India and South Africa produced another excruciatingly tense contest, and much like the second ODI at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, it was India which held its nerve, here at Newlands on Tuesday.
Again, a two-paced wicket difficult for batting -- not supposedly ideal for limited-overs cricket -- produced a thriller.
After dismissing South Africa for 220, India achieved the target in the 49th over with two wickets in hands and barely a nerve left un-shredded. Yusuf Pathan was the game-breaker with his 50-ball 59 -- he lifted India from 93 for five to 182 for seven. His partnership of 75 in 12.1 overs with Suresh Raina for the sixth wicket was particularly important.
There was still a lot of work to be done after Yusuf's wicket, however, and Harbhajan Singh (23 n.o.) did the needful, with help from Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, enabling India take a 2-1 lead with two games remaining in the series.
India was rocked early in its chase. M. Vijay couldn’t control his response to a delivery that stopped on him. His hands forced themselves at the ball before he could check the shot. Dale Steyn managed to change direction in his follow through and hurl himself across to the right to snag the catch one-handed -- it was another instance of the fast-bowler’s freakish athleticism.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli then put on 52 before both were claimed by Morne Morkel, who was in the midst of a high-class spell of fast-bowling. Rohit played one classy on-drive off Steyn, but Kohli was the more impressive of the two. He certainly looked more comfortable than Rohit, his picking of length more exact.
Kohli drove Steyn down the ground and smashed Lonwabo Tsotsobe through cover for boundaries before turning his attention to Wayne Parnell. He took the left-armer for three fours, a cut where he tamed the bounce, hitting the stroke on tiptoe and with a wrist-turn, the most impressive of them. But he was troubled by Morkel’s pace, length, and lift, and it was no surprise that he nicked one to the ‘keeper.
Rohit was then beaten by length -- the threat of Morkel’s speed and bounce caught him on the crease. The ball mightn’t have risen as expected, but it hardly kept as low as his theatrical crouch suggested. The delivery had also nipped back off the wicket, making its passage to the stumps near unimpeded.
At 61 for three, much depended on Yuvraj Singh and M.S. Dhoni. Yuvraj looked in the mood as well, bending into a cover-drive off Tsotsobe -- a stroke he plays particularly well when he’s feeling good about his batting. Later in his innings, he reached out to square drive Morkel for four.
But it wasn’t Yuvraj’s day. Nor was it Dhoni’s. The Indian captain edged a cut when a Johan Botha off-break bounced; de Villiers did well to take the nick, for it was a big deflection. Sixty-nine for four became 93 for five when Yuvraj was trapped in front of the stumps by J.P. Duminy who got an off-break from around the wicket to straighten.
Yusuf kept out of the way of Steyn’s short-pitched deliveries -- Steyn wasn’t at full throttle -- before he cut the fast-bowler for four. His next three fours had elements of fortune: one was edged; the other two, sweeps both, were mis-fielded on the boundary.
What followed was an intimidating show of intent. Yusuf launched Botha for three sixes (in four balls) between straight and wide long-on. He chose to challenge the man on the fence, beating him comfortably. The third was a monster hit. The South Africans knew they were in a contest.
In between, Raina hit Parnell for consecutive fours, forcing the left-armer out of the attack again. The left-hander, whose problems with the short ball are well-known, upper-cut Steyn for four, and had moderate success with the pull-stroke; his ducking, with the bat held like a periscope, didn’t inspire confidence however.
But India made comfortable progress, advancing the match to a stage where South Africa needed a wicket to stay in the contest. With India on 166 for five in 36 overs, Smith threw the ball to his best bowler on Tuesday, Morkel.
The big man didn’t disappoint his captain, having Raina caught behind. The batsman contributed to his downfall, clearing his leg and attempting a wild stroke when seeing off Morkel was the sensible thing to do. Morkel also played a part in Yusuf’s dismissal, pulling off a spectacular catch at third-man after first misjudging the upper-cut off Steyn.
Harbhajan and Zaheer added to the drama, playing and missing -- both were also dropped. Somehow they managed to get within striking distance, and took the Batting Power Play. Harbhajan clouted Parnell over long-off to take India from 196 to 202 for eight. Zaheer managed an inside edge off Tsotsobe which reduced the runs needed to 13.
But Zaheer hit Tsotsobe to mid-off, as the contest twisted again. The 47th over, bowled by Morkel, was a make-or-break passage of play for both teams. Harbhajan flat-batted the fast-man for six -- a quite incredible stroke. It was left to Nehra to hit the winning runs, a chip over mid-on off Botha.
Earlier, a partnership of 110 for the fifth wicket between J.P. Duminy (52) and debutant Francois du Plessis (60) stymied India after the touring side, asked to bowl, had done well to reduce South Africa to 90 for four.
Graeme Smith’s 43 was a tortured innings, his runs scavenged from edges and mistimed strokes. Zaheer Khan appeared to toy with Smith, getting the ball to move off the seam to beat either side of the left-hander’s bat. But Smith battled hard, exhibiting the mental strength he has come to be known for, while three of his batsmen deserted him.
Hashim Amla threatened briefly before being bowled by Zaheer Khan who had changed his angle to around the wicket. A fine delivery it was too, angled into the right-hander, beating the expansive arc of Amla’s drive and detonating the off-stump.
Colin Ingram edged Harbhajan Singh to slip, where Virat Kohli took an astounding one-handed catch, diving low to his right. After a five-over period of risk-free runs -- and against the run of play -- A.B. de Villiers fell.
De Villiers didn’t hit a long-hop from Yusuf Pathan as well as he would have liked. Zaheer took off from long-on, covered plenty of ground to his right, his weaker side, and threw himself to intercept the ball. Although different in nature, it was as fine a catch as Kohli’s. From Zaheer, not the sprightliest, it was most unexpected.
India then took the vital wicket of Smith. An attempted paddle-sweep off Harbhajan -- a stroke prompted perhaps by the stationing of short-leg -- went wrong. The ball lobbed off the toe-end of the bat and Kohli dived forward from slip to complete the catch.
India could have strengthened its position a run later. A mix-up between Duminy and du Plessis had the former scrambling for his crease.
Yusuf was slightly tardy in dragging the throw down to the stumps -- still, it appeared as if he had done enough to find the batsman short. The replays weren’t clear, although circumstantial evidence suggested the bail was unseated before the bat crossed the line. There wasn’t a conclusive frame, however, and Duminy was given the benefit of doubt.
After this rocky start, the pair batted beautifully to revive their side. Both batsmen used their feet well against the part-timers and placed the ball in vacant areas; the constant turnover of strike between left- and right-hander prevented the part-timers from settling.
Du Plessis played with remarkable composure and clear-headedness for a debutant. Duminy, who was subjected to severe criticism by the local press for a careless stroke in the previous game, showed again that his velvet-smooth batting isn’t without steel.
But India separated the pair and proceeded to bowl South Africa out. Harbhajan (two for 23) was the pick of India’s bowlers, marginally ahead of Zaheer (three for 43). Munaf (two for 42) was very good as well. But the bowling, much like the fielding, was schizophrenic, swinging from the excellent to the mediocre.
Scoreboard :
South Africa: G. Smith c Kohli b Harbhajan 43 (79b, 3x4), H. Amla b Zaheer 16 (18b, 2x4), C. Ingram c Kohli b Harbhajan 10 (16b, 1x4), A.B. de Villiers c Zaheer b Yusuf 16 (20b), J.P. Duminy b Zaheer 52 (59b, 2x4), F. du Plessis c Kohli b Munaf 60 (78b, 2x4), J. Botha b Zaheer 9 (14b), W. Parnell run out 5 (3b, 1x4), D. Steyn c Raina b Munaf 5 (8b), M. Morkel (not out) 0 (0b), L. Tsotsobe run out 0 (1b); Extras (w-4): 4. Total (in 49.2 overs): 220.
Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Amla), 2-49 (Ingram), 3-83 (de Villiers), 4-90 (Smith), 5-200 (du Plessis), 6-202 (Duminy), 7-207 (Parnell), 8-216 (Steyn), 9-218 (Botha), 10-220 (Tsotsobe).
India bowling: Zaheer 9.2-0-43-3, Munaf 10-1-42-2, Nehra 7-0-42-0, Harbhajan 9-1-23-2, Yusuf 6-0-27-1, Yuvraj 6-0-30-0, Rohit 1-0-5-0, Raina 1-0-8-0.
Power Plays: One (1-10): 39/1; Bowling (11-15): 18/1; Batting (44-49): 25/4.
India: Rohit b Morkel 23 (45b, 2x4), M. Vijay c & b Steyn 1 (8b), V. Kohli c de Villiers b Morkel 28 (41b, 5x4), Yuvraj lbw b Duminy 16 (27b, 2x4), M.S. Dhoni c de Villiers b Botha 5 (12b, 1x4), S. Raina c de Villiers b Morkel 37 (47b, 4x4), Yusuf c Morkel b Steyn 59 (50b, 6x4, 3x6), Harbhajan (not out) 23 (25b, 2x6), Zaheer c Smith b Tsotsobe 14 (25b, 2x4), A. Nehra (not out) 6 (10b, 1x4); Extras (lb-5, w-6): 11. Total (for eight wickets in 48.2 overs): 223.
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Vijay), 2-56 (Kohli), 3-61 (Rohit), 4-69 (Dhoni), 5-93 (Yuvraj), 6-168 (Raina), 7-182 (Yusuf), 8-208 (Zaheer).
South Africa bowling: Steyn 10-1-31-2, Tsotsobe 10-0-41-1, Parnell 8-0-53-0, Morkel 10-0-28-3, Botha 7.2-1-48-1, Duminy 2-0-9-1, du Plessis 1-0-8-0.
Power Plays: One (1-10): 36/1; Bowling (11-15): 20/1; Batting (43-47): 27/1.
