Canterbury (England), June 30: Jacques Kallis said he hoped his back-to-back hundreds in two days had given his father Henry "a lot of thoughts to fight with" in his battle against cancer. Kallis, speaking after his one-day international best 125 not out had set up South Africa's 46-run triangular series win over Zimbabwe here yesterday, said: "It's been difficult with my father and last week my uncle died so from a family point of view it doesn't get any worse than that. "It was a difficult decision for me to come on this tour", added Kallis, 27, who made 107 in South Africa's six-wicket defeat against England in their first match of the series at the Oval on saturday. "Right up until the last minute I wasn't 100 percent sure I was going to come on tour", explained Kallis, who missed the tour of Bangladesh. "But my sister got a transfer to Cape Town and I know that my father would want nothing more for me than to be successful on a cricket field", added Kallis after posting his 10th one-day international hundred.

Kallis, 27, who has adopted his father's age, 65, as his shirt number, said of his performances: "It's right up there with the best feeling I've ever had".

He added: "My father didn't know about the shirt number but my sister told me it made him feel proud".

Kallis said his father's illness had given him a changed outlook. "I think it probably has put new perspective in my life. People are dying. If I can go out there and enjoy it and give other people enjoyment that's important".

Bureau Report