The master and the Prince

Jacques Kallis has found Test centuries hard to come by this summer, but his batting role has nevertheless been monumental in getting the Proteas home to victory in successive series against India and Pakistan.

It was, in fact, business as usual for both him and Ashwell Prince as they put the loss of two quick wickets on Sunday morning behind them and set up the Proteas for a five-wicket win over Pakistan and a 2-1 series triumph that was not nearly as comfortable as the scoreline suggested.

The two had done exactly the same thing in the previous Test at Newlands against India when they also overcame difficult fourth-wicket batting conditions.

This time their partnership was worth 117 in three hours and nine minutes and, by the time Kallis was bowled by an absolute snorter from Shahid Nazir, the game was done and dusted with only five runs required for victory.

Kallis's half-century was enough to clinch for him both the man of the match (he had earlier taken six wickets over the two Pakistani innings) and the man of the series, his 274 runs coming at an average of 54.4.

Prince, who scored the only century of the series on either side, did even better with his 240 runs coming at an average of 60.

This was probably the finest non-century that Kallis had scored for the Proteas since his unbeaten 36 at Mumbai in 2000 that helped them win by four wickets against India and set in progress what was to be a historic 2-0 series win.

On Sunday the Proteas needed 161 for victory and in 2000 they had needed 163 for victory over India.

On both occasions the match was tense and close enough for one wicket to sway it either way and it says a lot for Kallis that he was the common denominator on both occasions.

Where the Proteas have really gone forward is that in the past panic stations have tended to set in when Kallis has failed and that is where Prince has filled a huge void.

He may have given three chances (on 31, 36 and 58) as he recorded yet another unbeaten century in a winning cause, but it was the type of pitch on which you needed a measure of luck to survive.

Even when the pair had been batting for more than three hours, they were still playing and missing at deliveries that lifted unpredictably off a length.

As Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer put it: "We got two wickets quickly and, if we could have picked up another couple, it could have been a different story.

"As it was, Kallis and Prince batted quite brilliantly."

Although naturally disappointed at losing, Woolmer felt that his team had come on a long way since he first took over two years ago.

They are a much more consistent unit and they have shown in this series their ability to guts it out under difficult circumstances.

They clearly have a world-class star in the making in their fast-medium bowler Mohammad Asif.

He and and Makhaya Ntini each took 19 wickets in the series at an average of less than 19.

Asif gave it everything he had on Sunday morning in a spell that earned him the wickets of Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla in 11 overs at a cost of just six runs.

With leg-spinner Danish Kaneria proving equally testing from the other end (eight runs in 12 overs), the Proteas were able to score only 40 runs in 31 overs in the morning session.

It was an effort that finally drew Asif's sting and Prince sensed the moment after lunch when he hit a couple of invaluable boundaries.

In many ways the final day was a mirror of Pakistan's series.

They really only had two effective bowlers in Kaneria and Asif.

And, when they were rested or started running out of steam, the game turned totally.

By contrast Ntini always had the support of a Kallis, Dale Steyn, Shaun Pollock, André Nel, Andrew Hall or Paul Harris and that was the significant difference between the two sides.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq did not field for most of the last day with back trouble, something that has plagued him in the past, although it is too early to say whether this will affect his participation in the one-day series.