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Cricket
Kirsten's century fails to prevent whitewash
By Malcolm Conn
SYDNEY, JAN. 5. South Africa made Australia work hard for almost a whole day before wrapping up its 10-wicket victory in the third Test at the SCG but it was as good as a pointless exercise. The tourists were still whitewashed for the first time in 70 years in a Test series and this crushing defeat was the third in succession.
``It's difficult to say how good this team is compared to others,'' Steve Waugh said afterwards, ``but I do know we're playing really, really good cricket. You like to test yourself against the best and South Africa is the second best team in the world. Now we'd like to go there and win 3-0 again. I know that's a big ask but this team is capable of anything when it puts its mind to it.''
Nobody, but nobody predicted anything like this when the best two teams in the world met for the first ever, official showdown for the World Test Championship.
Gary Kirsten led South Africa's second innings resistance with 153 made in over seven and a quarter hours but, following-on exactly 400 runs behind, meant that superhuman batting was required rather than merely super.
Left with just 53 runs to win the Test, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer continued the astonishing, perhaps even unprecedented form they have shown all summer. Langer, with four centuries in his last six Tests, and Hayden, with a hundred in all three Tests against South Africa, spat the runs out in 10 overs without breaking sweat. Shaun Pollock's team was well and truly humiliated. Again.
Resuming on 209 for two, still 191 runs adrift, the day began disastrously for the tourists when Jacques Kallis swept at the 13th ball of the morning and toe-ended it to Adam Gilchrist behind the stumps. He added just two to his overnight 32.
The prospects seemed good for a collapse similar to that of the third morning which saw South Africa lose its last six wickets in the first hour and a half.
But the next four batsmen contributed between 27 and 61 while Kirsten blocked, chipped, swept and occasionally drove sweetly through the covers on his way to a national record-equalling 14th ton.
As Australia's four main bowlers became more tired, Steve Waugh shuffled them around in spells of as few as two or three overs at a time and the policy worked - eventually.
Neil McKenzie (38) lobbed a leading edge against Brett Lee to mid-off, Justin Ontong (32) swept at Shane Warne and was given lbw to a ball that would have missed his off stump.
Mark Boucher (27) belted two deliberately over pitched deliveries from Glenn McGrath to the boundary in the same over before, having been conned into the driving mode, edged one from back of a length to Gilchrist. Out-thought and out-played, the story of the series.
Shaun Pollock fought to the end with an unbeaten 61 that contained a couple of crushing sixes against Shane Warne but the world's best leg spinner played the penultimate hand in the match when he persuaded last man Allan Donald to slog a catch to mid on.
``It was a little better today,'' admitted a less than enthusiastic Pollock. ``We tried to resolve a few problems with the batting before this innings and we did. It's just a pity it took us so long. Ideally we wanted to set them between 150 and 200 on the last day and we might have had a contest. But a score of 450 on a turning wicket against two of the best leg spinners in the world isn't a bad effort. It showed us that we could do it and we must make sure that we do it again in the return series. That's the only way to compete,'' Pollock said.
Pollock and Waugh will lead their teams into battle once again in South Africa in March once the elongated one-day series also featuring New Zealand has been completed in Australia. Amazingly, South Africa will still be crowned number one in the world even if it only hangs on for a draw.
``I think people will realize which is the best team if we beat it three-nil here and then draw nil-nil over there,'' said Waugh with a smile. ``But if there's a league table somewhere that says it is the best then we'll just have to win the next series and get back to the top.''
On the form shown over the last four weeks, Waugh and his team has nothing to worry about. Pollock and his have enough worrying to do for both countries.
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