Kallis leads South Africa to safer ground in Ntini's 100th Test

Another Test starting on a Wednesday and overlapping a little with the Perth one. You can understand doubling up on Boxing Day but why can't the authorities (esp the Australian and West Indies ones schedule things better? South Africa deserve the first bite of he cherry: Wednesday there is a public holiday whereas in Perth it's a midweek working day.

Enough on that . I watched most of the middle session live and the whole day's highlights later. The Proteas recovered in the 35 over last session from 4/159 to 4/262 thanks chiefly to the seemingly ageless Jacques Kallis' 112*/203 (1x6, 14x4). Even at tea, when he was 51*, he looked in very good touch.

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This is also Makhaya Ntini's 100th Test. South African cricket CEO Gerald Majola says "He has stridden the world cricket stage like a colossus since making his Test debut at the age of 20".

As a person with an interest in grammar (some might say I'm a pedant) I can't resist observing that "stridden" is a brave call for the past participle of "stride". I'd have said "strode" though Google search opinion seems to be divided : see this and this for examples.

Still no century but Australia comfortable after D1

Australia 3/339 (90ov, S Katich 99, S Watson 89, M Hussey 81*) v West Indies T3 D1 at WACA Ground Perth

Simon Katich and Shane Watson again got Australia off to a cracking start, but as here in Adelaide neither was able to notch a century. Watson was caught behind for a belligerent 89/130b (15x4) while Katich, for the second time in Tests was dismissed for 99, on this occasion caught at square leg from 177b (10x4), Nevertheless their contributions, and that of Mike Hussey who looked much better than at Adelaide in making 81*/155b (10x4), offset the cheap dismissal of Michael Clarke and the retirement of Ricky Ponting with an injured elbow.

Much has been said about injuries to key players on each side. Shiv Chanderpaul and Adrian Barath couldn't take the field for the Windies whereas Australia only lost Peter Siddle from their Adelaide XI. With relative unknown Clint McKay making his debut Australia's attack is far from its strongest though the loss of two top order opposition batsmen should make their collective task easier.

The West Indies attack was, not surprisingly on a first day WACA wicket, more steady than penetrative. Gavin Tonge who'd been talked up (and not only by his own side) as a quick bowling prospect was disappointing on his Test debut though Kemar Roach continued to look good.

Key question for D2, or session one thereof: will Mike Hussey make a century?

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One interesting drawn Test & several other high scoring games

At Napier New Zealand drew with Sri Lanka after rain intervened on the last day when the Black Caps were on track for victory. From what I saw of the series (quite a lot, as it was shown on Foxtel) a 1-1 result was a reasonable result. Both sides will be playing against Australia later this season: Pakistan here soon and NZ at home later. I can't see either of them causing much trouble unless several players, not just the superstars of this match (Daniel Vettori backing himself at no6 and delivering a century or Danish Kaneria with 7 wickets in the NZ innings), punch above their weight.

Elsewhere a high scoring ODI saw India 7/414 just hold off SrI Lanka 8/411. Who said the ODI was dying?

While I was posting this I watched South Australia beat Victoria in a high scoring Ford Ranger Cup ODD at the MCG. Mark Cosgrove and Chris Rogers, two players who are apparently not on the Australian selectors' shortlist for any form of the game, scored centuries for their respective teams. This match followed hard on the heels of the Sheffield Shield fixture where Victoria lost only 4 wickets chasing down 384 . South Australia once again omitted legspinner Cullen Bailey: he might have made the Bushrangers fight harder.

Another recent Sheffield Shield match worth noting was Tasmania's one wicket win over WA from the last ball of the match The Tigers scored 9/351 thanks to 152 from Ed Cowan, who is having a prolific, though barely acknowledged on the mainland, first class season.

And one more, this time from the New Zealand domestic comp, where Central Districts notched 1/445, thanks to a second innings opening partnership of 428 ( a NZ record) to beat Wellington by 9 wickets.

Draw

West Indies 451 and 317 (99.5 ov, C Gayle 165*, M Johnson 5/103) drew with Australia 439 and 5/212 (76 ov): T2 D5 at Adelaide Oval.

It wasn't unexpected (see my comments re D4) that the West Indies didn't declare overnight, nor that Chris Gayle carried his bat for 165*/285b (1x6, 16x4) out of 317.

It was unexpected that neither of the two best West Indian bowlers took a wicket as Australia chased ... well occasionally thought about chasing... 330 from 80 overs. The Adelaide pitch, which has developed a reputation for producing D5 results this time didn't give the bowlers the assistance they and most commentators expected.

A few reflections

Australia showed that some of the cracks which were exposed during the Ashes have only been papered over. The batting on paper looks solid, though IMO anyone who'd seen Hussey's 41 in the first innings (not just the highlights) you'd be questioning his long - or short - term future, so scratchy was he.

The Australian "spin" bowling is also deficient: Hauritz and North are steady rather than penetrating. As for the quicks. Johnson is inconsistently mercurial (is that a tautology?), and Siddle an honest trundler, though Bollinger looked good here even if his petulance needs to be reined in.

Not that the Windies should be complacent: IMO Benn is less of a threat then he's depicted to be. While he obtained some good bounce (not surprising for such a tall guy) and occasional turn he usually bowls at least one bad (short) ball an over. Roach is a good prospect, Bravo a good allrounder (including being a great asset in the field). The batting is sufficiently strong to post competitive totals with the aid of the tail (Nash showed how to do this in the first innings) though Sarwan needs a big innings.

As for the umpiring, Asad Rauf's howler in giving Chanderpaul out was 5 star incompetence. Benson's response (if most of what's been reported is not too far from the truth) was 5 star dummy spit. Doesn't the principle that you should always accept the umpire's decision apply to the umpires themselves?

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Masterful captain's innings keeps initiative with West Indies, but where to from here?

West Indies 451 and 8/284 (93ov, C Gayle 155*) lead Australia 438 by 296 runs with 2 second inns wickets in hand: T2 D4 at Adelaide.

Today was overcast. At one point it rained near the Bradman Stand but fortunately didn't extend far enough onto the playing area to interrupt play and Chris Gayle's masterful innings which kept the possibility of a victory for his team alive.

Gayle's 155/271b (1x6, 16x4) included several shots from his limited overs repertoire but the dominant theme was prudent accumulation. Channel 9's wagon wheel (replayed by Foxtel in the late night highlights) showed strokes all round the wicket. The next highest score was Shiv Chanderpaul's 27, though several other players supported Gayle in 50+ partnerships, which kept the total advancing, if not always a rapidly as a side more confident of pushing for victory might have wished.

The Australian bowling, an occasionally petulant Doug Bollinger excepted, lacked hostility and penetration until late in the day when Shane Watson bowled a good spell and Mitchell Johnson rediscovered his touch. Peter Siddle and Watson were not fully fit but the spinners couldn't match Sulieman Benn's menace.

I was disappointed to hear West Indian broadcaster Fazeer Mohammed suggest that the West Indies, given their recent record in Test cricket, will be satisfied with a draw. If this is so it will be a shame. Not only will will suck the interest out of D5 but it will surrender the Frank Worrell Trophy.

Of course, victory isn't guaranteed, as the Windies attack is limited (and Benn was hit on the foot by a sandshoe crusher when he batted today) and the Australian batting still quite strong, so a draw looks the likeliest result. So why shouldn't the visitors continue to give it their best shot?

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Update 10 December

A wagon wheel of Chris Gayle (and every other player's) innings can be found here

I was wrong again: West Indies revival puts Australia under pump

West Indies 451 and 0/23 (4 ov) lead Australia 438 (131.1 ov, S Watson 96, S Katich 80,M Clarke 71, B Haddin 55*, S Benn 5/155) by 35 runs with 10 second innings wickets in hand: T2 D3 at Adelaide Oval.

From the second ball of the day, with which Sulieman Benn bowled Shane Watson for his overnight 96/148b (16x4) Australia moved towards the 451 required for a first innings lead. On the evidence of D2 and T1 I, like others including coach Tim Nielsen (who'd talked up the chances of an innings victory) expected them to achieve this goal comfortably.

But it didn't happen. The West Indies attack, the sharp edge of which consisted of Sulieman Benn (5/155) and Kemar Roach (3/93), kept sufficient pressure on to prevent a major partnership from developing and, crucially, induced several well set batsmen, notably Simon Katich (80) , Ricky Ponting (36) and Michael Clarke (71) into error while making Michael Hussey (41) look out of touch.

The consequences? For Australia, no century maker, a small first innings deficit and a sense of deflation after the euphoria (hubris?) of D2 and T1. For the West Indies, renewed confidence in their abilities and, as the 0/23 comfortably taken from the day's final four overs suggested, perhaps a sense of possibility. There are two days to go, and the latest weather forecast includes rain late tomorrow and on Tuesday, so a draw now looks more possible. To my mind the major problem facing the Windies is whether their attack is strong enough to dismiss Australia a second time. Benn (53 overs) and Roach (25.1) will be sore tonight after their efforts. It will be hard though not impossible (apart from expecting Benn to wheel off anything like another 53 overs) for them to repeat their efforts in Australia's second innings but they will need more support, if only in the form of consistent line and length, from the other bowlers.

Elsewhere, at Mumbai India completed their trouncing of Sri Lanka and moved to no1 in the world Test rankings , while at Wellington Pakistan levelled the series by defeating New Zealand

West Indies post competitive total which Australia is chasing energetically

Australia 0/174 (48 ov, S Watson 96*, S Katich 71*) trail West Indies 451 (124.1 ov, D Bravo 101, B Nash 92, S Chanderpaul 62) by 277 runs with 10 1st inns wkts in hand: T2 D2 at Adelaide Oval

D2's play produced four wickets (all West Indian) for 285 runs. Brendan Nash batted determinedly for 92/178b (12x4) and with Ravi Rampaul's exuberant 40*/66b (2x6, 6x4) added 68 for the last wicket. Nash was unlucky not to register a century though he might have been a little more positive against Nathan Hauritz, who bowled several maiden overs to him while Rampaul was making hay in the sunshine of a benign pitch and Australian bowling which rarely threatened. At least he had the senses to give Rampaul his head and as much of the strike as possible.

451 looked a competitive total. That is until the considerable limitations of the West Indian attack were exposed by Shane Watson 96*/146 b (16x4) and Simon Katich 71*/148b (1x6, 4x4). Sulieman Benn's left arm spin was most successful in restraining the Australians: the others struggled to extract life from the pitch and, sometimes, for accuracy.

This match will certainly go for more than three days (and it's unlikely to be interrupted by the weather), and at present it looks as if Australia will at least match if not comfortably exceed the West Indies first innings score. We should know by this time tomorrow.

Elsewhere New Zealand require another 337 runs to beat Pakistan with 7 wkts in hand at Wellington while at Mumbai Sri Lanka are in trouble: they need 59 runs with 4 second innings wickets in hand to make India bat again.