A matchwinner, especially at home

The Centurion Test that begins on Wednesday holds special significance for Makhaya Ntini, who is set to become the 49th player overall and the fifth South African to play 100 Tests. This is a remarkable feat of longevity for any fast bowler, especially so in the modern era. Imposing a minimum cut-off of 300 wickets to eliminate the part-timers, only seven fast bowlers have managed to earn 100 caps, none of whom are still playing. The fact that even relatively injury-free pacemen like Curtly Ambrose and Richard Hadlee did not manage the feat puts Ntini's accomplishment in context.

Ntini's record matches up with those of his predecessors and justifies his place in the elite club. Sandwiched between two legends of the game - Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald - he is South Africa's second-highest wicket-taker and is in sight of 400 Test scalps, an achievement that will further cement his status as an all-time great.

While Ntini's record overall is impressive, his most telling contribution is in victories - he is the most prolific wicket-taker in South African wins. Fourteen of his 18 five-wicket hauls and three of his four ten-wicket match hauls have come in winning causes, two stats that are identical to those of Allan Donald's. Ntini's average and strike-rate in these games are significantly better that his overall figures.

In his pomp Ntini's pace was one of his big assets, but over the last few years he has depended equally on seam movement and more strikingly, on an unusual propensity to utilise of the width of the bowling crease. Coming off a bustling open-chested action that is consciously modelled on Malcolm Marshall's, Ntini's stock ball slants dangerously into right-hand batsmen before gaining disconcerting bounce and straightening to hit off-stump or take the outside edge. His unconventional, wide of the crease release is handled with more ease by left-handers. His average against them is nearly 50% poorer than against right-hand batsmen, though not all left-handers have found him easy to tackle - he has enjoyed considerable success against Mathew Hayden, Marcus Trescothick, Chris Gayle and Andrew Strauss.

Five of the seven most prolific run-scorers against Ntini are left-handers, but some of them have also been dismissed by him quite often. While Ricky Ponting has scored heavily off his bowling, Brian Lara is among the batsman he has struggled to dismiss, nailing him only once in 312 deliveries. (Simon Katich hasn't fallen to him even once in 314 deliveries, scoring 150 runs in those balls.) He has had more success against some of the other top batsmen, though - Sachin Tendulkar (four dismissals, average 23.50), Inzamam-ul-Haq (four dismissals, average 26.25) and VVS Laxman (five dismissals, average 25.40) are among those who didn't quite get the measure of him.

Ntini's overall numbers are impressive, but the one area in which he falls short is his overseas record. He was expected to spearhead the South African attack after Shaun Pollock's retirement, but while he has always been in the frame, in overseas games he has often been relegated to playing second-fiddle to Dale Steyn. His average and strike-rate abroad are both markedly poorer than the corresponding numbers at home.

Steyn, on the other hand, has the best strike rate and an average that is second only to Allan Donald in away Tests. Barring in India and Bangladesh, Ntini's away wickets come at well in excess of 30 runs each. This is an area he will look to improve upon going into the final stages of his career.

Nearly 400 wickets at an average that is marginally over 28 is a good reflection of Ntini's value to South Africa, but it does not convey in entirety what he symbolises for the nation. His debut in 1998 marked a momentous milestone in history - he was the first black cricketer to represent the country, something that seemed impossible even a couple of years earlier. His 100th Test becomes even more significant in this context and is a cause for celebration among cricket lovers as much as advocates of human rights and equality.