MANCHESTER, England, 3 July 2003 — Jacques Kallis will become only the fourth player in history to make three One-Day International hundreds in successive games if he makes a century for South Africa against England at Old Trafford here today.
Kallis, 27, made 107 in South Africa’s six wicket triangular series defeat against England at The Oval and followed that up 24 hours later with an unbeaten 125 in the 46-run win over Zimbabwe at Canterbury.
“I’ve never got three in three,” Kallis told reporters at Old Trafford yesterday as he contemplated equaling the achievement of teammate Herschelle Gibbs, who made three One-Day International hundreds in a row last year. Gibbs achieved the feat with centuries against Kenya and India in the Champions Trophy tournament in Sri Lanka before making a career-best 153 against Bangladesh in Potchefstroom in October.
The only other players to have hit three successive One-Day International hundreds were Pakistanis Zaheer Abbas, in 1982 83 against India, and Saeed Anwar, against Sri Lanka, West Indies and Sri Lanka in 1993 94. Like Zaheer, who played for Gloucestershire, Kallis has had experience of English county cricket after spells in the 1990s with Middlesex and Glamorgan.
“My balance has been good and that’s important in England. The wickets are a lot slower so you’ve got to hit the ball later.
“In South Africa the ball comes on to the bat quicker so you can get away with not always being balanced.
“Here if you miss the ball you’re more likely to be lbw because the ball does not go over the top of the stumps as often.
“Playing in England, against different bowlers and on different grounds, helped my game tremendously.” Kallis, a lively pace bowler as well as a top-class batsman, has been playing in the shadow of his father Henry’s battle against cancer.
“It has given me a different perspective. Playing for your country is still a great honor but it’s not the be all and end all. There are a lot of people worse off than I am.”
India’s Cricketers Earn $2.5m
for Making World Cup Final
In New Delhi, India’s cricket team will receive bonuses worth $2.5 million for reaching the final of the World Cup in March, the cricket board announced yesterday.
India won eight matches in a row to make the final of cricket’s showpiece in Africa before losing to Australia by 125 runs in a one-sided title clash at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. “We may have lost the final but the players did the country proud in the tournament,” said Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). “We have decided to honor all the 15 members of the squad by giving out bonuses worth $2.5 million to them. “The support staff of the team like the coach, physiotherapist and physical trainer will also receive separate bonuses.”
Meanwhile, the contracts of national coach John Wright and physiotherapist Andrew Leipus were extended till the next Champions Trophy to be played in England in August-September, 2004. South African Gregory Allen King was confirmed as the team’s physical trainer in place of Adrian Le Roux, who resigned last month to take charge of the South African team.
