victoryand a 1-0 lead, closed on 32-1 after dismissing the tourists for 287 in theirsecond innings
MWP20-Mar-2001A gripping final day in the second Test between West Indies and SouthAfrica seems certain after the home side, chasing 232 for victoryand a 1-0 lead, closed on 32-1 after dismissing the tourists for 287 in theirsecond innings.Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald and Jacques Kallis tried desperately toengineer a breakthrough in the 11 overs the West Indies were required toface at the end of day four and it was Kallis who succeeded by trappingWavell Hinds (2) lbw in the seventh of those overs.Chris Gayle played with his usual freedom, despite the pressure of theoccasion, cutting and driving Donald for a pair of boundaries in his thirdover to reach 18 not out while nightwatchman Dinanath Ramnarine survived,somehow, to reach 11.The day began superbly for the tourists who had fought back from 38-2 onday three to reach 130-2 at the close, a lead of 74. Daryll Cullinan andHerchelle Gibbs again began positively when play began on day four,collecting 42 runs in the first hour as Carl Hooper attacked in search ofearly wickets.The third wicket stand had reached 149 before Cullinan aimed a wild slogat Ramnarine’s leg spin but succeeded only in carving the bowler to BrianLara at cover to depart for an otherwise brilliant 73 from 178 balls. Butenormous credit must go to Hooper’s ingenious field placings and tacticsthat saw the normally fluent Cullinan score just six boundaries.Gibbs departed in the fourth over after lunch after five hours and 50minutes at the crease and, once again, it was cunning and guile thatdefeated him as Courtney Walsh persuaded him to shove the umpteenth “ribdelivery” to square leg where substitute Shivnarine Chanderpaul held a neatcatch diving forward. Gibbs faced 275 balls in his 87 and was also limited,by his standards, to 11 fours.A period of such intense pressure then followed that South Africa scoredjust 10 runs in the hour after lunch and a mere 45 in the afternoon sessionas Walsh produced a spell of 6-5-1-1. When he made way for Merv Dillon thewicket followed first ball as Lance Klusener (5) lashed out a Dillon’s wideloosener and edged to Gayle at slip.An out of form Neil McKenzie’s excruciating sojourn finally came to aend when Dillon flicked an inside edge to give Ridley Jacobs the catch andsend the batsman on his way for 25 scratchy runs from 134 balls.Mark Boucher produced a typically aggressive counter-attack but on 38 heattempted to pull a Dillon delivery that kept low, nipped back and rattledthe top of middle stump.The final three wickets, usually so productive for South Africa,scrambled just 23 more runs as the irrepressible, ageless Walsh pounded infrom the pavilion end for over after over to finish with 6-62 in 36 overs,as inspiring a performance as one could see in Test cricket.The home side may have been less well placed by the close had Cullinanheld a sharp catch at slip off the bowling of Pollock when Gayle was on 17and Ramnarine carved a Kallis delivery toward Boje in the gulley but thefielder failed to pick the flight of the ball and never moved.Although the pitch is playing almost as well as it has throughout thematch, 200 runs on the final day – with tension and nerves bound to play apart – seems certain to produce a thriller.