South Africa crush West Indies

Needing only 146 to win the first full series between the two sides, South Africa cruised home after a free-scoring opening stand of 97 between Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs.

After Gibbs was out for 49, Kirsten and Jacques Kallis put on 50 at a run a minute, with Kirsten finishing unbeaten on 71.

Leading West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh bowled only four overs before being carried to the dressing room on a stretcher. He injured his left hamstring while chasing a ball in the outfield.

Trainer Dennis Waight said Walsh was a doubtful starter for the fourth Test which starts at Newlands, Cape Town, Saturday.

For Hansie Cronje's South African team, the series was one of the high points since the country's return to international cricket in 1991.

Cronje said the team's triumph was the result of ``good planning and hard work.'' He said the bowlers had done well to justify his decision to send the West Indies in, the batting had been solid and the fielding had been outstanding.

For the West Indies, it meant Caribbean cricket was near an all-time low. West Indies lost all three Tests in Pakistan last year under the captaincy of Walsh but seemed to be on the way back when new skipper Brian Lara led them to a 3-1 home win over England earlier this year.

Lara arrived in South Africa stressing the need to restore pride in West Indian cricket but his players have seldom threatened a well-disciplined South African team.

South Africa won the first Test in Johannesburg by four wickets and the second Test in Port Elizabeth by 178 runs.

``South Africa played better cricket,'' said Lara, paying particular tribute to the home team's fielding.

He said it had been another disappointing display by the West Indies but said he would stress to his team the need to play better in the remaining two Tests.

The West Indian performance in defending a small target Tuesday was that of a beaten team. Veteran Curtly Ambrose, who started his 83rd Test needing one wicket to become the ninth bowler to take 350 wickets in Tests, had a dismal match and failed to achieve the landmark.

He bowled only four lacklustre overs Tuesday after missing the end of the first innings because a knee strain.

With Walsh, who has taken 391 Test wickets, possibly out of action for the rest of the series, one of the great fast bowling pairings of all time may be nearing the end of the road. Walsh is 36 and Ambrose 35.

One positive sign for the West Indies was the bowling of Franklyn Rose, 26, who took seven for 84 in the first innings.

Rose was given the new ball at the start of the South African second innings ahead of Walsh. Although he did not look dangerous in his first spell, he came back with a fiery burst after lunch before South Africa reached their target.

Opening batsmen Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs were not troubled by the West Indian fast bowlers as they posted their second half-century partnership of the match, although both were lucky to survive against legspinner Rawl Lewis.

Kirsten survived a confident lbw appeal by Lewis when he was on 27 and the total 53. Gibbs, after hitting a sweetly-timed six over mid-off against Lewis, was dropped in the over before lunch with his score on 31 when he skied the ball to midwicket.

Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs ran 20 metres but got in a mix-up with fielder Darren Ganga and dropped the ball.

Kirsten had scored 40 at lunch and Gibbs 32.

The West Indies lost their last two wickets for 13 runs to the South African pace pair of Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald after resuming at 246 for eight Tuesday morning.

Pollock had Curtly Ambrose caught at deep mid-on by Hansie Cronje for five and finished with figures of five for 83, his third five-wicket haul of the series. Donald uprooted Courtney Walsh's offstump for three.

Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs, who batted at number seven, was left stranded on 15 not out.

It was another poor batting performance by the tourists, with 160 of their second innings runs scored in a third wicket partnership between captain Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Before their whitewash in Pakistan last season, West Indies had not previously lost three matches or more in a series since they were beaten 5-1 in a six-Test series in Australia in 1975/76.