India let slip the opportunity to win its first one-day series in South Africa on Friday.
M.S. Dhoni’s side failed to punish South Africa after having it at 118 for five in the fourth ODI here at St. George’s Park. Dispirited by the opposition’s recovery, India ran into trouble in its chase of 266 under lights. It floundered to 137 for six in 31.3 overs before rain interrupted play.
When play resumed, after an hour and seventeen minutes, India required 123 off 87 balls. Only eight balls were possible before showers forced the players off the field again. Play never resumed -- India lost by 48 runs (Duckworth-Lewis method). As a result, the series is level 2-2 with the decider to be played on Sunday.
Virat Kohli (87 n.o., 92b, 7x4, 2x6) raged against the dying of the light. But while he impressed all those who saw him with the spirit and the quality of his batting, he could do little to affect the contest.
India slumped to 49 for three before Kohli and Suresh Raina inspired hope among India’s faithful with a 63-run stand. But after Raina was stumped off Robin Peterson, missing a ball from the left-arm spinner that skidded on without spinning, Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan left in quick succession.
Although India’s first mini-collapse was not as dramatic as this slide of 16 for three, it hurt the touring side nearly as much. Lonwabo Tsotsobe dismissed both openers. Rohit Sharma cut the left-armer to J.P. Duminy. One for one became 32 for two when Parthiv Patel, who replaced M. Vijay in the side, missed a full delivery directed into him to be adjudged leg-before.
Yuvraj Singh was the third to fall, top-edging an attempted paddle-sweep and was caught by a diving Graeme Smith who had run from first slip to backward short-leg.
Kohli’s timing seemed to desert him after a bright start where he had driven Tsotsobe though cover, but he didn’t throw it away. He batted himself back into touch before punishing Peterson. Both his sixes off the left-arm spinner were stunning strokes. The first was an extension of the arms, an easy punch over wide long-off. The second was whipped straight after the left leg was cleared.
But Kohli hadn’t the support he deserved. Dhoni’s was a soft dismissal caused by the slowness of the pitch while Yusuf’s attempted work across the line was ill-advised, for the quality of Morne Morkel’s delivery, full and moving away, demanded utmost caution.
Earlier, J.P. Duminy (71 n.o., 72b, 2x4, 1x6) orchestrated the turnaround with a shrewd, industrious innings that was easy on the eye.
The left-hander, who has batted beautifully in the middle-overs through the series, working the ball with malleable hands to empty spaces, added 70 for the sixth wicket with Johan Botha (44) and 54 for the seventh wicket with Robin Peterson (31) to fortify South Africa’s position.
The other significant partnerships of the innings featured Hashim Amla (64). Amla’s 57-run stand with Graeme Smith began slowly, both batsmen struggling with the slow, loopy bounce. After ten runs in five overs, Smith decided enough was enough and biffed Munaf Patel for four. Amla exploded in a flurry of boundaries, driving between point and wide mid-off and pulling fiercely.
India broke through shortly afterwards, dismissing Smith. But the touring side didn’t follow the wicket well. Harbhajan Singh, who had operated so skilfully in the first three games that his captain thought it was the best he has seen his off-spinner bowl, had a poor day, his first five overs going for 34.
With Amla looking ominous, India needed to force the issue. It did, not with its bowling but with its fielding, as South Africa crashed from 106 for one to 118 for five.
Kohli was involved in three of the four wickets. First he held Morne van Wyk millimetres from the turf at slip. Next he ran Amla out, pick-up and throw in one smooth motion. But it was his work to find Francois du Plessis short of his crease that was the best of his three efforts. His swift movement to his left caused the mix-up, but he still had to throw against his momentum to the striker’s end. The relay to Dhoni was both powerful and accurate.
In between, Yuvraj Singh spun a left-arm slow past A.B. de Villiers. Quick as a hiccough, M.S. Dhoni unseated the bails while the batsman’s foot was in the air. Rather bizarrely, Simon Taufel, the standing umpire, ruled de Villiers caught behind, seeing an edge where there was none. There was no disputing De Villiers’ exit, just its manner.
But again India let South Africa off. Duminy and Botha (44) found they could knock the ball around for runs, as the ugly side of India’s fielding was seen. Botha wasn’t averse to chancing his arm every once in a while. He survived a strong shout for ‘lbw’ from Suresh Rain on 24 and proceeded to add a further 20.
Dhoni gave the gloves to Parthiv Patel after 44 overs, perhaps as a precaution, for he had hurt his knee at ‘nets’ on Thursday. It made no difference to Duminy, who ensured South Africa had a total it would have settled for when it won the toss.
Scoreboard:
South Africa: H. Amla run out 64 (69b, 8x4), G. Smith c Harbhajan b Nehra 18 (30b, 2x4), M. van Wyk c Kohli b Yuvraj 15 (22b, 1x4), A.B. de Villiers c Dhoni b Yuvraj 3 (5b), J.P. Duminy (not out) 71 (72b, 2x4, 1x6), F. du Plessis run out 1 (4b), J. Botha st Dhoni b Yuvraj 44 (59b, 3x4), R. Peterson run out 31 (35b, 3x4), D. Steyn (not out) 4 (6b); Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-2, w-10): 14. Total (for seven wickets in 50 overs): 265.
Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Smith), 2-106 (van Wyk), 3-111 (Amla), 4-115 (de Villiers), 5-118 (du Plessis), 6-188 (Botha), 7-242 (Peterson).
India bowling: Zaheer 9-1-55-0, Munaf 8-1-49-0, Nehra 6-0-27-1, Harbhajan 10-0-61-0, Yuvraj 8-0-34-3, Rohit 2-0-6-0, Raina 3-0-13-0, Yusuf 4-0-18-0.
Power Play: One (1-10): 54/0; Bowling (11-15): 22/1; Batting (46-50): 45/1.
India: Rohit Sharma c Duminy b Tsotsobe 1 (6b), P. Patel lbw b Tsotsobe 11 (24b, 2x4), V. Kohli (not out) 87 (92b, 7x4, 2x6), Yuvraj c Smith b Botha 12 (20b, 1x4, 1x6), S. Raina st de Villiers b Peterson 20 (36b), M.S. Dhoni c du Plessis b Peterson 2 (8b), Yusuf c de Villiers b Morkel 2 (3b), Harbhajan (not out) 3 (8b); Extras (lb-2, w-2): 4 Total (for six wickets in 32.5 overs): 142.
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Rohit), 2-32 (Patel), 3-49 (Yuvraj), 4-112 (Raina), 5-123 (M.S. Dhoni), 6-128 (Yusuf).
South Africa bowling: Steyn 4-0-15-0, Tsotsobe 6-1-25-2, Morkel 6-1-13-1, Botha 6.5-0-27-1, Peterson 8-0-46-2, du Plessis 1-0-5-0, Duminy 1-0-9-0.
Power Play: One (1-10): 32/2; Bowling (11-15): 17/1.
