Amla scores double ton as SA takes charge of first test

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: February 8, 2010

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Nagpur: Jacques Kallis once again missed out on scoring a double hundred… But not Hashim Amla, who notched up the highest score by a South African in India. The Indian bowlers were made to toil hard without much success throughout the day, with South Africa scoring a mammoth 558 for 6 in their first innings, declaring their innings just 15 minutes before the end of play to have a crack at the Indian openers.

It was a herculean effort by Amla as he remained unbeaten on 253, batting for more than 11 hours and hitting 22 boundaries during his knock. The centurion of the first day, Jacques Kallis, who resumed Day 2 at 159 not out, once again missed out on a double hundred with Harbhajan Singh getting him to bat-pad one to Murali Vijay at short-leg. Kallis made 173 including 15 fours and 2 sixes.

Amla and Kallis added 340 runs for the third wicket. Even after the partnership was broken, the runs didn’t stop flowing for the South Africans as AB De Villiers came in and scored a fluent half century. De Villiers made 53 off 88 balls with 5 fours and added 108 runs for the fourth wicket with Amla.

For India, Zaheer Khan (3/96) was the most successful bowler, while Harbhajan Singh leaked 166 runs for the 2 wickets that he took.

The day, however, belonged to Amla, who stood like a rock, frustrating the Indian pacers and spinners alike with his unflappable concentration. India’s shoddy fielding also helped his cause and the home side had only themselves to blame as they let Amla off the hook on as many as four occasions during the right-hander’s 473-ball innings.

South African eventually declared their first innings at 558 for 6 to have a crack at the Indian batsmen and make some early dents in the Indian batting. That, however, didn’t happen as the Indian opening pair of Gautam Gambhir (12 not out) and Virender Sehwag (9 not out) safely saw through the four overs, guiding India to 25 for no loss at the end of the day.

India go into the third day still trailing South Africa by 533 runs in the first innings and needing another 314 runs to avoid the follow-on.

Match Summary:

India 25 for 0 trail South Africa 558 for 6 decl. (Amla 253*, Kallis 173, de Villiers 53) by 533 runs

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