Kallis, de Villiers tons put South Africa ahead
Contrasting hundreds from Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers pulled South Africa out of strife and into a position of considerable comfort at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi
The Bulletin by Osman Samiuddin
20-Nov-2010
South Africa 311 for 5 (de Villiers 119*, Kallis 105, Tanvir
4-67) v Pakistan
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Contrasting hundreds from Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers pulled South
Africa out of strife and into a position of considerable comfort at the
Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi. Debutant seamer Tanvir Ahmed had reduced
South Africa to 33 for 3 but Kallis and de Villiers punched back with
a 179-run stand that left South Africa handily placed on 311 for 5. For
Pakistan, only Tanvir could look back on the day with similar pride.
The Kallis-de Villiers stand was the tenth century partnership in 32
innings between the pair and it was done with such aggression it suggested
Pakistan were in trouble when they came together. Kallis's fight
began the moment Graeme Smith became the third victim of a hectic morning
and though his mien remained as expressionless as usual, his game was
unusually expressive.
He had hooked an uncontrolled six by the time a swish of fortune sashayed
in. Mohammad Sami's first over captured an entire career: one unplayable
delivery, honest endeavour but batsman ultimately supreme. Having been
beaten by a beauty, Kallis coolly cover drove the next two balls for four
and the day's mood changed.
Sami was plundered repeatedly, everywhere and anywhere and even Umar Gul
wasn't spared a fine pull and efficient drives. Either side of lunch two
towering sixes off Abdur Rehman brought one message: 'I am Kallis, you
are nothing'. Not a particularly attacking spinner on his best days,
Rehman immediately retreated, the supremacy in the relationship
established. By then a swift fifty had been notched up as casually as
a snap of the fingers.
de Villiers was twitchier, a more impish presence and not just because he
doesn't have Kallis' broad-chested appearance. Whereas Kallis imposed
himself on matters, de Villiers took advantage of Pakistan's growing
flakiness. When they pitched short, he gladly cut; when they got too full
he happily drove; when they drifted to his pads, he politely clipped away.
Five overs after lunch a century partnership was registered and by this
time, the surface had lost its early morning friskiness. Boundaries were
mostly controlled, though with Sami around control remained a relative
concept. In any case, runs were so readily available no risk needed to be
taken. One flick brought up a fifty for de Villiers. As an afterthought
Kallis brought up a fifth hundred in four Tests against Pakistan, in which
his lowest score is 59; in his first 11 against them, he had only one. It
was his fastest century as well.
When Kallis fell, de Villiers carried on, though with the sadness and
restraint of someone who has lost a partner. He was comatose during the
nineties, only waking up once four freebie overthrows from Gul took him to
99. It would've been impolite to not take a single next ball. Essentially
the day ended there for him.
Pakistan were fitful, not stringing together any sustained pressure. Tanvir
was responsible for the highs, further proof that whatever hole they find
themselves in, there's always a fast bowler to get excited about.
A month shy of his 32nd birthday, he was an unlikely hero and not just
because he is probably the best bowler ever born in Kuwait. The pitch at
Test cricket's 103rd venue had enough moisture in it early on to tempt
Misbah-ul-Haq to bowl. It was a second gesture of positivity; the first
had been to revert back to Pakistan's traditional strengths by selecting a
three-man pace attack.
Tanvir has long been a steady hand at the domestic level; sharp enough, always tight
and if conditions are right, eminently capable of exploiting them. So in
he ran as Pakistan's oldest debutant new-ball bowler, a heavy action and a
grunt at release and did precisely that. Immediately he became the sixth
Pakistani to take a wicket in the first over and a typical scalp too,
full, searching for swing, finding an edge. It was his 400th first-class
wicket. Five balls later he had another and Test cricket was looking an
easy game, though admittedly Asoka de Silva had a greater hand in Hashim
Amla returning to the pavilion.
Later, through a long afternoon Tanvir maintained a pleasant discipline and
the wicket of Kallis after tea helped Pakistan slow down the scoring. But
after the first hour the bluff had gone from the rest and the attack
looked precisely what it was: quite weak. Gul looked good in patches, Sami
a man condemned and Rehman the wrong choice.
The umpires, who got four decisions clearly wrong, had a worse day.
Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo