da doce： On the second day at Newlands, South Africa enjoyed their best day of theseries so far, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Jacques Kallisand Nicky Boje, whose 104-run stand for the eighth wicket lifted theirtotal to an imposing 441
Andrew Miller at Cape Town04-Jan-2005
Nicky Boje added to England’s agony with a crucial half-century© Getty Images
On the second day at Newlands, South Africa enjoyed their best day of theseries so far, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Jacques Kallisand Nicky Boje, whose 104-run stand for the eighth wicket lifted theirtotal to an imposing 441. By the close, England were struggling to stay intouch, after losing four top-order wickets in quick succession, includingAndrew Strauss for 45, just two overs before the close.”Patience was what was required on that pitch,” said Kallis, whose 149 washis second big hundred of the series. “It has a slow, steep, tennis-ballbounce, and it’s not easy to score on, because it’s difficult to hitthrough the line. There’s a little bit in it if the bowlers find the rightareas, and with the uneven bounce, scoring will become more difficult.”For Kallis, it was just another day at the office, notwithstanding anincredibly hostile opening over from Steve Harmison, which he admitted”woke him up a bit”. He has now scored 382 runs in the series, and thiswas his eighth century in 14 matches. But he could not have achieved thesame success without Boje at the other end, and he was quick to praise histeam-mate’s contribution.”Nicky played unbelievably well,” said Kallis. “At one stage we werelooking at 400 as a total, so to get towards 450 was a bonus. It’simportant that the lower order contributes, and they have done that in thelast few games. It was nice to see, and it showed what sort of a player heis.”It was Boje’s third Test half-century (he also has two one-day hundreds tohis name), but his first since his return to the side after an operationto remove his thyroid gland, which, during a routine check-up, was foundto have developed a cancerous growth. It was the sort of moment that putsa sporting career into perspective.”It’s quite a shock when it happens,” said Boje. “You don’t really thinkit can happen to a 30-year-old, a fit and strong guy, but it can happen toanyone. I’m on tablets now for the rest of my life, but I’m just luckyit’s the type of cancer that stays in the thyroid. They say if you want toget cancer that’s the one to get.”As for the match situation, Kallis admitted that the crucial period of theEngland innings would come when Andrew Flintoff comes to the crease, andseeing that they used Matthew Hoggard as a nightwatchman, theyanticipate that moment coming sooner rather than later. But Flintoffhimself was confident that his team would fight back hard, just as theyhad done at Durban last week.”We’ll have to scrap,” said Flintoff. “The rest of us have got to batwell, but we’ve been in this position before and come out the other side.The Durban match has given us confidence, and over the past 12 to 18months, whenever we’ve needed a performance, someone has stuck their handup.”