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| October 28, 2003 | Tuesday | Ramazan 1, 1424 |
Gutsy Kirsten gives Proteas chance of levelling series
FAISALABAD, Oct 27: Left-handed Gary Kirsten hit a sparkling 118 on Monday as South Africa set Pakistan a tough target of 302 to win the second and last Test, with just one day’s play remaining.
When bad light stopped play four overs ahead of schedule, Pakistan had reached 8-0 with Taufiq Umar on six and Imran Farhat on one.
Kirsten, batting patiently, blunted the Pakistan attack to score his 19th Test hundred and second against Pakistan — both at the same ground.
His previous Faisalabad century, in 1997-1998, helped set Pakistan a target of 146 which they missed by 53 runs. Pakistan’s best chase here was 188 for seven wickets against Sri Lanka in 1991-1992.
“It’s always nice to score two hundreds at one ground, it’s something very special and the last time I got a hundred here we set up a series win against Pakistan,” Kirsten said.
“Hopefully this hundred may set up something very special for us on Tuesday,” he said.
“Kaneria bowled well and the pitch has been a good one. The wicket played even and it will be hard for us to get 10 wickets,” Kirsten added.
South African captain Graeme Smith declared the second innings on 371-8.
Kirsten, 35, had fallen 15 minutes before tea when he failed to keep down a cut and was smartly snapped up by Taufiq Umar for his sixth catch of the match.
He faced 232 deliveries during his 297-minute stay at the crease and hit 11 boundaries, adding a record 90 runs for the fifth wicket with Jacques Kallis.
The veteran batsman, his country’s most capped player with 95, said experience was helping him make big totals at the tail end of his career.
“I still have five Tests to go for my hundred Tests and I just play by year, as I was planning to retire for the last two years,” he said.
“I think now when you have got the experience that I have got, it does help the batting. I remember Graham Gooch of England getting more hundreds after the age of 35, which has stuck in my mind.
“I have picked up three this year and maybe I’ll get one or two more against the West Indies,” said Kirsten, who was hospitalised by a Shoaib Akhtar bouncer in the first Test at Lahore. He needed ten stitches besides a broken nose and cheekbone.
“I am playing it match by match. I have been thinking about retirement for the last two years, but I have enjoyed playing in this set-up and want to keep going,” he said.
“I am looking at completing 100 (Tests) next year in New Zealand. Plus I also believe Test batsmen score more runs after (the age of) 35. Graham Gooch is a good example,” he added.
After Kirsten’s wicket, Abdul Razzaq bowled Mark Boucher for a first-ball duck before Shaun Pollock averted a hat trick. However, Razzaq removed Kallis for 43 after tea, earning him a lbw verdict.
South Africa passed the 350-mark courtesy of a Pollock boundary as the tourists hit out in a bid to set a difficult target.
Razzaq finished with 3-70 while Danish Kaneria and Shabbir Ahmed grabbed two wickets apiece. Shabbir specially bowled well and kept South African batsmen quite besides beating the bat on number of occasions with out luck.
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq surprisingly did not use leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed until an hour after lunch but when Mushtaq finally bowled he proved ineffective, and finished the series with only one wicket after returning from a two-and-a-half-year lay-off and a very successful English County season behind him.
South Africa had made
278 while Pakistan managed 348 in the first innings, gaining a valuable first innings lead of 70.
Pakistan’s best run-chase to date is 315 for nine wickets against Australia in Karachi nine years ago.
Scoreboard
South Africa (1st innings) 278 (H.Gibbs 98, G.Kirsten 54; Shabbir Ahmed 4-74).
Pakistan (1st innings) 348 (Imran Farhat 128, Taufiq Umar 68; S.Pollock 6-78)
South Africa (2nd innings) (overnight 140-3)
G.Smith lbw Shabbir Ahmed 65
H.Gibbs lbw Danish Kaneria 20
B.Dippenaar lbw Shoaib Malik 21
G.Kirsten c Taufiq b Abdul Razzaq 118
N.McKenzie c Taufiq b Danish Kaneria 35
Jacques Kallis lbw b Abdul Razzaq 43
M.Boucher b Abdul Razzaq 0
S.Pollock not out 30
R.Peterson c Inzamam b Shabbir Ahmed 17
P.Adams not out 9
Extras (b-1 lb-7 w-2 nb-3) 13
Total (for eight wkts dec., 127.3 overs) 371
Did not bat: Makhaya Ntini
Fall of wickets: 1-42 2-93 3-128 4-213 5-303 6-303 7-325 8-358
Bowling: Shabbir Ahmed 34.3-10-70-2 (1-nb, 2-w), Abdul Razzaq 18-3-70-3 (1-nb), Danish Kaneria 37-6-100-2, Shoaib Malik 26-5-70-1, Mushtaq Ahmed 12-3-53-0 (1-nb).
Pakistan (2nd innings)
Taufiq Umar not out 6
Imran Farhat not out 1
Extras (1-lb) 1
Total (for no wicket, 6 overs) 8
To Bat: Yasir Hameed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Asim Kamal, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria.
Bowling (to date): Pollock 3-2-2-0, Ntini 3-2-5-0—Reuters
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