South Africa had the best of exchanges on a day that saw the last two wickets add a precious 71 runs to take its first innings total to 328 on day two of the second Test against India in Durban on Wednesday.
Their bowlers then struck, taking out Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffar to leave India in a position of some strife at 61/3.
Sachin Tendulkar, the beneficiary of a spilt sitter by none other than Graeme Smith, and VVS Laxman then settled down to a rescue effort; when play ended prematurely due to bad light, India was 103/3, with Tendulkar 46/89, and Laxman on a more circumspect 10/49.
At close, the game remains interesting poised. South Africa was 28/3 in its first innings before the recovery; India, in comparison, is in a slightly better position, but needs someone to do an Ashwell Prince and bat through.
Laxman appeared to have settled into that role, while Tendulkar appeared more ready to attack anything loose. Much will depend on the platform this pair can provide when play resumes tomorrow; a stable base will allow the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to build India's total towards, even across, the South African mark.
(Full report follows)
Morning session:
Whatever you do out there on the field, someone with access to a laptop can always argue that the reverse should have been done.
Like me, here. It was a bit surprising, frankly, to see Sreesanth get the first over of the morning, against two left-hand batsmen in Ashwell Prince and Morne Morkel.
The seamer did start with a maiden, but then went for nine and 11 in his next two overs, before yielding the ball to Zaheer Khan -- the bowler who, with his natural delivery leaving the bat, should have been up first anyway.
By then, though, the damage was done; Prince had creamed a four off the first ball of Sreesanth's second over, through extra cover, to bring up his century, and get that hurdle out of the way. At the other end, Morkel had dispatched a couple of loose deliveries to the boundary, and was beginning to feel good about himself.
In a sense, it was the Proteas equivalent of the VRV Singh blitz in the first innings at Jo'burg - in terms of runs, seemingly insignificant; in terms of momentum shifts, potentially huge, in that it halted India in its tracks just when the fielding side was looking to finish the South African innings off quick.
Prince, meanwhile, brought up his century off 188 deliveries, with 14 fours, in the manner described above -- and celebrated like a frisky puppy while his dressing room stood to applaud a job grittily done by a batsman derided, not so long ago, as a 'quota' selection.
His wagon wheel is interesting: more than half his runs came square of the wicket, with 22 on the on and 34 on the off; there were also 27 runs off his pads behind the wicket; a scoring arc that cumulatively spoke of a batsman willing to wait, to play the ball as late as he possibly could, and to focus on hitting his target areas when he could, while defending to the rest.
After his dour display of yesterday, Prince unveiled another side of his batting this morning with a series of fluid strokes, especially once he had gone past his century. His wicket, like that of Gibbs yesterday, came against the run of play -- and as fortune would have it, Sreesanth did the damage, with a ball that didn't deserve reward.
Bowling with the second new ball, the right arm seamer sprayed one on the short side, wide and angling away; Prince went after it, driving well away from his body and managing only to get the toe of the bat on it.
VVS Laxman, at second slip, was crouched low for the catch; he had to adjust in an instant and take it high overhead as it came at him at warp speed. Looked simple enough, but the adjustment involved made it one of the better catches Laxman has snared in a series punctuated by some outstanding catching (Prince 121/212 balls; SA 290/8; partnership 39 runs in 58 deliveries).
Morkel was a bit of a revelation; the tall left arm quick looks nicely organized at the batting crease, with neat footwork, a positive stride out to the quicks, a stylishly high right elbow on the drives, and surprisingly soft hands when playing Kumble.
South Africa inched past the 300 mark; Sreesanth's frustrations came to a head when Makhaya Ntini's elaborate leave outside off found the ball touch the bat on the way through only for Asad Rauf, this time, to miss the contact and turn down the appeal for a catch behind.
The umpiring in this game, thus far, has been pathetic -- LBWs are always open to debate, but when one umpire refuses to give as clear an edge as you ever saw (mercifully, Gibbs walked on that one) and the other fails to spot ball thump into bat, you begin to wonder.
Ntini, like earlier beneficiaries of umpiring largesse, took full advantage; holding his end up and occasionally flaying the ball to the fence, he held his end up in a last wicket partnership that added to India's frustrations - and, more vitally, to the scoreboard.
Then again, blaming the umpires alone for the state of affairs would be to take away from India's own pusillanimity - it was strange and, as a ball from Zaheer that took the shoulder of Ntini's bat and raced through the gap indicated, silly to keep just two slips in place for number 11, against a bowler who was still getting the ball to talk.
Kumble finally ended the innings in trademark fashion, with the quick flipper nailing Ntini on the pad in front of the stumps to have SA 328 all out (Ntini 16; Morkel unbeaten on a well compiled 31/52).
South Africa added 71 runs in 18.3 overs this morning -- a late order finish that halted India in its tracks and swung the momentum back in favor of the home team after the mini collapse late on the first evening.
The total confronting them as India begins its first innings is way more than India could have expected, or wanted to chase. Against that, the silver lining is that conditions have never been better for batting, on this tour, than they are here, now.
(India innings)
The first ball of the Indian innings, from Andre Nel, took Wasim Jaffer's glove, eluded a diving Mark Boucher, and raced down to the fine leg fence - make of that what you will, by way of portent or symbolism.
The last ball of the same over was outside off and on length, lifting and moving late; Virender Sehwag, facing for the first time in this innings, went for the drive on the up, got the by now regulation edge, and was superbly held at second slip by a tumbling de Villiers, who clung on as the ball was going past him at the rate of knots (0/1; India 5/1).
The one time vice captain looks increasingly lost and lonely out there; as logical a candidate for a Pathan-style recall as any. The pity of his early dismissal is that this is precisely the sort of conditions that would have suited his style of play right down to the ground, if only he had the cricketing nous to eschew anything flash till he had sussed out the pitch and the bowling, and taken time to settle in.
Dravid's sometimes odd choice of bowler has been commented on; Graeme Smith in his turn went one better, giving the new ball to Makhaya Ntini, ahead of the incisive Shaun Pollock. Ntini in the first Test was considerably below par; Pollock on the contrary was inspirational whenever he got ball in hand.
Wasim Jaffer, for once, shed the hesitant air he has brought to the crease with him in recent outings; after that streaky start, he greeted Ntini with an immaculate straight drive, then flicked Nel off his pads to the midwicket fence. More impressive, though, were the leaves around off - early, assured, and with sufficient feet movement to cover the stumps. Noticeably, the batsman was quick to tuck the bat well out of harm's way as soon as his mind was made up to leave; in earlier outings, there was a hesitant pause on top of the crease, bat hung out, that was primarily responsible for his troubles in that area.
At the other end, the South Africans launched into their pet ploy against Rahul Dravid - swinging wide of the crease, angling the ball in very full and on off, looking to get the batsman nailed in front thanks to his Ponting-like tendency to fall over a bit, early in his innings, while playing in front of his pads.
Morkel, who got to bowl the last over before lunch - again, ahead of Pollock -- looked sharp enough despite an ambling, almost underwhelming run-up, but Jaffar watched him through with a fair degree of comfort, to take India in to lunch on 24/1 after seven overs of play.
Session two, as in the South African innings yesterday, should be perfect for the batting side - hot enough to tire the bowlers out, and a pitch flat enough to take the fear of unknown demons out of the mind. The million dollar ask, though, is whether India can capitalize on those conditions, to bat itself back into pole position.
Post lunch session:
South Africa -- and umpire Mark Benson -- needed just 14 deliveries after lunch to strike.
It was, in a sense, the perfect partnership. Andre Nel stuck like a limpet to the game plan of swinging wide of the stumps, then spearing the ball in on fullish length around off, looking for the LBW and preying, as mentioned in the pre-lunch dispatch, on Dravid's tendency to fall forward when playing in front of and around his pads.
The second delivery of Nel's second over after the break finally found the pad; umpire Benson found his moment, never mind that the strike was high on the knee roll, the ball was still climbing, and was clearly sailing over the stumps (11/23; India 35/2).
While Wasim Jaffar continued to bat on in the same vein as during the pre-lunch period, Sachin Tendulkar walked out, and announced himself with a cracking square cut, followed by a trademark drive on the up through point, off Morkel.
At the other end, an interesting battle built up between a nicely fired-up Nel, and Tendulkar. A short of length ball just outside off tested the batsman in the channel; extra pace found the edge even as Tendulkar tried to let it go.
This time, the batsman got lucky; the edge didn't have enough on it to find the keeper. The next ball was again in the channel but fuller; Tendulkar strode out, went down on one knee and played dreamily through covers.
Graeme Smith meanwhile decided that four overs for 26 runs from the debutant Morkel was a luxury he couldn't afford; Pollock finally got the ball, and settled into his role of inquisitor, probing away with microscopic adjustments of line and length around the off-stump.
This was the most fascinating period of play -- a bowler working like a chess grandmaster; two batsmen clearly aware of the dangers, and willing to grit it out, focusing on blunting the bowler rather than trying to dominate him.
A classic example of Pollock at work came in the 23rd over, Pollock's (5th - and 4th maiden, as it turned out). The first was a straight delivery on length on off-stump. The second was just short of off-stump; it seamed away late foxing Tendulkar, who anticipating a straight ball shaped to drive on the up. The third ball landed outside off, but this time cut back in; Tendulkar judged to a nicety and let it go through. The fourth was fuller, on off and middle looking for the LBW; that was followed by a good bouncer at the body that the batsman went under. The over ended with the regulation line, in the channel outside off, inviting flirtation.
The thing with Pollock is that his steadiness not only bottles one end up, it also helps the bowler at the other end tighten his own game. The beneficiary on this occasion was Ntini, who returned with a sharper, more incisive spell than his pre-lunch effort.
Pollock, for instance, took the ball in the 15th over, and opened with two successive maidens. The score after 14 overs was 54/2; after 23 overs, India had progressed to just 61, adding 7 runs in the 9-over phase.
Even in a Test arena where the pace of run-scoring is not of paramount importance, especially this early in the innings, that kind of thing can create its own peculiar pressures. It did, here, and Wasim Jaffar fell victim.
In the 24th over - the one after the Pollock-Tendulkar tease - Ntini pitched one up, bringing the ball in a shade from wide of the stumps, and making it bend away after pitching.
Jaffar, overtly careful with such deliveries till that point, attempted to carve this one through the covers, was beaten by the away movement off the deck, and edged for de Villiers, at second slip, to take his second good catch of the innings (26/73 with five fours; India 61/3).
It was a dogged knock; outside of the five fours, Jaffar managed just four singles and a brace; the rest was about watchful play, with bat and pad aligned in very straight lines.
Thus far, the breaks had gone South Africa's way; in the 27th over, it went the other way with a vengeance. Andrew Hall, in his first over as replacement for a tiring Pollock (6-4-6-0), angled a short of length delivery in from wide of the crease. Tendulkar spotted the sort of width that, early in his knock, he had been creaming on the up and went for the shot.
This time, however, he misjudged both pace and distance from off; his push was at full extension, and found the outer edge, the ball flying through at a nice catching height to first slip. Graeme Smith, who has snaffled some blinders in that position, got into position, and held the pose while the ball popped into, then out, of his cupped palms (Tendulkar 21; India 70/3 at that point).
The only way you can explain that catch going down is by attributing it to the sort of thing that happens when a player is low on form and confidence; Smith, clearly, is as low as it is possible to get.
That was enough of a scare for Tendulkar to tighten his game; at the other end, VVS Laxman took his time to settle in. Both batsmen were aided by the fact that Pollock and Ntini, who had combined impressively during that period of maximum pressure, were out of the attack; of their replacements, Hall didn't have pace, and Morkel, who topped the 140-mark with almost every ball, didn't have the experience, to maintain the pressure at anything like the same levels.
At tea, India had progressed to 93/3 (Tendulkar 37, Laxman 8) after two hours of dour, battling cricket. The session clearly belonged to South Africa, and if you are keeping score, it was the second straight session on the day that the home team enjoyed the advantage in.
India's best game is to focus on playing through the final session without further loss; in Test match terms, it is early days yet, so runs scored at pace can for now take a back seat to consolidation.
SA has the easier job at the moment - one more wicket, and the pressure can really mount on the batting side.
Post tea session:
Andre Nel and Shuan Pollock teamed up after tea, and South Africa's quest for a wicket acquired a desperate edge when Tendulkar took fours off both bowlers in their early overs.
Suddenly, the fielding side cut loose with what seemed like a full-throated Greek chorus, fronted by Boucher with Graeme Smith in particularly good voice on the back up vocals.
If the intent was to gee up the bowlers, it worked on Nel -- who promptly joined in. The pity, from a South African point of view, was that in this particular spell, there was more venom in his chatter than in his bowling. Pollock at the other end was tight as usual, but both Indian not out batsmen were playing well within themselves, seemingly intent on ensuring that the veteran bowler didn't do any damage.
Laxman in particular was content to defend; Tendulkar on the other hand mixed defense with a readiness to punish anything loose; he would have likely had more than the nine runs (2 fours) he added to his tea score but for some spectacular stops at gully, and at point by Gibbs.
After 5.4 overs, the umpires decided the light was bad enough to offer it to the batsmen, who promptly walked. Smith and cohorts seemed unhappy - far more so than they were last evening, when Ashwell Prince took a similar offer.
In the event, play was stopped at 103/3 after 38.4 overs; there are 31.2 overs to be bowled yet on the day, but indications are the players will not come back out before tomorrow morning.
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