Kallis' unbeaten century saves Proteas

<preform>West Indies 543-5 dec S Africa 188 & 269-4 Match drawn</i></preform>

Jacques Kallis hit an unbeaten century and passed the 7,000 career-run milestone as South Africa battled to a draw against the West Indies yesterday on the fifth and final day of the opening Test at Bourda.

Jacques Kallis hit an unbeaten century and passed the 7,000 career-run milestone as South Africa battled to a draw against the West Indies yesterday on the fifth and final day of the opening Test at Bourda.

The visitors, forced to follow on as they trailed by 355 after the first innings, finished on 269 for 4. Kallis, the No2-ranked batsman in the world, passed his 50 just after lunch off 177 balls. He became only the second South African batsman, besides retired Gary Kirsten, to pass the 7,000-run barrier when he scored 55 and ended the innings undefeated on 109.

Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs had earlier stretched their fourth-wicket stand and neutralised the West Indies attack in the second session. Gibbs finally fell for 49 to the bowling of Wavell Hinds.

The West Indies' earlier success in the day was Narsingh Deonarine's dismissal of Jacques Rudolph for 24 midway through the morning session. South Africa, who had been 85 for 2 overnight, lost Rudolph leg before to be 119 for 3.

Kallis and Gibbs, however, made full use of a pitch that remained ideal for batting to guide their team towards a draw. But the Proteas will be hampered by the loss of Shaun Pollock for the second Test, which starts on Friday in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The fast bowler has a chronic inflammation of his left ankle. The team's management hope Pollock will be fit for the third Test in Bridgetown, Barbados, which starts on 21 April.

West Indies, depleted by the absence of premier batsman and the incumbent captain, Brian Lara, and six others because of a long-running sponsorship dispute with the board, had to press for a result. Lara, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Bravo were cleared by the West Indies Cricket Board last Sunday to be available for selection for the second Test.

The West Indies had one difficult chance to dislodge Kallis when he was on 22. The new captain, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has taken only eight wickets in his 81 Tests, gave himself six overs of leg-spin to try to break the overnight partnership between Kallis and the left-handed Rudolph. His fifth ball almost did the trick, but Kallis's thick edge was diverted on to the outside of the gloves of the wicketkeeper Courtney Browne.

It was Browne's second error. In the day's fifth over, he dived wide to his right but could not latch on to Rudolph's leg-side edge off the fast bowler Daren Powell.

It was Rudolph's third let-off, and it was not a surprise when he fell lbw for 24, playing back to a faster ball from Deonarine. His partnership with Kallis was worth 51 and occupied 40 overs.

Rudolph was replaced by Gibbs who has spent most of his 66 previous Tests opening the innings but who moved down the order in the recent home series against Zimbabwe. He was soon confronted by the second new ball, claimed after 87 overs, and settled in after a few uncertain moments against Deonarine.

First Test Match

West Indies V South Africa

(Guyana; final day of five)

West Indies won toss

West Indies - First Innings 543-5 dec (W W Hinds 213, S Chanderpaul 203no)

South Africa - First Innings 188

South Africa - SECOND INNINGS

(Overnight: 85-2)

J A Rudolph lbw b Deonarine 24

J H Kallis not out 109

H H Gibbs b R O Hinds 49

ÝM V Boucher not out 4

Extras (b16 lb2 w2 nb9) 29

Total (for 4, 161 overs) 269

Fall: 1-46 2-68 3-119 4-258

Did not bat: A J Hall, N Boje, M Ntini, C K Langeveldt.

Bowling: Collins 24-10-44-1; D B Powell 28-15-46-0; King 24-5-54-1; W W Hinds 14-5-16-0; R O Hinds 27-13-27-1; Deonarine 30-15-35-1; Chanderpaul 13-6-25-0; Ganga 1-0-4-0.

MATCH DRAWN

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) and D R Shepherd (Eng).

* Hamish Marshall smashed a hundred and his identical twin, James, hit a fifty to help New Zealand reach 267 for 3 on the first day of the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Napier yesterday. Nathan Astle was 37 not out after sharing an unbroken stand of 80 with Hamish Marshall.