Date-stamped : 07 Jan95 - 18:38 New Zealand v South Africa, Test 3 played at Newlands, Cape Town, 2-6 January 1995 ====> Day 2, 3 Jan 95 It seems that New Zealand's tail rescues them out of many a troublesome situation. This happened again today. 254/9 and Pringle (of all people) came in and smacked McMillan and Jack all over the field before he finally succumbed to an excellent delivery by Fanie de Villiers for 33, his personal best. NZ were all out for 287 at lunch. Enter Gary Kirsten and Rudolph Steyn and they put on a great partnership of 106 for the first wicket, before Steyn was trapped lbw to Thomson for 38. Kirsten followed a few balls later when he was bowled around his legs by Thomson for 64. This saw a mini-collapse in the SAf innings as Cullinan was caught by Brian Young of a ball from Thomson. Hats off to Young who took one of the best catches that has ever been taken in cricket. This saw SAf slump from 106/1 to 125/3. Hansie Cronje then came in and he and John Commins saw SAf through to the close at 152/3. Contributed by bruce (bruceg@iaccess.za) ====> Day 3, 4 Jan 95 It was an interesting day's play. RSA won the day, pushing their score from 152/4 to 381/7. Cronje and Commins came in this morning, and I was still in the queue to get my ticket when he was caught off Hart's bowling for 27. Rhodes then came in and put together a reasonable partnership with Cronje, before Rhodes was bowled Doull for 18. During that time, Cronje skied a ball while he was on 59, and Hart got right in under it and then dropped the catch. McMillan then came in and knocked a few runs with Cronje, before he went lbw to Pringle for 18. He, too, was dropped by Crowe (I think). Richardson then came in and put together a reasonable partnership with Cronje, before Cronje was caught for 112, 325/7. In came Eksteen, just before tea, and we sat for the next 2.5 hours watching Eksteen block every ball. Richardson, meanwhile, built up a partnership around him, but Eksteen only scored 10 runs the whole afternoon. Point is, he stayed there, and once again, the eight wicket partnership has played a vital roll in the innings. It looks like Cronje will probably declare at the drinks interval tomorrow morning, and I think the guys have been given instruction to go on the slog. If they can knock up an extra 60 or 70 runs by 11:30 tomorrow morning, they'll have a good 150 run lead over NZ, Contributed by Bruce.Gruenbaum (bruceg@iaccess.za) ====> Day 3, MORE Cronje Century Gives South Africa Solid Position South African captain Hansie Cronje, benefiting from a drop of an easy catch, confidently scored a century Wednesday to give his side a solid first innings lead on the third day of the decisive third Test against New Zealand. Cronje finished at 112, and South Africa ended play at 381 for seven, 93 runs ahead of the New Zealand first innings of 288 all out. With two days of play remaining, South Africa appeared to have a chance to be the first nation this century to win a three-Test series after losing the first match, and only the second in history. New Zealand won the first Test of its tour, and South Africa last week responded with a victory in the second Test. At the same time, a quadrangular limited overs series also involving Sri Lan- ka and Pakistan saw South Africa and Pakistan qualify for the best-of-three final next week, with New Zealand failing to win a match. The visitors are likely to bat as slowly as possible when given the chance Thursday in hope of forcing a draw. They have them- selves to blame, as Matthew Hart dropped an easy shot by Cronje that would have retired him at 59. Instead, Cronje smacked eight fours and one six en route to his fourth century in 19 Test matches. A Hart delivery got Cronje caught by Chris Pringle, after Cronje forged partnerships of 36 with John Commins, 64 with Jonty Rhodes, 46 with Brian McMillan and 54 with Dave Richardson. Richardson finished the day unbeaten at 70 and again provided a solid anchor to the bottom part of the South African batting. The tours by New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are their first since South Africa returned to international cricket in 1991 after being banned two decades because of apartheid. (Thanks : AP) Contributed by Vicky (vigneswa@risky.ecs.umass.edu) ====> Day 4, 5 Jan 95 Armed with his first innings cushion, South African captain Han- sie Cronje kept a cordon of fielders around the New Zealand bats- men throughout an intriguing afternoon's play Thursday and the pressure paid off. Virtually pushed into a no-win situation by South Africa's first innings 440 reply to their 288, New Zealand closed on 121 for four on the fourth day, still 31 runs behind. Darrin Murray (3), Adam Parore (34), Martin Crowe (5) and Ken Rutherford (26) were sent packing. Rutherford, the New Zealand captain, later was fined for dissent for reacting sharply to the legs before decision against him by South African umpire Barry Lambson. The hometown crowd also saw Dave Richardson score his first Test century. Richardson, the only man to have played in all 20 Tests since South Africa's return to the international arena, struck only six fours in his 109, which was scored off 202 balls in 290 minutes. "I rate him one of your best batsmen," said New Zealand coach Ge- off Howarth. "He has also got a good head on his shoulders and that rubs off on his teammates." Richardson's overnight partner Clive Eksteen added another 12 runs to his total to notch up a personal Test best of 22 in 173 minutes before being bowled around his legs by spinner Matthew Hart. After that, it was a matter of holding out to enable Richardson to reach his memorable milestone, and Steven Jack, a noted slogger, curbed himself in scoring just seven runs off 32 balls. But to drive home to what would be an historic triumph South Africa could be the first nation this century to win a three-Test series after losing the first match, and only the second in his- tory the South Africans still have to get rid of the nagging bat of Bryan Young. The Kiwi opener, who plodded his way to the third slowest Test half century at Kingsmead in Durban last week, has already been at the crease for 176 minutes for his 42 runs and is going to take a lot of shifting. New Zealand won the first Test of its tour, and South Africa last week responded with a victory in the second Test. At the same time, a quadrangular limited overs series also involving Sri Lan- ka and Pakistan saw South Africa and Pakistan qualify for the best-of-three final next week, with New Zealand failing to win a match. (Thanks : ??) Contributed by Vicky (vigneswa@risky.ecs.umass.edu) ====> Day 4, MORE Richardson Bats Maiden Test Century South African wicketkeeper Dave Richardson recorded his maiden Test century Thursday to widen South Africa's first innings lead against New Zealand in the decisive third Test. Richardson, 70 not out overnight, was the last man out Thursday for 109 as South Africa posted 440 runs to New Zealand's 288, for a lead of 152. New Zealand opening batsmen Bryan Young and Darrin Murray batted for one over before lunch. The century scored by Richardson was South Africa's second in the Test, which was in its fourth day. Captain Hansie Cronje scored 112 runs Wednesday, his fourth century in 19 Test matches. Richardson, the only man to have played in all 20 Tests since South Africa's post-apartheid return to international play, struck only six fours in his century, scored off 202 balls in 4 hours, 50 minutes. "I rate him one of your best batsmen," said New Zealand coach Ge- off Howarth. "He has also got a good head on his shoulders, and that rubs off on his teammates." South Africa may have a chance to be the first nation this centu- ry to win a three-Test series after losing the first match, and only the second in history. The visitors are likely to bat as slowly as possible Thursday in hope of forcing a draw. New Zealand won the first Test of its tour, and South Africa last week responded with a victory in the second Test. At the same time, a quadrangular limited overs series also in- volving Sri Lanka and Pakistan saw South Africa and Pakistan qualify for the best-of-three final next week, with New Zealand failing to win a match. The tours by New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are their first since South Africa returned to international cricket in 1991 after being banned two decades because of apartheid. (Thanks : AP) Contributed by Vicky (vigneswa@risky.ecs.umass.edu)