A Jacques Kallis master-class in playing swing and seam bowling denied India control on the first day of the third Test here in Newlands.
Kallis' unconquered 81, and his partnerships with Hashim Amla (59), A.B. de Villiers (26) and Ashwell Prince (28 n.o.) helped South Africa make 232 for four before stumps were drawn in brilliant sunshine.
Most surprising, the sunshine that is, for Sunday began with Table Mountain wreathed in cloud. Out in the middle, the coarse-brown Hessian cloth was peeled to reveal a moist pitch underneath.
With it overcast and drizzly, and with better weather forecast for the remaining days, the conditions called for bowling first; even accounting for the dampness of the outfield — wet balls seldom swing — the attacking move was to insert the opposition.
M.S. Dhoni did just that after finally winning a toss. Both Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth immediately realised they could swing the new ball. When the ball landed on its seam, it altered direction, and, occasionally, jumped.
Lovely touch
South Africa's openers, in cream half-sweaters, applied their skills to countering this. Alviro Petersen, such a naturally talented stroke-player, took Sreesanth for two fours, a flick off his pads and an off-drive, both played with lovely touch.
Zaheer bowled quite beautifully to Petersen, getting one to curve into the right-hander, another to go with the angle from left-arm over. Petersen did enough to survive.
Smith wasn't as fortunate, outdone again by his nemesis. This time, Zaheer directed a ball into the left-handed Smith, having shown him the ball that leaves him. The length was critical, for it allowed Smith to neither advance nor retreat. A tentative bat and an undecided front foot were breached. The back pad was hit in front of the stumps.
Zaheer then nearly had Petersen and Amla from around the wicket before shifting showers forced the players off the field. An early lunch was taken.
Ishant Sharma dismissed Petersen when play resumed. A full-length ball shaped as if it were an in-swinger and straightened on pitching.
Curiously, the seam was scrambled throughout. The angle and the length committed from Petersen the drive; the movement secured the snick to the ‘keeper.
Charmed existence
India's bowling flagged thereafter. Amla led a charmed existence, almost chopping Zaheer onto his stumps before edging Ishant over the slips.
Kallis bent into a regal cover-drive, a skilful stroke that tamed a Sreesanth out-swinger that started its movement from the line of off-stump. Sreesanth tried to get one to go from leg. Kallis glanced it for four.
Fading light stopped play with South Africa on 61 for two. Amla must have revived himself in the break, for when play restarted, he looked decidedly better. He struck Zaheer, who had switched ends, for three fours in an over, a stooped dab and two poised on-drives doing his bidding.
The contest between Amla and Sreesanth was riveting. The bowler tried to force the batsman into his crease with short-pitched deliveries so his out-swinger would have greater effect. Amla's counter-move was to use his reach and his upper-body to make the cover-hit. He was twice successful in achieving boundaries. Amla also played the pull, kept to ground for a single, and the hook, struck for six to take him to 52.
Sreesanth eventually snared his man, caught at deep square-leg top-edging a bouncer. Like the Smith wicket in Durban, the delivery was well-directed; another similarity was that Sreesanth had spoken to the batsman before the event, anything but cordially.
Kallis continued, his correct defensive technique allowing him to deal with those that jagged off the seam or lifted alarmingly. He left deliveries with a vigorous pull of the bat from harm's way.
Amusing exaggeration
A tendency to sometimes make a ball look more threatening than it actually is — an exaggeration that amuses his team-mates — was seen from time to time, but mostly he picked his runs with unfussy pushes, tucks, and nudges.
de Villiers, who played one eye-catching straight drive, fell to the perfect late out-swinger. The delivery, Sreesanth's, curled like a wood shaving from a carpenter's plane, sucking the batsman into the drive.
It was a genuine wicket-taking delivery, something India's quicker bowlers produced nearly a dozen times — without the accompanying fortune — on Sunday.
But the sustained accuracy that enhances an attack's menace was missing. This and the easy singles off Harbhajan Singh allowed South Africa's batsmen more than they should have been given.
South Africa — 1st innings: A. Petersen c Dhoni b Ishant 21 ( 47b, 3x4 ), G. Smith lbw b Zaheer 6 ( 12b ), H. Amla c Pujara b Sreesanth 59 ( 80b, 9x4, 1x6 ), J. Kallis (batting) 81 ( 169b, 6x4 ), A.B. de Villiers c Dhoni b Sreesanth 26 ( 72b, 3x4 ), A. Prince (batting) 28 ( 69b, 3x4 ); Extras (b-1, lb-5, nb-5): 11; Total (for four wickets in 74 overs): 232.
Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Smith), 2-34 (Petersen), 3-106 (Amla), 4-164 (de Villiers).
India bowling: Zaheer 19-4-62-1, Sreesanth 21-0-70-2, Ishant 16-2-39-1, Harbhajan 18-1-55-0.
