Tuesday, Nov 30, 2004
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By Vijay Lokapally
BLUDGEONING THE OPPOSITION: Virender Sehwag cuts Shaun Pollock on the second day of the second Test at Eden Gardens.
KOLKATA, NOV. 29. Even as South Africa pursued a tactical pattern to make a match of it, Virender Sehwag rose to counter the opposition with yet another scintillating performance that lifted the quality of the Test match at the Eden Gardens here. South Africa batted to its potential and came up with a reasonably competitive total. So one thought. But from the manner in which Sehwag took the attack by the scruff of its neck, the South African captain, Graeme Smith, might well discover that the calculations were inaccurate. India, in reply to South Africa's 305, finished the second day on 129 for one with Sehwag's dominance standing out for the second match running. His effervescent batsmanship has been the lone redeeming feature of this series in which South Africa has shown a tendency to play negative cricket, given its ineffective bowling strength. It is for Sehwag now to give shape to India's realistic strategy of establishing a big lead and then gunning for the opposition on a pitch that threatens to shed its docile character in the next three days.
Lethal blow
Resuming at 227 for five, the South Africans failed to find the momentum once they lost early wickets and the dismissal of Jacques Kallis brought their aspirations to a grinding halt. The Indians had done well this morning after Zaheer Khan gave the breakthrough by knocking off Zander de Bruyn with his late swing but South Africa was dealt a lethal blow by Sourav Ganguly when he snared Kallis at a decisive stage of the innings. Kallis batted with the same intensity that marked his batting on the first day but succumbed to incredibly poor judgement when he offered no shot to a ball that moved in to clip the off bail. The preceding ball had left him groping and Kallis perhaps expected Ganguly to move it away again. But the India captain brought the ball in, leaving Kallis embarrassed. The lower half of the South African batting offered little resistance as Shaun Pollock failed to read Anil Kumble, while Harbhajan Singh, ignored by Ganguly the entire first session, needed just three deliveries in the afternoon to hasten the opposition's end. And then Sehwag took over. Sehwag's reading of any given situation is amazingly accurate. There is ample scope for playing shots on this pitch provided the batsman is willing to and Sehwag just relishes situations that require him to assume the role of dictating the attack. Even conceding the lack of bite in the South African attack where the team's over-reliance on Pollock was quite evident this afternoon, it required a brave approach from the batsman to assert his superiority. Sehwag did it in grand style, playing his trademark strokes to the delight of the spectators, after Gautam Gambhir perished to a casual cross-batted flick.
Ontong feels the heat
The limitations of the South African attack stood exposed under a calculated assault by Sehwag on part-time spinner Justin Ontong, who ran out of ideas in the span of mere 12 balls. Having started with a one-run over, Ontong invited the wrath of Sehwag following an innocuous leg-before appeal when the batsman padded up. There was trouble for Ontong as Sehwag produced an astounding range of shots, smashing the ball with disdain and plundering 28 runs from the two most entertaining overs for the spectators. The ease with which he finds scoring areas stands out in Sehwag's batting in both forms of the game. Here, it was a challenge that South Africa threw at him and he accepted gleefully from the time he took guard with an astonishing charge, including a sensational six to mid-wicket off the hapless Ontong. Sehwag is not the kind to play the waiting game. "That's not my natural style," he would remind you softly. On the field he can be a terror for the bowlers when he decides to attack and he did not spare any South African this day. Ontong bore the brunt of his aggression and must have learnt a lesson or two. More than anything, Ontong must have discovered that negative tactics does not always pay, especially against a batsman of Sehwag's calibre. Ontong tried the pad line and was promptly put in his place as Sehwag, even when hitting across, connected impeccably to leave the bowler in a trance. The battle reached its peak when Ontong dared Sehwag with a packed on-side defence. The South African took his own sweet time to plan the delivery and Sehwag responded typically with a reverse sweep, making a mockery of the South African ploy. This then was the moment to cherish on a day when intensity was missing in the middle until Sehwag's arrival. He made batting look so easy and enjoyable, with Rahul Dravid a privileged spectator at the other end.
SCOREBOARD
India bowling: Pathan 31-7-72-3 (nb-1), Zaheer 27-7-64-3 (nb-9), Kumble 30-6-76-1, Ganguly 9-3-14-1, Harbhajan 21.3-6-54-2, Tendulkar 3-0-8-0.
South Africa bowling: Pollock 12.4-2-41-1 (nb-3), Ntini 13-5-30-0, Ontong 4-1-29-0, Hall 7-0-24-0, de Bruyn 2-1-1-0.
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