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By Richard Sydenham
LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) – Hashim Amla hit the highest test
score by a South African with an unbeaten 311 to put his side
within sight of a crushing victory over England on the fourth
day of the first test at the Oval on Sunday.
At the close England were 102 for four in their second
innings, trailing by 150 runs.
Jacques Kallis stroked an unbeaten 182, his 43rd test
century, as South Africa reached a commanding 637 for two before
declaring at tea. Amla surpassed the previous record of 278 by
team mate AB de Villiers.
“”I’m happy, surprised and really excited that I have done
something that’s never been done before by a South African,”
Amla told reporters. “”But the biggest pleasure is that we are
in a really strong position to win this test match. That’s my
biggest joy.”
The batsmen’s marathon efforts were then supported by the
bowlers as England lost Alastair Cook (0), Jonathan Trott (10),
Kevin Pietersen (16) and Andrew Strauss (27) before the close.
Cook edged a probing ball on off stump from Vernon Philander
to wicketkeeper de Villiers, Trott fell in similar fashion to
Dale Steyn, while Pietersen was bowled by a straight delivery
from Morne Morkel and Strauss top-edged a sweep to square leg
off Imran Tahir.
South Africa, who will leapfrog England at the top of the
world rankings if they win the three-match series, now have an
excellent chance of taking a 1-0 lead going to Headingley for
the second test on Aug. 2. Their skipper Graeme Smith set the
tone on Saturday with 131 in his 100th test match.
Continued…
