By Ashley Williams
LONDON (TheSportsNext) July 21, 2012: Captain
of South African cricket team Graeme Smith continued his good run of form
against England as he struck his 25th Test career hundred in his 100th
Test match at The Oval on Saturday.
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| Graeme Smith |
South Africa gave a befitting reply to England’s first
innings total of 385 runs, thanks to impressive centuries by skipper Graeme
Smith and Hashim Amla as the tourists raced to 277 for two at Tea on Day 3.
South Africa were still 108 runs away from England's first
innings total.
This is the seventh time in Test cricket that a batsman
scored century in his 100th Test match. Colin Cowdrey, Javed
Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and Ricky Ponting are
the other batsmen who scored centuries in their 100th Test match.
It is interesting to note that Graeme Smith’s 25th
hundred had two completely different flavors as he took 160 deliveries to
complete first fifty runs but changed gears and completed the second fifty from
just 41 balls.
The Oval Test is evenly poised at the stage as both teams
are looking strong but if South Africans managed to take a hefty first innings
lead then it would be tough task for the home side to save the first Test of
the highly-anticipated series between the top two best Test teams in the
Reliance ICC Test Rankings.
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