Jacques Kallis hit an unbeaten century Monday to put South Africa in a strong position on Day One of the first Test. South Africa finished the opening day with a healthy 294-3, with Kallis not out on 118 off 192 balls — his 25th Test century — while Hashim Amla scored a solid 71 with six fours and a straight six. Paceman Mohammad Asif broke the 170-run stand late in the day when he bowled Amla off his fourth delivery with the second new ball. “It was disappointing not to score a century, but we are now looking toward a score in excess of 500,” Amla said.Kallis dominated the three-hour partnership with Amla and put aside his disappointment after being omitted from last month’s Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa — completing his second 50 in 56 balls.“We were pretty close at tea, but Kallis decided to attack in the last session and he is a kind of a player who could do that easily,” Amla said. He overtook his batting partner in the last session and completed his century off 147 balls with 12 boundaries before Asif struck to break the partnership.Pakistan had a bad day in the field after missing at least four chances to separate Kallis and Amla. Kallis was dropped on 36 and again on 61 while Amla also got two reprieves. Misbah-ul Haq — returning to the Test side after four years — dropped an easy catch close to the wicket when Amla was on 1, and later Salman Butt’s throw was wide of the stumps with Amla way out of his crease while on 39.South Africa lost a wicket in each of the first two sessions as Pakistan bowlers struggled under sweltering heat in this southern port city.Herschelle Gibbs — without a century in his last 21 Test matches — scored a patient 54 off 106 balls with eight boundaries before he played a loose drive to paceman Umar Gul and offered a low catch to Mohammad Hafeez at gully after lunch.Earlier, captain Graeme Smith (42) justified his decision to bat first after winning the toss with an 87-run opening partnership.Scoreboard South Africa (first innings): H Gibbs c Hafeez b Gul 54; G Smith lbw b Hafeez 42; H Amla b Asif 71; J Kallis batting 118; A Prince batting 3. Extras: (b-1, lb-2, nb-3) 6. Total: (For three wickets in 90 overs) 294. Fall of wickets: 1-87, 2-109, 3-279. Bowling: Mohammad Asif 18-5-51-1, Umar Gul 17-5-53-1,Danish Kaneria 23-2-76-0, Abdul Rehman 10-1-40-0, Shoaib Malik 8-2-31-0, Mohammad Hafeez 14-0-40-1.
