South Africa seeks record win

South Africa will go into the final day of their First Test against Australia knowing that they are on the brink of cricketing history. "At precisely 3.30pm yesterday Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie set off on what could yet become cricket's longest journey, the trek to 454 which would represent a record fourth innings score to win a Test match. They sniffed the high veld air and Smith felt his thigh pad like a man checking his provisions before challenging the chilly peaks that lay before him. Amundsen, one sensed, would have nodded in appreciation," writes Paul Weaver in the Guardian. "South Africa still need another 276 with eight wickets in hand and history tells us the journey is hopeless. But we live in a cricket world that amazes us, almost on a daily basis. One-day records, encouraged by heavier bats and smaller boundaries, have been splintered in recent years. Test cricket has not been left behind. Brian Lara and Matthew Hayden found new plateaus in recent years. And the record fourth innings winning score was set in 2002-03, when West Indies scored 418 for seven to beat Australia in Antigua. Supporters of England cricket have learned to take out emotional insurance against disappointment. In Chennai in December India scored 387 for four to beat England. It was a record in Asia."