da leao： An extraordinary day which saw both sides threaten to win the third Test butultimately ended with a draw as the Kensington Oval again threw up a realnail-biter
MWP02-Apr-2001An extraordinary day which saw both sides threaten to win the third Test butultimately ended with a draw as the Kensington Oval again threw up a realnail-biter. By stumps it was the South Africans applying almost unbearablepressure with Mervyn Dillon and Dinanath Ramnarine defending tigerishly, andplay-acting even more determinedly.By a farcical close, South Africa were just three wickets short ofpulling off the most unlikely of victories, but Dillon’s bat in particularhas been a defensive barn door already in this series and as the SouthAfricans encircled him with fielders, he blocked everything which came hisway.Ramnarine, meanwhile,did his best to frustrate the South Africans with aclassic display of time-wasting, taking studious care to tap downnon-existent bumps in the pitch and then calling the physio out with somestrapping for a hamstring injury which had suddenly appeared from nowhere.Umpire Steve Bucknor eventually had enough of his antics and issued him withan official warning.In one of those wonderful cricketing ironies, the substantial crowd endedthe day cheering every ball the tail-enders survived as loud as any boundaryfrom Brian Lara or Carl Hooper on Saturday.It was probably a fair conclusion to a hard-fought Test match, duringwhich the tourists almost always held the upper hand but never quite forcedhome their superiority. It also leaves the series well balanced, as thesides go into the fourth Test in Antigua which starts on Friday with SouthAfrica still holding a 1-0 lead.Chasing an improbable 265 to win off 36 overs, the West Indies looked tobe doing all that was required to see the game out safely. Wavell Hinds (8)nudged and nurdled while Chris Gayle (48) hammered the ball to all parts inhis now familiar cavalier style.Even when Hinds fell to Nicky Boje, there did not appear to be too muchcause for concern, the left-hander not quite getting to the pitch as hedrove at the left-arm spinner and edging a simple chance to Daryll Cullinanat first slip.Marlon Samuels fell to the same combination for three, but Gayle wasstill blowing extremely hot. Having taken 14 off the first over after teabowled by Shaun Pollock, he continued to go on the attack, eventually undoneby his own belligerence as he edged a big drive at Kallis to Mark Boucher.When Ramnaresh Sarwan (0) shouldered arms to a delivery from JacquesKallis which clipped off-stump, the West Indies were 64-4 and one sensedthat for the first time the South Africans believed they could win thematch.CaptainHooper (5) edged a perfect Boje delivery to Boucher, RidleyJacobs (1) was snapped up at silly point by McKenzie off the same bowler andBrian Lara missed a big inswinger from Lance Klusener to be bowled foreight, scored off 58 balls. At 82-7 it was time for the heroics andtheatrics of Dillon and Ramnarine.The South African declaration came shortly before Cullinan fell 18 runsshy of what would have been his second century in the match, his third inthe series and one that would have extended his South African record forTest hundreds to 15. Cullinan was very well caught by Brian Lara at firstslip as he got a bottom edge to a heave across the line at Ramnarine.It was Cullinan’s stand of 70 for the seventh wicket with Pollock (40)which took South Africa from a position of considerable danger (97-6) to apoint where they had made the match safe.Pollock fell for 40, driving at an away-swinger from Courtney Walsh, theedge flying to Hooper at second slip. Pollock struck six boundaries ina cameo performance of counter-attacking cricket.Ramanarine picked up the wickets of Cullinan and then Allan Donald,batting with a runner, in consecutive deliveries. How annoyed theleg-spinner would have been to see South Africa declare as he stood on ahat-trick with Makhaya Ntini as opposition is anyone’s guess. Consolationwas career-best figures of 5-78.After the first three overs of the day were blocked away for maidens,overnight batsmen Cullinan and Kallis went on the attack, Cullinan loftingHooper for six onto the Kensington stand roof and then over mid-on for fourin the same over.But the first hour was to belong to the West Indies and just as Kallislooked to be settling, he edged a bat-pad chance off Hooper straight toSarwan at short-leg and was gone for 20, made off 88 balls with three fours.Klusener has had a dreadful tour with the bat and his miserable runcontinued as he scratched around for 17 balls before driving Ramnarinestraight to Cameron Cuffy at mid-off to depart for just four.Strangely, Klusener stood his ground waiting for a decision from umpireDarryl Hair, presumably in the belief that it had been a bump ball. But anod of the head from Hair was enough, and television replays showed quiteplainly that Klusener could have no complaints.The Kensington Oval will not go down as Boucher’s favourite groundeither. After making just three in the first innings, the ‘keeper failed toget off the mark this time as a perfect leg-spinner from Ramnarine took theoutside edge and was very well taken by Ridley Jacobs behind the stumps.