Record-breaking Warne leads Australia fightback

PERTH (Australia)—Brilliant leg-spinner Shane Warne captured the world record for the most wickets in a calendar year as Australia bowled their way back into the first Test against South Africa.
Warne claimed his 86th scalp of the year when he trapped Ashwell Prince lbw for 28 to send the Proteas in for tea at 189-6 on Saturday, still 69 runs behind Australia’s first innings of 258.
Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher and pace bowler Shaun Pollock were at the crease on nine and one respectively. Warne’s effort, which broke the previous record of 85 wickets set by former Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee in 1981, was the highlight of a stirring fightback by the Australians.
South Africa had resumed on Saturday morning at 38-0 and looked firmly in control even after losing two wickets in the opening session, the second just before lunch. But after the break they began to struggle and lost four wickets for just 61 runs, mirroring Australia’s middle-order problems on Friday.
Warne started the rot when he equalled Lillee’s record by bowling opener AB de Villiers for 68 in the second over after lunch, leaving left South Africa on 135-3. Apart from edging a few deliveries from speedster Brett Lee wide of the slips cordon, de Villiers had looked settled, knocking 10 boundaries off 109 balls.
Jacques Rudolph, brought into the side to cover for the injured Jacques Kallis, couldn’t reproduce the form that he had shown in the lead-up to the Test when he fell to Lee two overs later. The lefthander was caught in the slips by Australian skipper Ricky Ponting as the pressure mounted on the Proteas at 145-4.
Captain Graeme Smith with 34 had been the first wicket to fall for the day with the total on 83. Smith, who had played a cautious knock, was caught brilliantly by Ponting diving to his right at second slip off an inswinger by Nathan Bracken.
Lee then made the second breakthrough when Herschell Gibbs drifted across the stumps before dragging a delivery onto his wicket for 21.Warne bowled opener A.B. de Villiers for 68 before trapping Ashwell Prince lbw for 28, moving past compatriot Lillee’s 1981 haul of 85.
“If I had the choice of picking someone to beat the record, I would’ve picked Warney,” Lillee said earlier. “I just think he’s a sensational player. “He’s the best leg-spinner I’ve ever seen, by a mile, and he’s probably the best bowler as well.” Warne, the world’s leading Test wicket-taker with 647 in 133 matches, began the year with a five-wicket haul in the final Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January on the way to a 3-0 series whitewash.
The 36-year-old then picked up 17 victims in a three-Test tour of New Zealand, but it was the 2-1 Ashes defeat in England that brought him within reach of the record. He took 40 wickets in the five-Test series at 19.92 and added an average of 27.66 with the bat for good measure.—Agencies