Pollock, Boje put Windies
in a spot

Paul Martin

This is the state of modern Test cricket: you grind out a position in which you cannot lose, and then grind the opposition into the dust.

Literally, as the pitch for this fourth Test between the Windies and South Africa is already producing alarming puffs of dust as the ball flies up off a good length. Just what the South African doctor ordered.

To be more precise, the West Indian doctors got it all wrong. They thought they were creating a spinner’s paradise, and so put in two spinners for the first time in 25 years of their Test cricket.

True, their spinners got the lion's share of the first innings wickets. But thanks to a rearguard action by, who else, Shaun Pollock, the South Africans had got to 247 all out. The Windies were then pummeled into abject ignominy: all out for 140.

In the second innings, just after lunch on the fourth day, the South Africans themselves looked distinctly shaky -- having lost four wickets before the interval. But once again Pollock, this time accompanied by the classy Jacques Kallis, got South Africa into the ascendancy. When they declared, in mid-afternoon, they set the Windies a nigh-impossible 323 to win off 131 overs.

On paper this looked generous, but the facts are different. Only one Test team ever made more than 250 on this ground to win a match. And sure enough, despite (or perhaps because of) a bright and breezy Windies approach to batting, the home team had slumped to 101 for 4.

Unless Lara suddenly fires on all cylinders (he's on 4 not out), it's hard to see anything but a rapid decline and fall. And that would bring South Africa a series win, being already one up with only one more Test ahead. Ramnaresh Sarwan is still there on 4 not out, and last Test's lucky century-maker Ridley Jacobs is still to come. But the big wicket of Carl Hooper has already fallen.

Which brings me to explain why I said they slumped despite (or perhaps because of) a bright and breezy approach.

Hooper was in fine form, but got carried away with his success. He tried to pull a lifting ball from Lance Klusener, and it lobbed to Neil McKenzie running backwards at mid-wicket.

Chris Gayle (12) and Wavell Hinds (29) batted effectively to take the West Indies to tea at 32 without loss. But they both fell to close-to-the-bat catches off left-arm spinner Nicky Boje.

Gayle's was a correct decision, but umpire Venkat clearly erred in giving Hinds out when the ball hit only the pad.

Venkat then (to the approval of most experts including Mike Procter) gave Shivnarine Chanderpaul (15) out lbw, trapped on the back foot in front by Boje.

Hooper had promoted himself ahead of world-record-holder Lara to number four, but his dismissal for 21 was close to a death-knell for Windies hopes.

Earlier, the long period of South African caution (scoring at far less than 2 runs an over) was ended when Pollock, coming in when the lead was 270, led a charge. Pollock (the world's best Number Nine) laid into leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine, and ended unbeaten on 41, with the more quiet Kallis -- who'd come in three places lower than normal at Number Six -- on 30. Pollock needs just 12 runs to become only the eighth Test cricketer to achieve the double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets.

The world's record wicket-taker Courtney Walsh earlier took his own tally to 513, as he captured three South African wickets.

McKenzie went without any addition to his overnight 44, and Daryll Cullinan (the only man to score two centuries in this series) was caught by Gayle at first slip for 28.

Gayle must rue dropping a difficult low catch from Kallis off Walsh when he had scored only two.

Klusener's miserable batting performances this tour (31 runs in seven innings) continued, when he was deceived by a slower ball from Walsh and turned it to square-leg where Wavell Hinds took a low catch.

Mark Boucher edged Walsh to the wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs, for 3, and suddenly the West Indians sensed the possibility of a sensational come-back. But Pollock and Kallis had other ideas.

Now it's hard to see any result on the last day other than a win for the Proteas. In so doing they will prove they deserve to be the world’s number two Test side.

(Paul Martin, editor-in-chief of Sport Africa and Live Africa Broadcasting, is the regular Southern Africa correspondent for rediff.com)