Jacques Kallis made his farewell Test a memorable one by smashing his 45th ton as South Africa reached a comfortable 395 for seven at lunch on day four of the second cricket Test against India at here today.
At Kingsmead, play started under overcast conditions as the Proteas took a 61-run lead over the visitors’ first innings total of 334.
Kallis, playing in his 166th match, scored 115 (off 316 balls, 13 fours) before getting out and in doing so went past Rahul Dravid’s tally of 13,288 runs in 164 matches by one run to end up as the third-highest run-getter in Test cricket history.
At the break, Faf du Plessis (5) and Robin Peterson (5) were the unbeaten batsmen.
Ravindra Jadeja picked his second five-wicket haul in Test cricket, in his first match overseas, taking 5/128 from 55 overs. Zaheer Khan (1/75) too picked up a wicket in this session, his first of the innings. Mohammad Shami (1/72) had taken one on day three, while Ishant Sharma (0/88) and Rohit Sharma (0/22) were still searching for success.
Play started 30 minutes before schedule once again, as South Africa began at their overnight score of 299/5.
Rohit bowled the last ball of the 106th over that was pending and South Africa’s 300-run mark came up in the very next, the first full over of the day. It was a day of milestones thereafter, particularly for Kallis.
He started the day slowly, sailing into the 90s with two boundaries and a few singles, not looking in any hurry. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni further delayed the new ball, making sure the run-scoring did not go up to put his team under any pressure. In the 188th over, Kallis flicked Jadeja to fine leg for four, moving to 98, as also taking his side past the Indian score of 334.
Two overs later, against the same bowler, Kallis had a nervy moment nearly playing the ball on to his stumps, before flicking to square leg for a single and bringing up his century. He scored his 100 off 273 balls, batting for 334 minutes and hitting 13 fours.
In the next two overs, he brought up his 50-run partnership with Dale Steyn for the sixth wicket, as his partner played his night-watchman duty properly, as also bringing up the 350 for South Africa.
It was in the 133rd over, against Zaheer, that Kallis went past Dravid as he played a deliberate late cut past slip.
Perhaps that was his big target, for in the very next over, he went for an uncharacteristic big shot against Jadeja and holed out. It’s most likely his last innings of his batting career, for a second innings seems impossible at this stage, even as his team-mates came out of the dressing room to embrace him.
India had another success, again with the old ball, as Steyn edged Zaheer to Dhoni four overs later. But du Plessis and Peterson avoided further losses, as the hosts were caught in two minds whether to go for quick runs or play for time.