South Africa embarrassed India in the first ODI here at Kingsmead on Wednesday, completing a 135-run win with more than 14 overs to spare. The win gave the home side a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
After A.B. de Villiers (76), J.P. Duminy (73), and Hashim Amla (50) had helped South Africa make 289 for nine in 50 overs, Dale Steyn (two for 29), Lonwabo Tsotsobe (four for 31), and Morne Morkel (two for 12) hurt India’s batsmen with pace and bounce.
India could manage just 154 under lights before being bowled out.
India starts poorly
South Africa’s bowlers swiftly had India in trouble. M. Vijay’s problems with the full ball early in his innings continued. Again his feet let him down. Dale Steyn had the simple task of convincing the umpire, for Vijay was pinned on his crease.
Three for one became 13 for two when Sachin Tendulkar tried to walk across and help Lonwabo Tsotsobe around the corner. The angle from left-arm over and the bounce off a length made the stroke impossible to control; the ball ballooned to short fine-leg.
Rohit Sharma, in between playing and missing, struck one splendid drive off the back-foot through cover, a stroke that would have earned four but for the sand traps in the outfield. He was adjudged caught behind off a ball that was too good for him; he didn’t touch it. But once given out, he had no business protesting.
Morkel struck for the second time in the over, the 11th, when he had Yuvraj Singh fend a lifter to slip. The bounce South Africa’s taller, stronger bowlers were extracting, by hitting the wicket with intent was striking -- India’s bowlers, better equipped to the kiss the surface, didn’t look remotely as threatening.
At 43 for four, India was in desperate need of a partnership, something that would first staunch the haemorrhage and then revive the innings. The 52-run stand between Virat Kohli and M.S. Dhoni accomplished the first objective; the second was beyond the pair.
Kohli, who walked in at one-drop, looked streaky against the new ball when it was outside the line of off-stump. The edged stroke, of which there were several, not only eluded the catching fielder; it brought runs. To his credit, Kohli battled hard -- he looked like he relished the challenge of batting against pace and bounce.
Encouragingly, Kohli had time to play off his pads. When Steyn or Morkel strayed even slightly, he worked the ball with ease to the on-side. Dhoni, who promoted himself above Raina, found a way to survive the difficult period.
Batting eased as the new ball lost its hardness and the slower bowlerswere brought on. Kohli lofted Johan Botha straight for six before Dhoni clobbered the same bowler straight for four. But just as it seemed that the pair would revivify the innings, Dhoni was run out in unfortunate circumstances -- he had backed up too far when a Kohli straight-drive was touched on the stumps by the bowler.
The Batting Power Play hastened the end: Kohli left, as did Raina, who had endured a short-pitched attack (for a short period and with a softer ball) to make bold strokes. Thus did South Africa’s bowlers complete the job their batsmen had begun.
Amla begins aggressively
Amla’s frenetic half-century drove South Africa. Although Graeme Smith and Colin Ingram fell to misjudged pull-strokes, both caught off the top-edge, Amla’s rate of scoring relieved the pressure.
Amla’s three consecutive fours off Ashish Nehra -- a forceful pull, an off-drive after hopping across his stumps, and another off-drive without the hop -- stood out. So dominant was Amla that Ingram needed to contribute only a tortured five to the second-wicket partnership of 51.
Munaf Patel, who put Ingram out of his misery, also ended Amla’s stay, deceiving the batsman with a slower ball to have him caught at mid-on.
De Villiers, Duminy prop up South Africa
South Africa had slipped from 72 for one to 82 for three -- the sort of slide that can shift momentum. But de Villiers and Duminy did bat brilliantly to prevent it.
De Villiers, who had started with an exquisite cover-drive and a neat leg-glance off Nehra, worked the ball around the field to turn the strike over. Duminy did likewise. The first phase of the partnership mightn’t have been entertaining -- as entertaining is now defined -- but it made for fascinating viewing, both tactically and aesthetically.
India looked to fit its overs in quickly; de Villiers and Duminy settled, gathering anonymous runs. The game was being moved along, each side aiming to prevent losses so it could profit later. The way de Villiers and Duminy used their hands to shape dinks and nudges was absorbing, as touch-play often is.
The first indication of a switch of gears was de Villiers’ six off Harbhajan. Duminy did the same to Yuvraj, and the batsmen chose to take the Power Play. De Villiers hit Nehra for three successive fours -- the second time the left-armer was treated thus -- pulled Munaf and reverse-swept Harbhajan.
Rohit Sharma ended the 131-run partnership, raised at nearly a run a ball, when he had de Villiers caught in the deep off a long-hop. India’s slow-bowlers continued to chip away, nipping short partnerships before they could grow threatening.
Duminy’s exit, ‘lbw’ to Rohit after missing a reverse-sweep, deprived South Africa of a set batsman in the slog overs. South Africa managed only 39 runs between overs 40 and 48, but Wayne Parnell enabled 12 to be picked from the 49th, bowled by Harbhajan. Zaheer finally reaped in the 50th over the rewards his excellent first-spell deserved.
Scoreboard:
South Africa: G. Smith c Rohit b Nehra 11 (15b, 2x4), H. Amla c Harbhajan b Munaf 50 (36b, 8x4), C. Ingram c Nehra b Munaf 5 (23b), A.B. de Villiers c Harbhajan b Rohit 76 (69b, 7x4, 1x6), J.P. Duminy lbw b Rohit 73 (89b, 1x4, 1x6), D. Miller b Raina 9 (11b), J. Botha b Harbhajan 23 (27b, 1x4), W. Parnell (not out) 21 (19b, 1x6), D. Steyn c Yuvraj b Zaheer 7 (9b), M. Morkel b Zaheer 0 (1b), L. Tsotsobe (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (b-1, lb-8, w-4): 13. Total (for nine wickets in 50 overs): 289.
Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Smith), 2-72 (Ingram), 3-82 (Amla), 4-213 (de Villiers), 5-226 (Miller), 6-244 (Duminy), 7-266 (Botha), 8-285 (Steyn), 9-286 (Morkel).
India bowling: Zaheer 10-0-44-2, Nehra 6-0-61-1, Munaf 7-1-36-2, Harbhajan 10-0-56-1, Yuvraj 6-0-32-0, Rohit 7-0-30-2, Raina 4-0-21-1.
Power Plays: One (1-10): 63/1; Bowling (11-15): 21/2; Batting (28-32): 45/0.
India: M. Vijay lbw b Steyn 1 (3b), S. Tendulkar c Steyn b Tsotsobe 7 (11b), V. Kohli c Smith b Steyn 54 (70b, 2x4, 1x6), Rohit c de Villiers b Morkel 11 (27b, 1x4), Yuvraj c Smith b Morkel 2 (4b), M.S. Dhoni run out 25 (35b, 1x4), S. Raina c Ingram b Tsotsobe 32 (36b, 2x4, 1x6), Harbhajan b Parnell 0 (4b), Zaheer c Duminy b Tsotsobe 6 (16b), Nehra b Tsotsobe 1 (7b), Munaf (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (b-4, w-10): 14. Total (in 35.4 overs): 154.
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Vijay), 2-13 (Tendulkar), 3-41 (Rohit), 4-43 (Yuvraj), 5-95 (Dhoni), 6-128 (Kohli), 7-129 (Harbhajan), 8-148 (Raina), 9-153 (Nehra), 10-154 (Zaheer).
South Africa bowling: Steyn 6-0-29-2, Tsotsobe 8.4-0-31-4, Morkel 5-0-12-2, Parnell 7-0-25-1, Botha 7-0-46-0, Duminy 2-0-7-0.
Power Plays: One (1-10): 41/2; Bowling (11-15): 16/2; Batting (30-34): 23/3.
