CENTURION, South Africa, CMC:
MAKHAYA NTINI'S rapid climb up the ladder of respectability accelerated even further yesterday as he completed his third five-wicket innings haul of the series to leave the West Indies on the verge of another crushing defeat in the fourth and final Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park.
The 26-year-old fast bowler - the leading wicket-taker in Tests in 2003 - claimed five for 49 as the tourists were dismissed in their first innings for 301 on the third day.
Forced to follow-on with a huge deficit of 303 still facing them, Ntini bowled Daren Ganga to claim his 27th wicket of the series.
Fellow pacer Andre Nel, who was married the previous evening, then struck a crippling blow to the Caribbean side when he trapped skipper Brian Lara leg-before offering no shot to leave the tourists limping at 44 for two in their second innings at stumps, still needing another 259 runs just to avoid an innings defeat.
A RARE DOUBLE
It was a rare double for the gangling pacer who had removed the West Indies' champion batsman in the first innings just hours earlier.
The beleaguered tourists will be hoping that Chris Gayle can resume his innings at the fall of the next wicket.
The opener was forced to retire hurt suffering from nausea after a painful blow in the box (groin) inflicted by another Ntini delivery.
However, the overnight pair of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are the first obstacles facing the home team on the fourth morning as they seek to complete a swift victory and a 3-0 series triumph.
On the same pitch that the West Indies bowlers toiled for almost two days in conceding 604 runs and taking just six wickets, the South African pacers' greater discipline and purpose brought considerably greater reward and highlighted the deficiencies in the opponents' attack.
"I think we bowled better in better areas," said Nel, who claimed three for 64 in the first innings before adding the scalp of Lara a second time around late in the evening.
"Whereas their bowlers sometimes bowled short and two different lengths, we were more patient and that made the difference."
For Ntini, who went past the 150-wicket mark in Tests during the day, his performances over the past year have been the perfect response to the critics who were dismissing his credentials as a fast bowler amid the disastrous tour of Australia two years ago.
"Every one has ups and downs," said the pacer from the Eastern Cape, an area with a rich history of black cricket extending over 100 years. "But when you get things going right, you want to make sure you close most people's mouths, whatever they were saying. You have to believe in yourself."
That belief was evident from his opening spell as Ntini made a mockery of the struggles of his West Indian counterparts, removing Ganga to a second slip catch and Sarwan to an inside-edged drive onto his leg-stump.
With the ball seaming about in the continuing overcast conditions, Gayle and Lara needed more than just a touch of luck to survive the early assault, the West Indies captain being dropped on 11 by Graeme Smith low at fourth slip off Ntini.
After a watchful start, Gayle tore into the change bowlers in a manner reminiscent of his blistering 79-ball hundred in the first innings of the Third Test. But he lost Lara just before lunch when Nel lured him into following a delivery to touch a catch to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.
Gayle, who reached 50 with eight fours and one six, continued to blaze away after the interval but did not benefit from a chance on 76, adding just one more run before a sliced drive off Ntini found Neil McKenzie at deep backward-point.
Dwayne Smith, fresh from a debut hundred in Cape Town, played and missed repeatedly, but retained his composure to punctuate an innings of 39 with some fine strokes, none better than an imperious hook for six off Kallis.
The bowler had the last laugh, however, when the 21-year-old Barbadian was eventually caught behind.
Chanderpaul contributed a typically dogged 42, while Vasbert Drakes and Mervyn Dillon struck boundary-filled 30s. But the advent of the second new ball swiftly ended the resistance 90 minutes after tea, and 10 minutes later, Ntini and Shaun Pollock were charging in again with another new cherry in the quest for more success.
Ganga's swift demise and Lara's error of judgement in those final overs have all but sealed the tourists' fate, although hope lingers that the rest of the batting order can at least give an increasingly bedraggled side a modicum of respectability on the fourth day.
