Playing the captain’s role to perfection, M.S. Dhoni orchestrated India’s 22-run win in the second ODI against South Africa at the Holkar Stadium here on Wednesday.
It was early acclaim of the impending festive season as India levelled the five-match series 1-1 after the loss at Kanpur on Sunday.
Dhoni, the Man of the match, cracked an unbeaten 92 and then his bowlers responded with some sensible effort that left South Africa failing to scale the target of 248. Faf du Plessis offered resistance in a line-up that stumbled repeatedly by adopting aggressive methods when caution was the key word.
A couple of smart catches by Virat Kohli contributed to India’s comeback.
Poor shot selection cost Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock and A.B. de Villiers their wickets while David Miller succumbed to a gem from Mohit Sharma, the ball leaving him late and kissing the bat’s edge. The pick among India’s bowlers was left-arm spinner Axar Patel, used astutely by Dhoni.
When he batted, it was not quite vintage Dhoni. It was a captain-batsman-wicketkeeper, an individual burdened with expectations, at times unrealistic, but close to his reputation of leading the way. He was the fulcrum of the India innings that never took off from the time Rohit Sharma fell to a casual flick.
Barring Ajinkya Rahane, no Indian batsmen showed the application that Dhoni brought to his work. He saw the top half collapse in a throwback to the days when he would salvage the situation alone. But now he lacks the agility that evoked those innovative shots. He attempted them today but failed to connect.
Horrendous mix-up
Rahane played another sweet knock but left Kohli a bitter figure in the middle following a horrendous mix-up that left both the batsmen at the same end. Kohli, run out 11 times in ODIs, failed to arrest his sprint despite Rahane vehemently raising his hand in a loud ‘no’.
The dismissal of Kohli was followed by Rahane’s. The Mumbai strokeplayer had impressed with his half-century that saw him play the drive on either side in a most fluent fashion. After Rohit was beaten for pace and Shikhar Dhawan by change of pace, much was expected of Kohli and Rahane.
South Africa pressed through its slow bowlers on a pitch that did not produce the desired bounce. With the ball skidding, it worked well for leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who halted the ambitious Rahane, bowling him round the legs. Suresh Raina arrived and departed in a jiffy, attempting a nothing shot off a short ball on the leg side.
Ideal stage
The stage was ideal for Dhoni for he loves situations that leave him alone to take on the opposition. He was in his element, farming the strike and hurting the bowlers, and then picking runs at will with some judiciously-hit sixes. This was the Dhoni that rocked with the audience like good old times.
Dhoni lost a few more partners but not his purpose. Not that he was proving a point to anyone after two World Cup titles of the shorter formats to his credit. But he was fighting the demons that had haunted him for some time.
He ended up eight runs short of his tenth ODI century after having thrown his bat around in the final over of the innings by Kagiso Rabada, connecting only the last delivery for a six to midwicket.
Thanks to his committed knock, India could post a competitive score. And defend it too!
Scoreboard
India: Rohit Sharma b Rabada 3 (10b), Shikhar Dhawan c Duminy b Morkel 23 (34b, 4x4), Ajinkya Rahane b Tahir 51 (63b, 6x4), Virat Kohli run out 12 (18b), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 92 (86b, 7x4, 4x6), Suresh Raina c de Kock b Morkel 0 (5b), Axar Patel lbw b Steyn 13 (27b, 1x6), Bhuvneshwar Kumar b Tahir 14 (32b, 1x4), Harbhajan Singh c de Kock b Steyn 22 (22b, 2x4, 1x6), Umesh Yadav c de Kock b Steyn 4 (3b, 1x4), Mohit Sharma (not out) 0 (1b); Extras (lb-2, nb-1, w-10) 13; Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs): 247.
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Rohit), 2-59 (Dhawan), 3-82 (Kohli), 4-102 (Rahane), 5-104 (Raina), 6-124 (Axar), 7-165 (Bhuvneshwar), 8-221 (Harbhajan), 9-225 (Umesh).
South Africa bowling : Dale Steyn10-0-49-3, Kagiso Rabada 10-1-49-1, Morne Morkel 10-0-42-2, Jean-Paul Duminy 9-0-59-0, Imran Tahir 10-1-42-2, Farhaan Behardien 1-0-4-0.
South Africa: Hashim Amla st. Dhoni b Axar 17 (17b, 3x4), Quinton de Kock c Mohit b Harbhajan 34 (36b, 5x4), Faf du Plessis c Kohli b Axar 51 (56b, 6x4), Jean-Paul Duminy lbw b Axar 36 (46b, 3x4), A.B. de Villiers c Kohli b Mohit 19 (20b, 1x4, 1x6), David Miller c Dhoni b Bhuvneshwar 0 (1b), Farhaan Behardien c Dhoni b Harbhajan 18 (33b), Dale Steyn c Kohli b Umesh 13 (16b, 1x4, 1x6), Kagiso Rabada (not out) 19 (23b, 3x4), Imran Tahir c Dhoni b Bhuvneshwar 9 (12b, 1x6), Morne Morkel c Raina b Bhuvneshwar 4 (2b, 1x4); Extras (lb-3, w-2): 5; Total (in 43.4 overs) 225.
Fall of wickets: 1-40 (Amla), 2-52 (de Kock), 3-134 (Duminy), 4-141 (du Plessis), 5-142 (Miller), 6-167 (de Villiers), 7-186 (Steyn), 8-200 (Behardien), 9-221 (Tahir).
India bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 8.4-0-41-3, Umesh Yadav 8-0-52-1, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-51-2, Axar Patel 10-0-39-3, Mohit Sharma 5-0-21-1, Suresh Raina 2-0-18-0.
Toss: India
Man-of-the-match: M.S. Dhoni
India won by 22 runs.
