Kallis, Amla slam tons to snatch initiative from India

Nagpur: Indian bowlers failed to capitalise on Zaheer Khan's twin blows as Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla struck unbeaten centuries to lead South Africa's recovery on the opening day of the first cricket Test here Saturday.

At stumps, Kallis (159) and Amla (115) were still going strong at 291 for two, having added 285 runs, after Zaheer dismissed Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince with just six runs on the board.

Kallis scored his 34th Test century, facing 331 balls for his 159 with 13 fours and two sixes. Amla struck 11 fours in his 341-ball knock.

India received a blow in the morning when Rohit Sharma, named as back-up for injured V.V.S. Laxman, hurt his ankle in the warm up session. That paved the way for Bengal's wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha to make his Test debut. Tamil Nadu's Subramaniam Badrinath, who has been on the fringes for some years, was the other debutant for India.

Karnataka's Murali Vijay, who has done well whenever he got a chance, will bat at number three.

It will be a completely new Indian middle order with no Rahul Dravid, Laxman and Yuvraj Singh, who are all sitting out with injuries.

After South Africa elected t bat, Zaheer removed the openers in a ferocious opening spell (6-4-2-2). The left arm seamer extracted pace, bounce and movement from the first day's wicket.

He got his reward in the fifth over of the day when Prince, surprised by a well-directed bouncer, played unsteadily and gave a catch behind the stumps. Though Prince was a touch unlucky as cameras later revealed that the ball reared up after brushing his arm guard.

South African captain Smith was clearly not comfortable facing Zaheer, who enjoys a good success rate against the left hander. Zaheer dismissed the in-form batsman with an excellent delivery that cut back a shade and crashed into the stumps.

The rest of the day belonged to South Africa as Kallis and Amla first bade their time in the middle, doing the repair job and then consolidated the innings.

Kallis' knock was a fine blend of caution and aggression while Amla concentrated on occupying the crease. They reached 90 for two at lunch and added another 103 runs in the second session.

Kallis brought up his century in 165 balls with nine fours and two sixes.

Amla played the role of a second fiddle, consuming 132 balls for his half century, and then stepped up the scoring rate, taking another 72 balls to reach his eighth century.
Source: IANS