Cricinfo





 





Live Scorecards
Fixtures - Results






England v Pakistan
Top End Series
Stanford 20/20
Twenty20 Cup
ICC Intercontinental Cup





News Index
Photo Index



Women's Cricket
ICC
Rankings/Ratings



Match/series archive
Statsguru
Players/Officials
Grounds
Records
All Today's Yesterdays









Cricinfo Magazine
The Wisden Cricketer

Wisden Almanack



Reviews
Betting
Travel
Games
Cricket Manager








Jonty Rhodes' century

Ken Borland
21 January 1999




Jonty Rhodes' blistering assault on the West Indies bowlers during the final Test at Centurion Park, in which he reached the fastest South African Test century in terms of balls faced, was another reminder of the Natal star's selflessness.

Rhodes has never worried about his own career statistics and has proved time and again that the team good is always his primary aim. He has often shown himself to be willing to risk his own wicket, chasing runs in flamboyant fashion in order to meet whatever target or run rate the captain has asked for.

Regarding the record, Rhodes' 103 not out, in 104 minutes off 95 balls, may well be South Africa's fastest ever.

The record in terms of time belongs to Jimmy Sinclair, who scored 104 in 80 minutes against Australia at Newlands in 1902/03, but how many balls he actually faced cannot be answered with any certainty.

Sinclair, who scored South Africa's first Test century (106 v England, Jhb 1898), was a renowned big-hitter and fast bowler who developed into one of our top all-rounders of all time. In 25 Tests he finished with over 1 000 runs and three centuries, and took 63 wickets at an average of just above 30.

But he was playing in the days when the over-rate was up to 20 to the hour, and this makes comparisons with Rhodes' time of 104 minutes impossible. The scant records of the day do not state how many balls each batsman faced, so if Sinclair took most of the strike during his 80 minutes at the crease, then one cannot automatically assume he faced less than 95 balls.

That Rhodes had the chance to grab a third Test century is just reward for a team man through and through, and captain Hansie Cronje paid tribute to the Natalian's attitude. ``He sent a message out shortly before drinks to say whatever score he was on, we could declare. That's the sort of team man he is and that's the sort of commitment he has.''

Rhodes, whose other Test centuries have necessitated getting his head down and digging in, will seldom have a hundred dished up so invitingly on a plate again. He came in with the score 256 for four and the demoralised West Indian bowlers toiling on a pitch which wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, the first-innings centurion, described as ``having nice bounce and allowing you to play your shots''.

The West Indians wilted in the hot sun as Rhodes first of all hammered them through the off-side with a series of delicious cover-drives and then sent their bouncers straight into the crowd beyond square-leg.

It was a sublime display of batting for the 17 500 spectators and those who watched it on TV, and it is unlikely a more spectacular innings will be played this season.



live scores








Results - Forthcoming
Desktop Scoreboard