Date-stamped : 05 Dec93 - 10:10 RSA v Victoria, MCG, Melbourne 4-7 Dec 1993 ====> Day 1: 04 Dec 1993 A spirited tail-end rearguard lifted South Africa's modest total on the first day of their opening Australian tour match against Victoria on Saturday. A 64-run ninth wicket stand between Dave Rundle and Craig Matthews lifted the tourists' first innings to 261 after they had been tottering at 185 for eight on the Mel- bourne Cricket Ground, venue for their opening Test against Aus- tralia starting on Boxing Day. Matthews finished unbeaten on 42, his highest score for South Africa while Rundle scored 29. At the close, Victoria was five without loss with Wayne Phillips on four and Darrin Ramshaw one. South Africa's number one strike bowler Allan Donald sent the shivers through his teammates when he slipped on the popping crease as he was about to deliver his first ball of Victoria's first innings. The virus which has plagued the squad since they arrived from India seemed insignificant as Donald lay sprawled on the wicket and appearing to be in great pain. But his team-mates breathed easy when he got up to continue his two over spell be- fore stumps. A Victorian attack without test bowlers, Shane Warne and Paul Reiffel, did well to bowl the South Africans out for under 300. Skipper Dean Jones's decision to send South Africa in didn't look to be paying dividends when the tourists cruised comfortably to 78 for one at lunch. But a combination of steady bowling and poor shots gave Victoria the upperhand during the afternoon ses- sion when they captured five wickets for 78 runs. Victorian paceman Damien Fleming made the most of his recall to capture 6- 86, the fourth time he has snared five or more wickets in an in- nings. Fleming was only selected because Reiffel was in Brisbane for the third Test against New Zealand. His day began well when he removed the skipper Kepler Wessels for 16 after the veteran opener got a leading edge to Tony Dodemaide at short cover. Bri- an McMillan made the most of his promotion to number three with an authorative 55 off 94 balls. He and vice-captain Hansie Cronje (41) made batting look easy before their partnership was broken by Simon Cook shortly after lunch. Fleming then ripped through the middle order to have Jonty Rhodes (8) and David Callaghan (20) follow McMillan back to the pavilion during the session. Victoria looked likely to wrap up the South African innings for less than 200 but Matthews and Run- dle steadied the innings. They took the long handle to Victorian legspinner Craig Howard and also preyed on the tiring Fleming to post South Africa's highest ninth wicket stand in seven tour matches against Victoria dating back to 1910. Dodemaide stopped the rot when he forced Rundle to flash outside his off-stump and tickle the ball through to wicketkeeper Darren Berry when the score was 249. Contributed by vasa (vasa@sun.com) ====> Day 2: 05 Dec 1993 A knee injury to key bowler Brian McMillan tarnished an en- couraging South African fightback on the second day of their opening tour match against Victoria on Sunday. The Western Pro- vince allrounder twisted his left knee trying to extract extra pace as he went for a hattrick during a batting collapse by the Sheffield Shield side in the final session. Damien Fleming edged the delivery just past the out-stretched hand of third slip Craig Matthews after McMillan had dismissed allrounder Richard Herman and wicketkeeper Darren Berry with the two previous balls of his 12th over. McMillan, 30 later this month, left the field an hour before stumps. He will not know until Monday morning whether he can bowl again in the match. At the close, Victoria were 260 for eight with Fleming un- beaten on 29 and Craig Howard eight in reply to South Africa's first innings of 261. McMillan and off-spinner Dave Rundle com- bined to break the back of the Victoria's middle order when the state side resumed at 179 for two after tea. At one stage Vic- toria lost four wickets for one run off 11 balls. Darrin Ramshaw (71) and Brad Hodge (80) shared a 106-run stand for the third wicket before Ramshaw became McMillan's first scalp when caught at mid-on after a mistimed pull shot. The rot began when Hodge was dismissed with the score on 218. The 18-year-old right hander gave Rundle his first wicket for South Africa after he was caught behind by wicketkeeper Errol Stewart. Warren Ayres was out one run later, caught at first slip by McMillan off Rundle's bowling and then Herman and Berry followed in the next over with the score still on 219. Fast bowler Allan Donald also produced ominous signs for the coming Test series against Australia when he troubled Victoria's batsmen on the dead Melbourne Cricket Ground wicket, venue for the open- ing test against Australia starting on Boxing Day. He trapped Tony Dodemaide leg before for two but was unlucky not to have also dismissed Fleming and Howard before stumps. Earlier in the day Victorian skipper and former test batsman Dean Jones wasted a golden opportunity to impress the national selectors when he was dismissed for 38. Jones, typically aggres- sive, looked set for a big score when he gave spinner Pat Symcox a caught and bowled off a leading edge. South African manager Mike Procter was delighted with his bowlers' fightback. "For the first game I think we've done alright," Procter said. "I thought the guys came back well again." Donald, who fell when attempting to bowl his first ball on Sa- turday, was not comfortable in his approach to the wicket and pulled up on several occasions. "There is a lot of sand out there and it is uneven," Procter said. "They all said it was tough to run in. "They didn't mention injury. The bowlers said it was really very heavy and at times like beach sand." Contributed by vasa (Vasanthan.Dasan@*Sun.COM) ====> Day 3: 06 Dec 1993 South Africa crumbled to 168-9 in their second innings on the third day of their tour match against Victoria. They lead by just 99. Brian McMillan batted for 25 mins despite impending knee surgery. Contributed by goo-chie (jdw5@*.ukc.ac.uk)