Kallis proved his mettle yet again

Cape Town: Jacques Kallis continued a summer of extraordinary form as he slammed his fifth century in successive matches and led a South African recovery in the first one-day International against the West Indies at Newlands on Sunday.

Kallis, who made hundreds in all four Tests against the tourists, hit an unbeaten 109 off 94 balls as South Africa made 263 for four.

Kallis and Jacques Rudolph (61 not out) put on an unbeaten 162 for the fifth wicket to enable South Africa to reach a total which did not seem likely when they were floundering at 101 for four in the 27th over.

The change from Test to limited overs cricket had no effect on Kallis, who made 712 runs in the Test series at an average of 178. He went to his half-century off a relatively sedate 59 balls, then launched a stunning attack as he took only 30 more deliveries to reach his 11th one-day century.

In all he hit six fours and five sixes, including two sixes off successive deliveries against Vasbert Drakes. (AFP)