Lara struggles in benefit match
CAPE TOWN: West Indies batting kingpin Brian Lara could only score 31 and shared a half-century third wicket stand with century-maker Salman Butt, but it was not enough to win the match for the Jacques Kallis Invitational XI, as they went down by three runs to a South Africa XI yesterday. Chasing 259 runs for victory, the Kallis XI were restricted to 255 for eight in their allocation of 50 overs, despite Butt, the Pakistan opening batsman, hitting 102 and Lance Klusener making 44. After choosing to bat, the South Africa XI were carried to their competitive total on the backs of 69 from captain Graeme Smith, 57 from former captain Shaun Pollock, and 54 from all-rounder Ashwell Prince. Mfuneko Ngam, the right-arm South Africa fast bowler, who is attempting a comeback, after repeated stress fractures in the legs for the past four years, was expensive, but was the most successful bowler for Kallis’ side with three wickets for 57 runs from 7.1 overs. Retired South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald and Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Sami took two wickets each. The run-chase began poorly for Kallis’ XI with Abraham de Villiers being dismissed for a duck, but Butt anchored the innings with his 144-ball knock that included eight fours and a six. He added 79 with Lara before the former West Indies captain fell to his South African nemesis Makhaya Ntini in the 30th over. Kallis himself fell for just ten off 32 balls, and Klusener threatened with a 38-ball blitz, but Kallis’ side fell short. The second match of the two-match Jacques Kallis benefit series will be held at Centurion today.
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"Lara struggles in benefit match"