The Hindu : Sport : Tour decider heading for an explosive finish

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Friday, Jan 05, 2007
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Tour decider heading for an explosive finish

S. Dinakar

GETTING INTO THE ACT: A delighted Indian team after Sachin Tendulkar snared Jacques Kallis. — Photo: AP

CAPE TOWN: The decider is on razor's edge. On a hard fought third day that swung India's way after Jacques Kallis' indiscretion, the visitors secured a valuable 41-run lead.

South Africa was dismissed for 373 on the dying moments of Thursday in the third Castle Test. It was a fascinating day of Test cricket, where the Indian team displayed a lot of character.

The South Africans also fought hard to keep the match alive. The series is heading for an explosive finish.

India still holds the aces, but needs to bat well on Friday.

The pugnacious Mark Boucher (50, 99b, 6x4) and the smooth-stroking Shaun Pollock (31), who put on 69 for the seventh wicket in 19.5 overs with enterprising batting, whittled down India's lead.

The new ball, claimed after 115 overs, worked for India. S. Sreesanth appeared to have injured his foot slightly while landing in the footmarks, but Zaheer Khan found Pollock's edge with a delivery angled across the right-hander.

Then, Munaf Patel, who had operated without luck the whole day, got Boucher to nick a delivery that bounced more than expected.

Anil Kumble made short work of the tail to finish with four wickets. He would have to be more destructive in the second innings.

Vital breakthrough

The gifted Tendulkar provided India the vital breakthrough. Kallis, after a hesitant start, was stroking the ball with typical authority, whether driving the pacemen through overs or flicking or sweeping the spinners.

Kallis (54, 128b, 8x4) and in-form Ashwell Prince (the two raised 83 in 38.1 overs for the fourth wicket) guided South Africa past the 250-run mark — and the match was running away from India.

Dravid threw the ball at Tendulkar; it was the skipper's last fling of the dice. Kallis went for glory, sweeping a leg-break from outside the off-stump. Munaf had an ordinary day as a fielder, but did not drop this one at deep mid-wicket.

The left-handed Prince (26) has displayed a tight technique on this tour, but was guilty of dragging a Kumble delivery on to his stumps. Then, the much-maligned Virender Sehwag, bowling off-spin from the far end, won a debatable bat-pad decision against Herchelles Gibbs. South Africa slumped to 281 for six, and India had struck before tea.

The pitch continued to favour the spinners. Kumble strove, but appeared too keyed up by the occasion. He was pushing the ball through quickly. He needed to be slower through the air for the ball to grip the surface.

Tendulkar got more bite and turn spin and bite than any spinner and he flighted the ball.

Sometimes spinners can more effective when they operate in tandem. With pressure create from both ends, one strikes while the other contains. It was when Kumble operated with either Tendulkar or Virender Sehwag that the Indian bowling had more fizz.

Under the circumstances, would India have benefited by a second specialist spinner in Harbhajan Singh? In hindsight, yes. But it was not an easy decision for the team-management to make.

Sreesanth and Zaheer have bowled a lot of overs on this tour. There was some logic in the argument that India required a third paceman. And for a side that was bowled out inside 60 overs in its second innings at Kingsmead, going into the decider with a batsman short might have been too much of a risk. The five-bowler theory has been India's undoing in the past.

If Rahul Dravid knew he would win the toss, he might have still included Harbhajan. There was a belief that the pitch might aid the paceman more initially, before assisting the spinners from the fourth day onwards. Nobody quite expected Paul Harris to achieve turn on day one.

Earlier, Smith missed a hundred. Smith has been working on his technique, his back-lift in particular. Two immaculate straight drives off Zaheer - the left-armer has tormented Smith in the series - indicated his balance and body positions were better. Smith's was a brave, counter-attacking effort (94, 142b, 14x4, 1x6).

Canny field

He, eventually, fell to a canny field setting. With Anil Kumble bowling at the left-hander from round the wicket, Smith was always likely to work the spinner with the spin to the on-side and Dravid stationed a fielder at short mid-wicket.

Smith could not keep a drive down and Sehwag held a smart catch. The captain and Hashim Alma added 159 runs (in 44.5) overs in a critical second wicket stand. Dravid brought in Sreesanth from the far end. Amla's (63, 174b, 7x4) innings of discipline ended in a tame fashion, with the batsman chasing a widish delivery from the paceman to `keeper Dinesh Karthik.

India, with two quick strikes, built up considerable pressure.

SCOREBOARD

India — 1st innings: 414.

South Africa — 1st innings: G. Smith c Sehwag b Kumble 94, A.B. de Villiers c Karthik b Sreesanth 1, H. Amla c Karthik b Sreesanth 63, J. Kallis c Munaf b Tendulkar 54, A. Prince b Kumble 26, H. Gibbs c Jaffer b Sehwag 7, M. Boucher c Karthik b Munaf 50, S. Pollock c Ganguly b Zaheer 31, P. Harris (not out) 11, D. Steyn b Kumble 1, M. Ntini lbw b Kumble 0. Extras (b-7, lb-13, w-1, nb-14) 35, Total (in 128.3 overs) 373.

Fall of wickets: 1-14 (de Villiers), 2-173 (Smith), 3-177 (Amla), 4-260 (Kallis), 5-260 (Prince), 6-281 (Gibbs), 7-350 (Pollock), 8-372 (Boucher), 9-373 (Steyn).

India bowling: Zaheer 20-3-74-1, Sreesanth 24-9-58-2, Kumble 42.3-6-117-4, Munaf 20-5-43-1, Sehwag 12-0-31-1, Tendulkar 10-2-30-1.

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