Donald in sight of record (26 December 1998)

26 December 1998

Donald in sight of record

By Geoffrey Dean in Durban

HISTORY beckons for Allan Donald in the third Test today as he and an unchanged South African side seek to clinch the series against a bedraggled West Indies. Donald needs eight wickets from this match to equal Dennis Lillee's world record of 85 Test victims in a calendar year, set in 1981.

Donald becomes only the third South African after Hansie Cronje and Johnny Waite to make 50 Test appearances. So good has been his strike rate that he needs only two more wickets to reach 250 in Test cricket.

Kingsmead, with its generally well-grassed and bouncy pitches, has provided Donald with a high proportion of his Test victims at home. In view of his and Shaun Pollock's form in the first two Tests and of West Indies' dismal form with the bat, the odds are stacked in favour of another South African victory.

The West Indies have major problems with their openers, their No 6 and their tail, as unproductive as England's in Australia. Moreover, the three middle-order heavyweights have under-performed woefully. In the drawn match against South Africa A last weekend, Brian Lara surprisingly declined to play, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul at least found some form with an innings of 182. Worryingly, no one else scored runs.

The second-string bowlers have been another area of concern for the West Indies. One of Nixon McLean and Mervyn Dillon, both so poor in the last Test, seems certain to be replaced by the fit-again Franklyn Rose.

Coach Malcolm Marshall's experience of Kingsmead pitches from his Natal days ought to prove helpful for an attack that may include the leg-spinner Rawl Lewis.

"We have a good Boxing Day record stretching back 10 or so years," he said. "We just have to do it again. We have to win."

To manage that, the West Indies must play as a team for the first time this series. Rumours of dressing-room rifts will inevitably resurface on the back of more bad cricket. Lara, with only a single Test hundred since April 1997, needs more than ever to lead from the front and to revive memories of his former greatness.

Unless he does, the West Indies' miserable form on their travels - they have lost eight of their last 10 away Tests - could continue with a major inquisition to follow.

Teams

South Africa: *W J Cronje, G Kirsten, H H Gibbs, J H Kallis, D J Cullinan, J N Rhodes, -M V Boucher, S M Pollock, P L Symcox, A A Donald, D J Terbrugge.

West Indies (from): *B C Lara, C B Lambert, P A Wallace, S C Williams, S Chanderpaul, C L Hooper, D Ganga, -R D Jacobs, N A M McLean, R N Lewis, C E L Ambrose, M Dillon, F A Rose, C A Walsh, J Murray, F Reifer.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)