After succumbing to a demolition job in Durban, its defences splintered by a battering ram, India’s batting surrendered to the garrotte in the second ODI, allowing itself to be constricted by disciplined South African bowling.
But India’s bowlers responded magnificently, defending a below-par total of 190 with such fierce resolve that South Africa, which appeared to be cruising at one stage, fell one run short. The victory, achieved in the tensest of circumstances, tied the series 1-1 with three games to play.
Munaf Patel was India’s hero with the ball, his four wickets (which included the crucial one of Graeme Smith) proving decisive. His three other wickets were the breakthrough -- Hashim Amla caught behind of one that nipped back -- and the final two that sealed the contest.
But everyone played his part. Harbhajan Singh deserved better returns than a solitary wicket, but he gave his captain control. Crucially, he looked to attack South Africa’s batsmen. Ashish Nehra, who had another nightmare start, came back marvellously. He dismissed the dangerous A.B. de Villiers with an impeccable length delivery that slanted across the right-hander.
Smith (77) accomplished the rather difficult task of holding South Africa’s innings intact while simultaneously powering it. He attacked Munaf Patel, driving him straight, striking him through cover, and glancing him fine, all for boundaries. In between, Smith pulled Ashish Nehra -- he later played the same stroke to bring up 6000 ODI runs.
At 145 for four in 31 overs, South Africa took its Batting Power Play -- an attempt, no doubt, to finish matters early. But Munaf bowled Smith with a ball that straightened to miss the middle of the bat and instead take the edge. Zaheer Khan then struck twice, removing David Miller, who had made a breezy 27, and Johan Botha, as South Africa slumped to 163 for seven.
The match was in the balance, and India looked to have squandered it when it missed opportunities to run batsmen out. But the touring side held its nerve even as the home side lost its, Dale Steyn running himself out. Munaf returned to have left-handers Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell caught between point and backward point to spark boisterous celebrations.
India might have saved itself much bother had it batted better. Despite recent history -- the five previous games here under lights have seen the team batting second win -- and the threat of rain -- which remained just that, a threat -- M.S. Dhoni chose to bat The Indian captain had spoken of defying South Africa’s quest for wickets in succession. That seemed the brief to his openers, for M. Vijay and Sachin Tendulkar batted cautiously on a wicket that was two-paced.
A conservative start can be made to look clever by the batsmen that follow; equally it can be made to look like the daftest of ideas. Unfortunately for India, it was the latter on Saturday. There were periods when it seemed as if the batsmen had the measure of the situation. But controlled bowling and questionable decision making undid it all.
After Vijay departed -- Morne Morkel took a splendid running catch, giving Tsotsobe his first wicket -- Virat Kohli appeared as if he might quicken the pace.
The introduction of Wayne Parnell helped, for the left-armer bowled a length that could be attacked. But Morkel kept it tight, causing the batsmen to look for sharp singles. Kohli was run out in one such attempt. He couldn’t make his ground after being sent back by Tendulkar, and Miller threw the stumps down.
Tendulkar, who equalled Sanath Jayasuriya’s record for the most number of ODIs (444), fell shortly thereafter, edging onto his stumps a Johan Botha off-break that kept low.
Yuvraj Singh (53) and Dhoni put on 83 in 17.5 overs, working the ball into gaps and turning the strike over. Yuvraj was the more urgent of the two, an up-and-over cut off Morkel and a fine glance off Tsotsobe, his most prominent strokes.
But just as the pair seemed to build to a crescendo, the momentum dissipated with Yuvraj’s wicket and the untimely taking of the Batting Power Play.
India would have been better served to use the Power Play with Yuvraj and Dhoni set -- and with a slightly firmer ball (introduced after 34 overs) in circulation. The delay cost the side, for after Yuvraj mistimed a drive to mid-off off Tsotsobe, India lost four for 14 in the Power Play. Tsotsobe dominated this period, trapping Suresh Raina in front and bowling Dhoni (off the inside edge) with a yorker.
But India returned the favour when South Africa took its Batting Power Play to swing the match.
Scoreboard:
India : M. Vijay c Morkel b Tsotsobe 16 (32b, 3x4), S. Tendulkar b Botha 24 (44b, 2x4), V. Kohli run out 22 (34b, 1x4), Yuvraj c Steyn b Tsotsobe 53 (68b, 4x4), M.S. Dhoni b Tsotsobe 38 (61b, 1x4), S. Raina lbw b Tsotsobe 11 (14b, 1x4), Rohit lbw b Morkel 9 (14b, 1x4), Harbhajan c Miller b Morkel 3 (7b), Zaheer c Tsotsobe b Steyn 0 (3b), A. Nehra c Botha b Steyn 1 (3b), Munaf (not out) 6 (4b, 1x4); Extras (lb-4, w-3): 7. Total (in 47.2 overs): 190.
Fall of wickets : 1-21 (Vijay), 2-63 (Kohli), 3-67 (Tendulkar), 4-150 (Yuvraj), 5-169 (Raina), 6-172 (Dhoni), 7-177 (Harbhajan), 8-179 (Zaheer), 9-184 (Rohit), 10-190 (Nehra).
South Africa bowling : Steyn 9.2-1-35-2, Tsotsobe 10-2-22-4, Parnell 7-0-43-0, Morkel 8-0-32-2, Botha 10-0-35-1, Duminy 3-0-19-0.
Power Plays: One (1-10): 28/1; Bowling (11-15): 26/0; Batting (42-46): 14/4.
South Africa: H. Amla c Dhoni b Munaf 4 (9b, 1x4), G. Smith b Munaf 77 (98b, 8x4), C. Ingram lbw b Harbhajan 25 (30b, 1x4, 1x6), A.B. de Villiers c Dhoni b Nehra 8 (13b, 1x4), J.P. Duminy c Vijay b Rohit 13 (19b, 1x4), D. Miller c sub (Chawla) b Zaheer 27 (28b, 3x4, 1x6), J. Botha lbw b Zaheer 4 (7b), W. Parnell c Yuvraj b Munaf 12 (27b, 1x4), D. Steyn run out 6 (14b), M. Morkel c sub (Pathan) b Munaf 6 (11b, 1x4), L. Tsotsobe (not out) 1 (2b); Extras (lb-5, w-1): 6. Total (in 43 overs): 189.
Fall of wickets : 1-7 (Amla), 2-66 (Ingram), 3-77 (de Villiers), 4-120 (Duminy), 5-152 (Smith), 6-160 (Miller), 7-163 (Botha), 8-177 (Steyn), 9-188 (Morkel), 10-189 (Parnell).
India bowling : Zaheer 9-0-37-2, Munaf 8-0-29-4, Nehra 7-1-44-1, Harbhajan 10-0-32-1, Raina 6-0-27-0, Rohit 2-0-12-1, Yuvraj 1-0-3-0.
Power Plays: One (1-10): 55/1; Bowling (11-15): 22/1; Batting (32-36): 20/3.
