Cricket: One last rescue mission for Cairns

By RICHARD BOOCK

Chris Cairns could surely not have imagined a more dramatic stage on which to make his last stand.

Expected to draw the curtain on his test career at the end of this season, the champion all-rounder is one of the key figures at the Basin Reserve this morning, as New Zealand battle to retain their grip on a historic series win against South Africa.

Cairns, who followed his first-innings 69 with a four-wicket bag yesterday, was unbeaten on seven when the umpires appeared to accept his protestations about the light, and took the teams off the field with 4.2 overs still to play.

At that stage, South Africa had rebounded from a disappointing first session to hold most of the cards.

They gained a lead of 19 on the first innings, then reduced New Zealand's second innings to 128-5 - a lead of 109 runs with two days remaining.

The situation facing Cairns this morning is not unlike the position in which he found himself five years ago at the Oval, when he took five England wickets in the first innings then turned the match on its head with a counter-attacking 80 in the second.

Tipping the scales slightly more in his favour on this occasion is the presence of Scott Styris, unbeaten on 41, the not-so-small Jacob Oram factor, and the likelihood that left-armer spinner Daniel Vettori could play a prominent role tomorrow.

Having bowled out the tourists for 316 courtesy of Cairns and another five-wicket bag from Chris Martin, New Zealand then batted as if they were suffering from narcolepsy, falling asleep at random moments and giving away another cluster of wickets.

As if it wasn't bad enough on the first day, when half the top-order perished to injudicious stroke-play, they were at it again at a critical stage yesterday afternoon, and eagerly accepted the umpires' first offer of the light.

The decision was made at 5.37pm after Cairns, having received two short deliveries from Makhaya Ntini, made his feelings known about the state of the light.

That prompted umpires Asoka de Silva and Aleem Dar to confer.

South African skipper Graeme Smith was not pleased with the decision and remonstrated with the umpires, apparently because he believed the light was no worse than that in which his team had batted at other times in the series.

Whatever the angst, it would not have been a patch on the feelings of New Zealand coach John Bracewell after he had watched his batsmen put the series lead on the line with probably their worst performance of the season.

Rookie opener Michael Papps was unlucky to fall to a questionable lbw decision but the other four wickets were squandered, leaving Cairns, Styris and Oram facing a make-or-break batting assignment today.

Fleming, who earlier in the match became the third New Zealander to post 5000 test runs and is now behind only Martin Crowe and John Wright, was worked over ferociously by paceman Andre Nel and eventually succumbed to a top-edged hook.

Sinclair could have fallen lbw earlier in his innings, but left the umpire with no option when the total was 73, shouldering arms to a Shaun Pollock off-cutter that, but for his pads, would have cannoned into the middle stump.

Even then, there was still time for two further acts of outrageous folly - Mark Richardson ending his 205-minute resistance with a miscued slog-sweep, and Brendon McCullum being bowled around his legs while sweeping.

As in the first innings, a major problem for New Zealand today will be the left-arm spin of Boje.

He was beginning to find some purchase last night, and has the happy knack of making important breakthroughs.

Scoreboard:

New Zealand

First innings 297

Second innings

M Papps lbw b Pollock 0

M Richardson c Smith b Boje 37

S Fleming c Boucher b Nel 9

M Sinclair lbw b Pollock 21

S Styris not out 41

B McCullum b Boje 3

C Cairns not out 7

Extras (1b, 4lb, 3nb, 2w) 10

Total (for 5 wkts, 59.4 overs) 128

Fall: 1 (Papps), 42 (Fleming), 73 (Sinclair), 107 (Richardson),
111 (McCullum)

Bowling: S Pollock 15-9-31-2 (3nb, 1w), M Ntini 11.4-3-28-0
(1w), A Nel 12-4-24-1, N Boje 21-6-40-2

South Africa

First innings (237-3 overnight)

G Smith b Cairns 47

H Gibbs c sub (J Marshall) b Martin 77

J Rudolph not out 93

G Kirsten c McCullum b Martin 1

M van Jaarsveld c Oram b Martin 59

J Kallis c McCullum b Martin 0

M Boucher c Papps b Martin 0

S Pollock c Fleming b Oram 5

N Boje b Cairns 25

M Ntini c McCullum b Cairns 4

A Nel c Oram b Cairns 0

Extras (1lb, 4nb) 5

Total (99.5 overs) 316

Fall: 103 (Smith), 130 (Gibbs), 136 (Kirsten), 251 (van Jaarsveld),
265 (Kallis), 265 (Boucher), 270 (Pollock), 304 (Boje), 308 (Ntini),
316 (Nel)

Bowling: C Martin 20-5-55-5 (2nb), M Mason 16-4-73-0, J Oram
11-3-21-1, D Vettori 26-6-76-0, C Cairns 16.5-2-60-4 (2nb), S Styris
10-4-30-0