HAMILTON, March 13: Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs braved a scarring pitch to bat South Africa out of danger in the first cricket Test against New Zealand here Saturday as the tourists ended the fourth day at 134 for three, for an overall lead of 84 runs.

After an unbeaten maiden Test century by Jacob Oram had steered New Zealand to a first innings total of 509 and a lead of 50 runs, the tourists were fighting for survival at two for 16 in their second innings before the curtain rose on the Gibbs and Kallis double act.

Despite the inconsistant bounce and extreme turn coming from the pitch, Gibbs and Kallis used their experience, their pads and an element of luck to stifle the New Zealand initiative.

Their 92-run partnership was only broken a few overs before stumps when Gibbs was unable to pull his wrists clear of a nasty turner from Paul Wiseman and the ball deflected into the gloves of wicketkeeper Brendan McCullum.

But by then South Africa had edged in front. Kallis, searching for a fifth consecutive Test century, continued to survive on 56 with Neil McKenzie on 11, and every run added to the pressure on the New Zealanders who started the innings full of confidence.

"We're probably in a better position now than they are," said South African captain Graeme Smith.

"If we score quickly enough tomorrow, anything can happen on this wicket.

"Right now the most likely result does look like a draw, but we know how quickly things can happen."

When South Africa started their second innings New Zealand claimed the important scalp of Smith in the eighth over when Daryl Tuffey had the South African skipper caught behind for five.

In the following over, a miscalculation by Jacques Rudolph saw him decide not to offer a shot to Chris Cairns and he was cleaned out, and South Africa were 16 for two.

Until Rudolph's dismissal, which saw the bedding in of the Kallis and Gibbs partnership, New Zealand had enjoyed control of the day and notched several batting recordsd.

Resuming their first innings at 361 for seven, with Oram on 49 and Daniel Vettori on 21, New Zealand raced to 483 for eight at lunch.

A positive approach to the dubious wicket by Vettori saw him race to 53 before he played a loose delivery from Paul Adams on to his stumps.

His departure brought in Paul Wiseman to keep Oram company on his way to his century.

Scoreboard

South Africa (1st innings) 459

SOUTH AFRICA (2nd innings)

G. Smith c McCullum b Tuffey 5

H. Gibbsc McCullum b Wiseman 47

J. Rudolph b Cairns 0

J. Kallis not out 56

N. McKenzie not out 11

Extras (b-8 lb-5 nb-2) 15

Total (for three wickets, 52 overs) 134

Fall of wkts: 1-15, 2-16, 3-108.

Bowling: Tuffey 9-2-14-1 (nb-1), Oram 7-4-9-0, Cairns 6-0-22-1 (nb-1), Vettori 14-7-22-0, Wiseman 7-0-35-1, Styris 8-3-14-0, McMillan 1-0-5-0.

New Zealand (1st innings)

M. Richardson lbw b Pollock 4

M. Papps lbw b Kallis 59

S. Fleming lbw b Adams 27

S. Styris b Pollock 74

C. McMillan lbw b Kallis 19

C. Cairns c Boucher b Ntini 28

J. Oram not out 119

B. McCullum c Boucher b Kallis 57

D. Vettori b Adams 53

P. Wiseman b Pollock 36

D. Tuffey c Boucher b Pollock 0

Extras (b-12 lb-11 nb-10) 33

Total (all out, 164.4 overs) 509

Fall of wkts: 1-20, 2-75, 3-127, 4-172, 5-223, 6-225, 7-309, 8-422, 9-509.

Bowling: Pollock 30.4-4-98-4 (nb-7), Ntini 29-9-74-1 (nb-1), Kallis 26-7-71-3, Nel 27-8-91-0 (nb-2), Adams 45-11-118-2, Rudolph 5-0-20-0, Smith 2-0-14-0.-Reuters