Kallis puts SA in command against Lanka

Jacques Kallis produced another trademark innings of patience and power as South Africa took complete control of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

At stumps South Africa were 378 for seven wickets in their first innings, a lead of 186, with Kallis 75 and Andrew Hall 31.

The South African all-rounder was last dismissed in a Test match in the first innings of the third Test against Australia in Durban on March 15 this year and has since spent 903 minutes at the crease without being dismissed. His 75 came in nearly five hours off 212 balls and included eight boundaries.

Kallis shared in partnerships of 69 for the sixth wicket with Mark Boucher and 80 for the seventh with his captain Shaun Pollock as South Africa moved into an increasingly powerful position.

Boucher fell on the stroke of tea, caught down the legside for 38 by his opposite number Kumar Sangakkara off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan. Pollock matched Boucher's 38 before he drove loosely at Dilhara Fernando and was caught behind.

The rally led by Kallis blunted what was a spirited Sri Lankan fightback after lunch when three wickets fell in the space of 11 balls.

The Sri Lankan riposte was sparked by debutant Hasantha Fernando who claimed the wicket of Gary Kirsten when the left hander gifted Muralitharan a straightforward chance at point.

Kirsten made 55 in three hours and fifteen minutes, facing 139 balls and striking nine boundaries. It was his 28th fifty in Tests.

Chaminda Vaas then struck with two wickets in three balls, first Ashwell Prince caught at fine leg for three when he top edged a hook shot and then Neil McKenzie, lbw for a golden duck. The double strike from Vaas reduced South Africa to 180 for five.

PERERA LOSS

But the Sri Lankan impetus suffered a blow when left arm seamer Ruchira Perera received his third warning for running on the pitch and was forced out of the attack for the rest of the innings.

To compound their woes, the Sri Lankans conceded 62 extras, including 31 no-balls and five wides. It was only nine short of the record 71 conceded by the West Indies against Pakistan in Georgetown in 1987-88.

South Africa went to lunch in a commanding position at 169 for two, thanks largely to a sparkling half century from 21 year-old opener Graeme Smith who shared an opening partnership worth 133 with Kirsten.

Smith went for his shots from the start, hitting Muralitharan out of the attack with three firmly driven fours in one over. He moved to his fifty with a superb square cut to the boundary off Ruchira Perera and had reached 73 when Hasantha Fernando struck with the second ball in Test cricket, Smith edging to Hashan Tillakaratne at first slip.

Smith's 73 came in a shade under two and half hours, during which he faced 92 balls and hit 14 fours.

Fernando then struck for a second time, Martin van Jaarsveld beaten by a good inswinger to see his stumps rearranged when he had made just three.

Mail Cricket Editor