FLYING HIGH: Two of the key players in India's series-levelling win, Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Dravid, celebrate the dismissal of Justin Kemp. — Photo: AP

Mumbai: The chance for making history appeared and disappeared in a flash.

The young Johan Botha glared at his hands in anger. Rahul Dravid looked into the night sky in relief. This was the decisive moment of the series.

The Indian captain was on 32, and South Africa very much in the hunt when the off-spinner dropped the return catch. The visitors had also floored the opportunity to register their maiden ODI series triumph in India.

This was no ordinary miss. India required Dravid, with all his technical excellence, to stay till the very end. He did just that and once again the side that won the toss carried the night.

When the dust settled on a furiously fought match, Man of the Match Dravid remained unbeaten on a 78 (106b, 10x4), an effort that oozed character and resolve. Mohammed Kaif was on 16 when the winning runs arrived in the 48th over. Team India was home by five wickets in a game that twisted and turned.

The Pepsi ODI series has been drawn 2-2. It is a creditable performance by India against the second ranked team in world cricket that entered the country with a 19-match unbeaten record. Yuvraj Singh and Graeme Smith shared the Man of the Series award.

Paying the price

South Africa paid the price for losing momentum in the middle overs. Jacques Kallis (91 off 146b) and Mark Boucher (35 off 56) did not force the pace when the side had big hitters like Justin Kemp in the pavilion. Graeme Smith's side was at least 20 runs short in the end.

The night belonged to Dravid and Team India. When the Indian captain suffered an injury to his left elbow in the concluding moments of the chase, the crowd chanted `Dravid, Dravid'. He was the captain courageous.

Batting was a challenge on a pitch of brownish hue. The surface was bereft of grass, but the hardness of the pitch meant there was bounce and carry for the pacemen.

Mkhaya Ntini sent down a blistering first spell. He snared Gautam Gambhir with a vicious short-pitched delivery, which the left-hander, playing across, ballooned into the slip cordon.

Virender Sehwag, surfacing one drop, played some tremendous strokes on the rise before being dismissed to a debatable leg-before decision to Pollock. Sachin Tendulkar, back in the opening slot, was just getting into his stride when he was fell to an astonishing catch at point by Ashwell Prince. Despite not consolidating, Sehwag took on Pollock, and this was psychological victory in itself for India.

Judicious chase

Dravid and Yuvraj managed the chase judiciously. The South Africans strove hard. On view at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday was passion and intensity.

Dravid was particularly elegant off his legs. Before he was caught behind the pumped up Nel, Yuvraj essayed some spanking drives. Mahendra Singh Dhoni struggled, but Kaif was confidence personified during his brief stay. And Dravid held firm. He is also the highest run-getter for the year in ODIs.

Dravid won a crucial toss and chose the logical option. In the two day-night games in the series, in Bangalore and Kolkata, the side defending a total had run into a truckload of trouble.

Irfan Pathan soon had the Indians cavorting. The left-armer is bowling to a lovely rhythm these days. He has a bag of tricks and is displaying his wares. Andrew Hall, who can be obdurate, was done in by a delivery from the left-armer that cut into the right-hander to rearrange woodwork.

Pathan ambushed the inform Graeme Smith with a classic piece of deception.

It had been an interesting duel between Pathan and Smith. The South African skipper attempted to seize the psychological initiative by charging down at the left-armer but could not clear the infield. The stroke also indicated that frustration was creeping into his batting due to the dot balls sent down by Pathan.

Pathan had once again struck with the new ball and his spell of 7-1-12-2 was precise and probing; it's quite remarkable how he manages to settle into a groove straightaway since controlling the extent of swing is never the easiest of tasks. His effort was all the more creditable since Ajit Agarkar bowled an ordinary first spell.

Kallis's knock

Kallis settled down to don the role of the sheet anchor. The South African middle-order is a touch rickety in the absence of Herschelles Gibbs and the side required its premier batsman to dig in.

Harbhajan operated with control and craft. The off-spinner settled into an ideal off-stump line and shifted his line adeptly to the southpaws; Ashwell Prince fell into a well-laid sweep trap.

Kallis was solid without being flamboyant; there were just five boundaries in his innings. Boucher, a busy little player, worked the ball into the gaps during his 56-ball 35. It was Virender Sehwag's off-spin that accounted for

Harbhajan, given another fling, consumed Justin Kemp. The short fine-leg, smartly put in place by Dravid, was ready and waiting when the big-hitter top-edged a sweep.

Kallis, his body firmly behind the ball, presented an authoritative picture even if he was not dismissive of the bowling. His vigil finally ended when he failed in his attempt to dump Pathan over the long on ropes.

Pollock made a breezy 14-ball unbeaten 30 (4x4, 1x6) striking the ball with languid ease. Kartik was desperately unlucky on this day and his figures will never tell you the true tale.

South Africa: G. Smith c Harbhajan b Pathan 24, A. Hall b Pathan 4, J. Kallis c Kaif b Pathan 91, A. Prince c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 9, M. Boucher c Harbhajan b Sehwag 35, J. Kemp c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 11, S. Pollock (not out) 30, J. Botha (not out) 3. Extras: (lb-4, nb-2, w-8) 14; Total (for six wkts. in 50 overs): 221.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-36, 3-77, 4-158, 5-178, 6-209.

India bowling: Pathan 8-1-20-3, Agarkar 7-1-33-0, R.P. Singh 6-0-27-0, Kartik 10-0-58-0, Harbhajan 10-0-32-2, Sehwag 5-0-24-1, Yuvraj 4-0-23-0.

Power Play 1: 1 to 10 overs; Power Play 2: 11 to 15 overs; Power Play 3: 17 to 21 overs.

Super Sub: R. Peterson (J. Kemp).

India: G. Gambhir c Kemp b Ntini 0, S. Tendulkar c Prince b Nel 30, V Sehwag lbw b Pollock 27, R. Dravid (not out) 78, Y. Singh c Boucher b Nel 49, M. S. Dhoni c Boucher b Langeveldt 12, M. Kaif (not out) 16, Extras: (lb-6, nb-1, w-5) 12. Total (for five wkts. in 47.3 overs) 224.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-46, 3-83, 4-162, 5-201.

South Africa bowling: Pollock 9-1-49-1, Ntini 10-0-53-1, Nel 10-0-35-2, Langeveldt 8.3-1-38-1, Botha 6-0-24-0, Hall 4-0-19-0.

Power Play 1: 1 to 10 overs; Power Play 2: 11 to 15; Power Play 3: 16 to 20.

Super Sub: G. Gambhir (R.P. Singh).

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