Kallis almost certain to play

Jacques Kallis appears certain to play in the first Test match against India, which starts in Kanpur on Saturday. There were fears that a side strain sustained during the tour game in Jaipur might rule him out, but he appears to have made a rapid recovery.

A report from the South African new agency, MWP, quoted Shane Jabaar, the team physiotherapist, as saying: "He has responded well to treatment and, unless something suddenly goes wrong, he's a pretty certain starter for Saturday."

Kallis is one of only four players with experience of Indian conditions, and in the absence of quality spinners in the South African line-up, his medium-pace bowling was expected to play a prominent role. But Jabaar insisted that it was too early to say whether he could turn his arm over effectively.

"Batting will be fine but whether he's able to play a full role as a bowler is yet to be determined," he said. "It might be that he's able to bowl later in the test. We'll continue treating him and monitoring his progress but he's responded well so far."

But while news of Kallis's recovery would undoubtedly have boosted morale, South Africa's preparations for the match were thrown slightly off course by a blown bus engine which delayed their arrival in Kanpur. The bus packed up ten minutes outside of Lucknow, the nearest airport to Kanpur, and the players had to wait a fair while before a replacement turned up.