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Amla shines before rain

CRICiNFO, undated
1 lashim Amla stroked his ninth Test fifty as England were made to work hard on the third morning at The Oval. James Anderson and Steve Harmison were both guilty of bowling a little too wide, and runs flowed accordingly to leave the match fascinatingly poised as South Africa wittled away at the deficit.
After a 30-minute drizzle delay, Harmison looked in good rythym from the off but, though his pace was useful, his line was too wide to trouble Amla and Neil McKenzie who, time and again, left balls wide of the off stump. Playing well back in his crease and with soft hands, McKenzie angled deliveries out to point and gully and, when he came onto the front foot, drove elegantly through extra cover to bring up South Africa's fifty. Shortly afterwards, however, McKenzie was beaten for pace by Harmison, top-
edging a pull but it scooted past Monty Panesarat fine-leg.
Amla, meanwhile, continued where he left off from last night and took advantage of Anderson's drifting deliveries into his legstump, flicking him with wristy power through square-leg. The next delivery, too, was pounced upon and sweetly timed past the lazy dive of Panesar at mid-on as runs began to flow and the deficit was decreasing steadily and surely.
McKenzie pulled Harmison for another powerful four through midwicket as Kevin Pietersen switched his field placings around, keen for a breakthrough. And after an hour’s play, he turned to Stuart Broad for inspiration - and the decision immediately paid off. A testing, pacey over to McKenzie troubled the right-hander with good line on his off stump. After digging out a yorker and getting a thick inside-edge onto his pads, another inside-edge cannoned into his middle stump to give England a much-needed break through.
Nevertheless, South Africa
remained in a useful position, trailing by just 40 and Amla continued to look in excellent touch. An elegant punch through extra cover off the back foot, off Andrew Flintoffs first over of the day, brought up his aggressive fifty, and he followed the landmark with a canny nudge past gully for four more. Flintoff was audibly furious, reflecting his team's frustration at letting South Africa off the hook.
All eyes are on Jacques Kallis, who has struggled his way to 95 unconvincing runs in this series. It seems Inconceivable that he will end his tour without a hundred, and if ever South Africa need him to fire, it is now. As more drizzle fell to prompt an early lunch, the deficit had been reduced to just 12 as the match was left intriguingly poised, albeit at the mercy of a poor weather forecast.
SCOREBOARD
Scoreboard at lunch on the third day of the fourth and final Test between England and South Africa at The Oval in London on Saturday:
FROM PAGE 17
SOUTH AFRICA: First innings 194
ENGLAND: First innings 316 SOUTH AFRICA; Second innings (overnight 37-1)
Smith lbwb Anderson 0
McKenzie b Broad 29
Amlanotout 71
Kallis not out 2
Extras: (b-6,nb-2) 8
Total: (For 2 wkts in 26.5 overs) 110 Fall of wickets: 1 -0,2-82
Bowler O M R W
Anderson 8 2 31 1
Harmison 9 0 34 0
Flintoff 5 0 29 0
Panesar 1100
Broad 3.5 2 10 1