South Africa needed just 26 minutes on the fifth morning to complete the formalities of the first Test; indeed so certain of the swift finish were the authorities of SuperSport Park that the buffet lunch was laid out even as play began.
Sachin Tendulkar (111 n.o.) saw no harm in letting Sreesanth and Jaidev Unadkat take Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. The results were as expected: both were peppered with the short ball; both fell to catches behind the wicket, Sreesanth to Morkel at third slip, Unadkat to Steyn at gully.
“I must say I'm surprised Sachin made it so easy for us this morning,” said South African captain Graeme Smith, never one to let go an opportunity to twist a knife in the wound.
The defeat, by an innings and 25 runs, leaves India 0-1 down in the three-match series. The second Test begins in Durban on Sunday, and as Jacques Kallis reminded everyone, Durban has the bounciest wicket in all of South Africa. Keep in mind though that South Africa has lost its last two Tests at Kingsmead, to Australia and to England.
Stick to your basics
“It's not a time to panic,” said Indian captain M.S. Dhoni. “What is important is to stick to your basics, to your plans. That's what will win you games. Our support staff has been good whenever we have lost Test matches whether in India or abroad. It's important to have a positive mindset. That helps you at the end of the day.”
Dhoni did admit however that the bowling was a worry. “Even though we all said the wicket was different to the first day, you're still expected to get sides out on flatter tracks,” he said. “To win a Test you have to get 20 wickets. So that's a concern because we also struggled to contain them. Once you're set in these conditions it's easy to score because the ball comes on. The best way (to contain) is to take wickets.”
‘Zaheer should be back'
The bowlers were the focus of attention, as the team, which will take in Sun City's pleasures over the next two days, decided to have a centre-wicket ‘net' at SuperSport Park after the match ended. Zaheer Khan, who Dhoni said should be back for the second Test, bowled without holding anything back. He got both movement and lift off a length — this on a fifth-day wicket. Barring one delivery that strayed onto the pads of M. Vijay, who was batting, Zaheer's control was impeccable.
As Dhoni said, sometimes the value of a cricketer increases when he doesn't play — all of a sudden, he seems the answer to everything. Zaheer certainly seems that at this stage, but even accounting for the positive bias, there's no doubt India's attack will have greater penetration with him leading it.
Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma bowled as well. Unadkat, who had a difficult introduction to the game's highest level, operated with a twin-coloured ball, a diagnostic tool used by bowling coaches to discern if the ball is leaving the hand as it should; if the wrist is behind it or if the fingers are sliding down the ball's side, unintentionally.
The bowling unit will need more work in the lead-up to Durban. But for all the bowling woes, the first Test was lost on the first day. Both captains said that the toss was important, but Smith suggested that India's batsmen had seen things in the wicket that weren't there.
India's batsmen showed in the second innings that they can handle pace and bounce — admittedly, the wicket had lost its malice, but both Steyn and Morkel were quick through the air, and in different spells, raised uncomfortable bounce.
The combination of pace, bounce, and movement, prevalent on the first day, is another matter, however. Kingsmead in Durban is expected to have that combination — answers will need to be found, and found quickly.
Pressure
“There's a lot of pressure when you are 1-0 down,” said Smith. “A big series, number 1 vs. number 2, we really wanted to get our peg in the ground in the first Test, and we've done that. I know the Indian team always play under a lot of pressure, but even they will be feeling it in the build-up to Durban.”
Dhoni pointed out that India has returned strongly from defeat in the recent past. “Our foremost priority is to level the series,” he said. “We don't seem to do really well in the first Tests of series, but we've managed to come back well. We are back to a start that we are quite used to, and hopefully we will cope with that in the coming two games.”
