SPORT LD IND 2

Kallis equalled the tallies of legends Sunil Gavaskar and
Brian Lara with his 34th hundred and with Amla he put on the
best-ever partnership for any wicket.
South Africa made a shocking start after captain Graeme
Smith won the toss as they lost the skipper and his opening
partner Ashwell Prince to the pace of Zaheer Khan within the
first half an hour's play.
But a determined Kallis, who faced 290 balls and struck
13 fours and two sixes, and his more sedate partner Amla (225
balls, 11 fours) buckled down to the task of repairing the
early damage with a determined and concentrated effort.
The duo's unbeaten stand of 285 runs in 512 balls also
bettered the previous best between the two countries of 268
for the second wicket by Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid.
Dravid is missing this match because of a broken jaw.
This was Kallis' third century against India, and
significantly all in the latter's backyard, as he and Amla
laid the foundation for a big South Africa first innings total
by batting almost the entire day.
Kallis, playing in his 136th Test and 12th against the
home team, was the more aggressive during the stand in which
the 26-year-old Amla, who cracked his second ton against
India, eschewed risk totally till he reached his 30s.
Neither pace, in the form of Zaheer Khan and Ishant
Sharma, nor the spin of Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and
Virender Sehwag troubled the duo barring the odd occasion as
they denied the hosts a wicket for the better part of the day.
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