The story of the return of Zubayr Hamza to professional cricket has been nothing short of inspirational. From serving a nine-month ban for a banned substance that was detected in his system last year, Hamza has steadily went about his work to return to his absolute best.
Mentally, the process of getting himself to playing again was understandably difficult, however the 28-year-old has made it look like a walk in the park. In one of his first outings in domestic cricket following his ban, Hamza recorded century at the Bullring to officially mark his return in the professional set-up.
Some eight-months later, the stylish batter, known for his impeccable technique to spin bowling, tucked down the leg-side a delivery from Shamar Joseph (5/76 in 18 overs) to reach his first century in the green and gold, albeit in the South Africa A side during the third and final unofficial Test against the West Indies at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein.
Hamza (110* off 152, 12x4, 1x6) was brutal in punishing short-pitched deliveries from seamers Shermon Lewis (0/47 in 10 overs) and Akeem Jordan (0/55 in 13 overs), while keeping a watchful eye to the spin of Kevin Sinclair (0/60 in 17 overs) and Kavem Hodge (0/33 in 8 overs).
Joseph was the only bowler who got purchase off the wicket in the West Indies A bowling attack as he picked up all of the SA A wickets that fell on Day three. Having picked up the wicket of Khaya Zondo (31 off 61, 4x4, 1x6) very early on Thursday morning, in addition to the three wickets he picked up on Day two, Joseph caused Hamza a few headaches on his way to his century.
After setting up the top-order batter with a series of bouncers while on 98 not-out, Joseph bowled a full-length delivery and got an edge that was put down in the slip-cordon, handing Hamza a second life.
With Ruan de Swardt (86 off 126, 9x4, 1x6), the two batters put on a 159-run partnership for the fifth wicket, led South Africa A 275/5 declared and set the visitors a mammoth target of 421 runs.
With a little over an hour left in the day, Duanne Olivier (0/10 in 6 overs) and Dane Paterson (1/5 in 6 overs) bowled a tidy opening spell of 12 overs, a spell which saw the two quicks bowl seven maiden overs while conceding 15 runs between them and took the wicket of Zachary McCaskie (8 off 23, 2x4).
West Indies A require another 374 runs today while South Africa need nine wickets tow win the match and the series. Day four starts at 10am SAST today at the Manganung Oval.
Scorecard
South Africa: 274 all out (Zondo 70, Brand 62, Sinclair 5/44, Joseph 3/65)
West Indies: 126/9 (Sinclair 50, Johnson 33, Paterson 4/34, Viljoen 2/43)
South Africa: 275/5 (Hamza 110*, De Swardt 86, Joseph 5/ 76)
West Indies: 47/1 (Chanderpaul 11*, McKenzie 29*, Paterson 1/5)
West Indies need 374 to win
IOL Sport