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FAISALABAD, Sept 18: Rain curtailed play on the second day just as Pakistan ‘A’ were batting themselves into a position of strength against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the first Test at Iqbal Stadium here Wednesday.Shortly before tea Pakistan ‘A’ had reached 149 for two in reply to the visitors’ first innings score of 183 when play was halted as soon as Faisal Iqbal was out for 54.Umpires Aleem Dar and Nadeem Ghauri finally decided to end play for the day at 4.05pm as the rain got heavier.Imran Farhat was an early casualty after the home team had resumed at 32 for no loss. He was caught at the wicket, by Charith Fernando off medium-pacer Chamila Gamage, after adding just six to his overnight 13.Fellow left-hander Taufiq Umar, however, prospered in the company of skipper Faisal Iqbal. The pair shared a stand of 101 in almost 40 overs before Faisal was caught by Michael Vandort off pacer Sujeeva de Silva. His 133-ball innings was laced with four fours and one six.Taufiq, who has so far faced 150 deliveries, struck eight boundaries.Scoreboard SRI LANKA ‘A’ (1st Innings) 183 (D.A. Gunawardena 60; Danish Kaneria 5-42, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 4-49).PAKISTAN ‘A’ (1st Innings, overnight 32-0):Imran Farhat c Fernando b Gamage 19Taufiq Umar not out 68Faisal Iqbal c Vandort b de Silva 54EXTRAS: (B-2, W-1, NB-5) 8TOTAL: (for two wkts, 55.2 overs) 149TO BAT: Hasan Raza, Asim Kamal, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, Irfanuddin, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul.BOWLING (to-date): De Silva 13.2-1-37-1 (5nb); Mirando 10-4-22-0 (1w); Samaraweera 14-3-31-0; Lokuarachchi 6-1-36-0; Gamage 12-3-21-1.

Hernia surgery for Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan before next month’s triangular one-day cricket series in Australia will rule him out of playing here.Team management favours immediate medical treatment to ensure Muralitharan is fit for next year’s World Cup to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.The Sri Lankan cricket board today officially announced Muralitharan has a hernia and could miss the tour of Australia.”We know that he has hernia problem. The issue is how serious it is,” said Charnika Munasinghe, a spokeswoman for the sport’s national governing body. He will have more medical tests, and “when he will undergo surgery will depend on the findings,” she said.Muralitharan first reported hernia problems during the first Test in South Africa last week, but Munasinghe said the champion spinner wasn’t in much pain and would compete in the second Test against South Africa before going home.Any surgery would be pre-emptive, but would rule Muralitharan out of the limited overs series in South Africa and the subsequent three-nation tournament in Australia against England and the world no.1 Australians.

Pakistan distanced itself from the conflict between the game’s controlling body and some of the teams on the players contracts.Pakistan manager Yawar Saeed said Friday that his team would be signing the contract by Monday.”Pakistan considers the ICC as the supreme body and then there is no direct clash of interest between the Pakistan players and ICC over the sponsors of its tournament,” Yawar said.Ausralia, England, India and New Zealand have refused to sign the contracts that have left the four teams on collison course with the ICC.When pointed out Pakistan might not have a direct clash with any of the sponsors in the ICC Champions Trophy and the World Cup where Pepsi is the sponsor but could happen next year when Pepsi’s rival can secure the sponsorship, Yawar said the players contracts was for 30 days before the tournament and 30 days after the tournament. “But yes, this is a issue that we will have to discuss at board level when we return Pakistan.Yawar will be leaving for Cape Town on Aug 27 to attend the managers meeting on the issue. He said he hasn’t seen the agenda of the meeting and was therefore, not in a position to discuss that at this stage.

THE West Indies desperately clawed their way back into contention on the third day of the second Test yesterday but, even amidst the euphoria of dismissing Sachin Tendulkar for a fourth-ball duck, their grip was never more than tenuous.On a slow, heartless pitch, they didn’t have the strength to sustain it and, by the time fading light ended the day 40 minutes past the appointed time with four of the 98 allocated overs unused, they were precariously hanging on by their fingertips.An unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 109 between the left-handed captain Sourav Ganguly and the silken right-hander V.V.S.Laxman occupied the last three hours of another blazing hot day. It also gradually silenced the pandemonium that broke out when Tendulkar was the third wicket to fall for two runs in the space of quarter-hour in the middle session.The two stabilised India’s position, then slowly and surely restored the advantage as an unsteady 54 for four 40 minutes after lunch was converted to 165 for the same four at stumps.It gives India an overall lead of 254 with Ganguly and Laxman still entrenched, even if a suspect tail is to follow.It is an equation that means they can dictate terms over the final two days at the Queen’s Park Oval where they have gained their only two victories in 34 previous Tests in the Caribbean.The fact that the last time the West Indies won batting last on the ground they got 282 for seven against England four years ago is counterbalanced by last innings totals of 51 (against Australia), 63 (by Zimbabwe) and 162 (against South Africa) in the three Queen’s Park Tests since.Ganguly, out for five and 25 in his previous two innings, resumes this morning 48, and Laxman, extending the form that brought him earlier scores of 69 and 69 not out, 60. Their partnership is already the second highest of the match.The last half of the day was as frustrating for the West Indies as the first had been encouraging.The last four wickets, that had averaged 14 over the previous six Tests, added another 48 on the day, 65 overall, before India wrapped up the innings two hours into the day for 245.It still represented a deficit of 94 but if West Indies could restrict their eventual winning target to under 300 they would have a chance.Merv Dillon claimed opener Shiv Sunder Das for nought in the six overs before the first interval but, on resumption, he and the other bowlers were making no impression on Sanjay Bangar and Rahul Dravid in a second-wicket stand of 48 when the game took as sudden a twist as it had in the closing stages the previous day when Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Junior Murray toppled for one run.Adam Sanford, all bustle and enthusiasm, took opener Bangar’s outside edge on the drive for a catch to second slip.Three balls later, Dravid, playing with the fluent assurance of a batsman with scores of 144 not out and 67 in the series, got a thin leg-side deflection to Cameron Cuffy and wicket-keeper Murray gathered the catch to remove him for 36.As always, Tendulkar was the key Indian wicket. The game’s premier batsman, who completed his 29th Test hundred with his first innings 117, received a warm welcome. Not only do Trinidadians appreciate class, there are thousands here who have a soft spot for the land, and the cricketers, of their forefathers.Tendulkar held up the West Indies for over six hours and 260 balls for his first innings 117. Now he lasted only quarter-hour as his fourth ball from Sanford took him on the pad as he jumped back, aiming to push into the leg-side.His surprise at finding Sri Lankan umpire Asoka deSilva’s raised finger upholding the roared West Indian appeal was justifiable, for the ball appeared heading over the stumps.Given his luck with decisions in the first innings, it was another instance that verified the age-old dictum that things eventually even themselves out in this game.It set off even more bacchanalian celebrations around the ground than usual and, as India went to tea 77 for four, it was obvious the last session would determine the course of the match and possibly the result.The realisation did not seem to occur to the usually miserly Cuffy, whose first two deliveries on resumption were inviting half-volleys that Laxman duly latched onto for a couple of driven off-side boundaries.Apart from a genuine appeal for a keeper’s catch when Ganguly, then 24, drove at Dillon, there was little to encourage the West Indies after that as bats got broader.Umpire deSilva probably based his verdict on legitimate doubt since Ganguly’s bat brushed the ground and threw up a cloud of dust. Even the television replay provided no conclusive evidence.In the morning, it took India almost two hours and 22.5 overs to wrap up the West Indies innings.It had been undermined late on the second day when three wickets tumbled for one run within ten balls after Lara’s dismissal for 52 and they resumed at 197 for six with their eventual total heavily dependent on captain Carl Hooper who was 30.While Hooper carefully added 20 from the 49 balls he received before he was ninth out for 50 to a catch at extra-cover off left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan, Dillon, Black and Sanford offered him useful support.They at least ensured that the deficit was reduced to double figures, but on a hard, dry, basically true pitch likely to become progressively worn, India’s lead was still strong.

Inzamam-ul-Haq became the first batsman to score a test Triple Century in 21st century when he scored a massive knock of 329 against New Zealand in the May 1-5, 2002 Lahore Test. It was the sixteenth triple century in test cricket. All the previous 15 had been scored in the last century. The highest individual innings recorded in the 19th century was 211 by Australia’s W.L.Murboch at the Oval in 1884. For Pakistan, it was the second triple century after Hanif Mohammad’s 337 at Barbados against the West Indies in 1957-58.Incidentally, this was the second triple century on Pakistan soil after the 334 not out by Aussie Mark Taylor at Peshawar, 4 years ago. Yet it set a new highest individual innings record for Pakistan at Lahore. Erasing the previous record of Javed Miandad’s 280 not out against India at Hyderabad (P) in 1982-83. Brian Lara (375) holds the highest individual innings record in Test Cricket.Inzamam-ul-Haq’s innings of 329 is the 10th highest individual innings in this elite list. Sir Don Bradman is so far the only batsman to achieve the unique feat twice.So far, 5 Englishmen, 4 Australians, 3 West Indians, 2 Pakistani’s and one Sri Lankan have reached the landmark. No South African, Indian, New Zealander, Zimbabwean and Bangladeshi batsmen has yet scored a triple test century.

Highest Individual Innings375 B.C. Lara WI V Eng at St. John’s 1993-94365* G.S. Sobers WI V Pak at Kingston 1957-58364 L. Hutton Eng V Aus at The Oval 1938340 S.T. Jayasuriya SL V Ind at Colombo (RPS) 1997-98337 Hanif Mohammad Pak V WI at Bridgetown 1957-58336* W.R. Hammond Eng V NZ at Auckland 1932-33334* M.A. Taylor Aus V Pak at Peshawar 1998-99334 D.G. Bradman Aus V Eng at Leeds 1930333 G.A Gooch Eng V Ind at Lords 1990329 Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak V NZ at Lahore 2001-02325 A. Sandham Eng V WI at Kingston 1929-30311 R. B. Simpson Aus V Eng at Manchester 1964310* J. H. Edrich Eng V NZ at Leeds 1965307 R.M Cowper Aus V Eng at Melbourne 1965-66304 D.G Bradman Aus V Eng at Leeds 1934302 D.G Rowe WI V Eng at Bridgetown 1973-74

Sri Lanka breezed into the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy by crushing their former colonial masters by a massive 206 runs.The Netherlands, playing their first official One-Day International since the 1996 World Cup, were bowled out for just 86 after the hosts racked up 292/6 in their innings.Sri Lanka are now expected to play Australia – assuming the world champions defeat Bangladesh – in the second semi-final on September 27.Despite the convincing margin of victory, Sri Lanka will have been disappointed by a lacklustre performance by their middle-order – victory against the formidable Australians will require a significant improvement.Before the game, record scores had been predicted and at one stage they looked set for a total well in excess of 300, but Sri Lanka slipped from 175/1 to 247/5 as they tried to accelerate during the latter part of their innings.But Dutch inexperience was more brutally exposed when they batted. After the first 19 balls of their innings they had lost three wickets with only four runs on the board.They recovered briefly – no doubt breathing a sign of relief as they passed the world’s lowest one-day score, the 38 scored by Zimbabwe last year at the SSC – with No 4 batsman Tim de Leede (31) and Reinout Scholte (12) adding 42 in 61 balls.However, having safely negotiated the fast bowlers, they ran into difficulties against the spinners with off-spinner Kumar Dharmasena, picked ahead of leg-spinner Upul Chandana, finding the edge of Scholte’s bat in his first international over since the Sharjah Cup last April.And after Dharmasena clean bowled Luuk van Troost for a duck and de Leede was athletically caught by wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara off a top edge, Muttiah Muralitharan took just five balls to grab his first wicket.But Sri Lanka’s master spinner did not have it all his way, as the confident Edgar Schiferi (15) confirmed his budding reputation as a fearless stroke-player, crashing a four and six in Muralitharan’s second over.Schiferi’s entertaining resistance though was ended soon after, paving the way for Muralitharan to wrap up the innings to finish with four for 15 from 5.3 overs.Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya had won the toss and batted first, a decision that had annoyed those hoping for an early finish.Jayasuriya was once again in good form, racing to 36 from 36 balls. However, he missed out on another large score when he skewed a catch into the covers, an unexpected dismissal that prompted wild celebrations in the Dutch camp.It was no surprise that Marvan Atapattu – who has built a reputation on cashing in when conditions are favourable and the opposition is weak – made the most of an opportunity to find some form before facing the Australians.The right-hander top scored with 101 from 118 balls, hitting just eight fours along the way. It was his fifth one-day century and his first for 18 months.He added 116 runs in 127 balls with Sangakkara (41) before Sri Lanka started to lose their way.Sangakkara was bowled by off-spinner Adeel Raja, Aravinda de Silva (23) was brilliantly caught by de Leede on the boundary – the catch of the tournament thus far – and Mahela Jayawardene (14) was run out by a direct hit from Bas Zuiderent at cover.Russel Arnold capitalised on a rare chance in the middle, scoring an unbeaten 22 before running out of overs.Earlier, Jaywardene had been involved in the first real controversy created by the ICC’s experiment with technology as he was reprieved by the television umpire Russel Tiffen despite the field umpire David Orchard initially raising his finger after an appeal for lbw.According to the criteria laid down by the ICC for referring lbw decisions, the third umpire can only provide guidance on whether the ball pitched outside leg, whether it hit bat before pad and whether it was too high – not whether it was going to hit the stumps.On this occasion the ball was drifting down the leg-side, but height was not a problem and it didn’t pitch outside leg or hit the bat. Thus, according to the confusing ICC guidelines, Orchard should have raised his finger for the second time.However, whether the correct process had been adhered to or not, the right decision was made in the end, a fact that the experiment’s supporters will only be too happy to point out.

For whatever reasons, two Guyanese brothers have been ignored by successive local selection panels at varying levels.Krishna Arjune, 21, and his younger sibling, Vishal 20, however, have used the disappointment as motivation to succeed.And they have responded admirably.The story, in chronological order, is one with a special difference for two brothers who will take the field at Kensington Oval today for the West Indies ‘B’ team in their final round Busta Series match against Barbados.Krishna, an opening batsman, is selected for Guyana in the 1998 Nortel Youth Championship in Trinidad.The rain ruins the three-day competition and he gets limited chances in the hastily-arranged one-day competition.The following season, when the tournament is played in Barbados, he is discarded by the Guyana selectors in spite of an innings of 160 in the trials.He is demoted to the Nortel Development XI a side comprising reserves from each of the six territories but emerges as that side’s leading run-scorer. Among his main scores was an even half-century against champions Barbados.In 2000, Vishal, too, is unable to force his way into the Guyana youth team, and, like Krishna the previous year, he has to settle for playing in the Development XI line-up.His peformances are nothing to shout about 159 runs (ave. 26.50) and 11 wickets (ave. 19.45) with his off-breaks.The West Indies youth selection panel saw some potential and picked him in the regional squad that toured England last summer when he performed impressively.At the start of this season’s Busta Series, neither brother is in Guyana’s 16-man squad.Krishna is nominated for the West Indies ‘B’ team and scores a debut first-class century in only his second match.He follows up with another half-century and five other scores in 30s or 40s on the way to 357 runs (ave. 35.70).Vishal joined him in the team for the sixth round match against Guyana on home soil last week, but didn’t make much of a contribution with the bat.The series of events in successive seasons emphasises that these brothers have made the most of their opportunities.By performing well in this tournament, I am hoping that next year, it will be easier for me to make the Guyana team, said Krishna, who remains modest about his achievements in the Busta Series.This is not enough runs for me. I am accustomed to making big scores.His string of 30s and 40s is attributed to a lack of concentration, but he has enjoyed the experience and the benefit of the guidance of captain Roland Holder.He is doing a very good job. He is the best captain I have come across so far, Krishna said.It was perhaps another coincidence but Vishal’s first-class debut was against the land of his birth in a match in which both brothers were dismissed for the identical score 12.When you play home, it is a lot of pressure, the younger Arjune said.This is my second game. If I get in the side, I will try to do my best.I have made up my mind to work hard and try and get a big score in this game.He knows things won’t be easy.It is a higher level. You have to lift your game, Vishal said.This is first-class cricket. You’ve got to perform to the best of your ability.When Vishal went to England with the West Indies youth team last year, it was the first time he had left Guyana.After early difficulties, he came into his own.It was the first time I ever travelled. At first, it was cold, the ball swung a lot and I didn’t do too well in the one-day matches, he said.But I then went into the nets and worked on it. I found it easier coming towards the end of the tour.In the second Test, he made 79 in a big partnership with Devon Smith, and in two of the minor matches he made 103 and 99 run out.The Arjune boys hail from Unity Village on the east coast of Demerara, an area that has produced West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.They speak glowingly about the influence he has had on them.If their level of determination is as much as his, we could be hearing of the Arjune brothers for some time.

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Yo Mahesh scored his top first-class score: 81•K Sivaraman

Haryana’s batsmen continued their horror run in the Ranji Trophy: two weeks after being shot out for 55 by Vidarbha, they crumbled to 66 all out against Odisha in Lahli. Astonishingly, they did put up a decent batting performance in between these two massive failures, posting 334 against England in a tour match.Odisha coming off a washout against Tamil Nadu and a resounding defeat against Delhi, had just the day they needed to start getting their campaign back on track. Basant Mohanty, their senior quick bowler, did much of the damage, finishing with five wickets as only two Haryana batsmen managed to make it to double digits – Abhimanyu Khod (12) and Rahul Dalal (21).Odisha capitalised on the advantage provided by their bowlers, reaching 177 for 6 with the help of 40s by their captain Natraj Behera and Biplab Samantray. Quick bowler Mohit Sharma turned in his best first-class figures of 4 for 37 to make sure Odisha didn’t completely run away with the game.
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Tamil Nadu’s formidable top five faltered badly against Maharashtra in Chennai, but the home side were rescued by a trio of half-centuries from the lower-order. Less than a week after a high-scoring draw against Karnataka at the same venue, Tamil Nadu lost M Vijay and S Badrinath for ducks, and their other two big-name players – Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik – also couldn’t make much of a contribution.Baba Aparajith, one of the heroes of India’s Under-19 World Cup win, also fell cheaply, leaving Tamil Nadu at 87 for 5 in the first session. Fast bowler Shrikant Mundhe did the early damage, striking in each of his first three overs.Maharashtra who had had to wait 118 overs to get five wickets in their previous Ranji match, had as many wickets within 31 overs this time. If they were thinking of rolling over Tamil Nadu early, they were thwarted by a 110-run sixth-wicket stand between R Prasanna and Yo Mahesh, who went on to his highest first-class score. No. 8 Malolan Rangarajan then lifted Tamil Nadu towards 250 with his maiden first-class half-century.
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Karnataka’s bowling had as many as three debutants but they didn’t fade against a strong Uttar Pradesh batting line-up that was fresh off making 669 for 7 against Maharashtra, and beating a full-strength Delhi outfit in the first round. Fast bowler HS Sharath had the best day of the trio, running through the middle order to finish with 5 for 60, to ensure Karnataka didn’t miss the services of the injured Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun.That UP didn’t have too bad a day despite the failure of Suresh Raina was thanks to the experienced Mohammad Kaif, who gritted it out for a patient century even as the rest of the specialist batsmen stumbled. They were reduced to 40 for 4 after the first hour, but with several lower-middle order batsmen chipping in with 20s and 30s, Kaif put together a string of partnerships that gave the UP score some respectability.
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Delhi captain Shikhar Dhawan might begin to wonder whether his decision to field on a dead track was the correct one or not after Baroda reached 252 for 3 on the first day at the Feroz Shah Kotla with minimum difficulty.Baroda, led by their stand-in captain Ambati Rayudu in place of the injured Yusuf Pathan, showed that the conditions weren’t too tough at the Kotla. Rayudu ended the day on 83 and 25-year-old Abhimanyu Chauhan was with him on 82 to make it a long day for Delhi’s bowlers.For more, read the full report.

This new-look team is displaying the kind of consistency that is indeed rare for Pakistani outfit. So far it has maintained its unbeaten run, winning three matches out of three. That when it has been made to play back-to-back matches. What is more it has notched these wins in some style. The one against Sri Lanka on Friday in front of a packed-to-capacity, mostly partisan and deafeningly vociferous, crowd was no exception. And it has landed them a place in the ARY Gold Cup final, leaving the Lankans and the Kiwis to fight it out between them for the second slot.It was the duo of Saeed Anwar – named ARY Man of the Match – and Inzamam-ul-Haq, who refused to be dismissed, put on 172 for the third wicket before being separated. Each of them failed to reach the three-figure mark when it seemed a mere handshake away but their stand gave Pakistan impetus to post 278, the highest first innings total.Once Pakistan had put 278 on the board, with the asking rate 5.58 runs per over from the outset, what the Lankans needed was a really flamboyant start, something like the one Shahid Afridi produced the other day against the Kiwis. Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana are both capable of such blazing stuff and they started in the right vein, going after the weaker link, the rookie Kashif Raza. They gave him a baptism by fire, with Jayasuriya hitting him out of the ground at extra cover.But their fireworks didn’t last long, as under extreme pressure to winkle out a wicket, Waqar Younis produced a beauty to bowl Jayasuriya neck and crop, and then Kaluwitharana dragged Kashif on to his stumps to give the debutant his first wicket.Despite that the Lankans, at 139 for three, were not all that badly placed at the half-way mark. Here Younis made two inspired changes, bringing on Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik to bowl in tandem. So inspired was this double change that for the next 20 overs he didn’t have to consider making another, as in the meanwhile five wickets fell for the addition of only 80 runs.Afridi struck early, in his very first over, getting the resolute Russell Arnold, and following it up with Marvan Atapattu’s scalp in the next over. Malik got Kumar Dharmasena and a while later Afridi got his third, Indika de Saram. I felt the decisions of caught behind on Arnold and Dharmasena were questionable based on television replays but neutral umpires gave both and this is part of the game these days.The rest only delayed the inevitable, with Chaminda Vaas’s resistance landing him an unbeaten 50 – and that fell in the realm of too little too late.A word about Anwar: In this tournament, he has made a fifty — and a big one at that, with scores of 90, unbeaten 81 and 88 — in every outing. Yet he has been unable to convert these into centuries – and one knows for sure that deep down he really resents not getting the elusive 20th hundred.Against Sri Lanka, he was involved in a silly run out, that of Afridi, on his call. To atone for that, he had to make a substantive contribution and at a fast clip. He did just that, the only blemish being that he and Inzamam couldn’t take it to the end. But in the ultimate analysis it didn’t matter for their effort was good enough to carry the day for their team.

Ricky Ponting showed more leadership qualities with the bat by helping cover for another mixed return from the Waugh brothers in the third cricket Test against South Africa in Durban.Ponting has scored 189 runs in two crucial Test innings inside four days as he prepares to lead the Australian one-day team for the first time next week.His 89 at Kingsmead preceded a commanding 91 from his one-day deputy Adam Gilchrist, who has been a run-scoring revelation on this tour with 457 Test runs for just two dismissals.In contrast, captain Steve Waugh has struggled with the bat and his short stay for seven, after Mark failed to convince his critics despite scoring 45, tightened the pressure during his mediocre international season.Steve Waugh’s batting average will drop below 50 for the first time in two years if he scores less than 42 in the second innings although his captaincy and influence on the team remains unquestioned after five consecutive wins against South Africa.But Ponting has bloomed since he was handed the one-day captaincy last month in a positive sign to selectors eyeing the Tasmanian or Gilchrist as potentialsuccessors to Waugh’s outstanding reign.Ponting’s 100 not out in the second innings of the Cape Town Test victory last Tuesday was perhaps the most responsible knock of his career and yesterday’sinnings in Durban was also classy.The 27-year-old was robbed of his chance for a century when run out for the third time in his last seven innings, caught inches short during a quick single with Mark Waugh.Ponting had fuelled Australia’s first innings before Gilchrist took over in the competitive total of 315 after the tourists were sent in to bat by Mark Boucher.South Africa was 1-48 at stumps after its best day of the six Tests against Australia this summer but they were again cursing Gilchrist.The 30-year-old mopped up a middle order collapse with his usual onslaught, hitting 14 boundaries before he swatted a catch to Graeme Smith at deep mid-wicket from spinner Paul Adams.Gilchrist’s Test average is back to 61.25 and his scores of 204 not out, 138 not out, 24 and 91 in South Africa have shot him into elite Australian company.His 457 runs are the third highest in a three-Test series by an Australian, behind Matthew Hayden’s rampaging tour of India last year (549 at 109.80) and Mark Taylor’s memorable performances in Pakistan in 1998-99 (513 at 128.25).Gilchrist plays with astonishing power but with minimal risk and the wicketkeeper again raced Australia’s lower order through valuable partnerships.His innings was in direct contrast to the flat atmosphere at Kingsmead, where more than 1000 school children bumped the disappointing first day crowd up to 6300.”That was one thing that stood out – the lack of crowd. If you took the school kids out there were probably more Australians in the crowd from tour groups thanlocals,” Gilchrist said.”We’re trying to win every Test match and we were under pressure again because they came out fighting – a lot more fight than they showed in that first Test.”They don’t want to go down 6-0 in total and we desperately want to win it.”