SA pull it back after Dravid ton |
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Sunday March 30, 01:04 AM
Chennai, March 29: At 9.56 am on the fourth day of the first Future Cup, a sigh of collective exasperation filled the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. A near capacity crowd had gathered hoping to witness cricketing history but Virender Sehwag failed to oblige. Resuming at 309, the dasher slashed at Makhaya Nitini to be pouched by Neil McKenzie in the slips for 319 to leave that figure behind as the record Test score now by an Indian.
The crowd may have felt consoled when they sighted the batsman who walked in to replace Sehwag. The maker of 736 runs at this venue in his illustrious career, Sachin only added to Chepauk’s misery by reaching out to Nitini to be taken by Kallis in the slips, without troubling the scorer.
The Indian batting failed to recover completely from that double shock and ended with a first innings lead of just 87 runs, that too at tea time. With the visitors making 131 for one at close to enjoy a lead of 44 runs and the pitch looking as dead as ever, a draw seems the only possible result.
The twin blow in the morning led to rapid alterations in India’s game plan. Laxman and Dravid had to play past the difficult phase when South Africa kept things tight. Graeme Smith’s decision to take the new ball straightaway proved right as Nitini responded well by pitching the ball up rather than try to hustle the batsmen with pace on this wicket as he had done on day two and three.
Nitini’s first spell of five overs went for 14 while Morkel did a fine job by restricting from the other end. Only 43 runs came in the first hour and that phase of the game ensured the Indian’s would not run away with it.
Just after Sachin fell, the focus shifted to Rahul Dravid and his 10,000th run. It was just that the customary clip to mid-wicket, a shot that earned him a fair percentage of his runs, got him to the coveted mark. Rahul joined five illustrious batsmen in the five-figure club. He was to raise his arms again in triumph after the lunch break to celebrate his 25th Test hundred.
Sourav Ganguly was offered some easy runs as left-arm spinner Paul Harris in kept giving him room to force square on the off-side and had marched to 24 but paid the price for not getting his left foot out for the square cut to Harris and fell nicking to Boucher. Three batsmen who could have made a difference to the scoring rate were back and it was up to Laxman and Dravid to rebuild. They did that in some style by picking elegant boundaries but the run rate suffered as singles were denied.
Laxman worked up some post lunch brilliance but Dravid’s fall, snapped by Kallis off Nitini when he was unable to keep the ball down on a square glide, set India further back. The setting was perfect for Dhoni to up the tempo on a flat pitch and a tiring attack. Dhoni, for no explicable reason, was content to play the waiting game.
Brought back from the far end, Steyn ran in hard and worked up fair pace and caught Dhoni in a awkward position. The ODI skipper’s predetermined attempt to hook had failed when he touched the ball to the ’keeper. It was just not Test match batting.
Steyn blew the next three away with full length at express pace. In a space of 21 balls he snapped up four wickets giving little away. Laxman was caught by Harris of his own bowling as the Hyderabadi checked his drive. An innings that had looked at a potentially higher total by at last 100 runs and in quick time expired with India only 87 ahead.
It was, however, the first time that India had crossed the 600-run mark at Chepauk.
In their second innings too, Smith and McKenzie started confidently. Smith went with hard hands at the ball and still prospered. R.P. Singh went for many as Kumble persisted with him for no apparent reason.
There was hardly any offer in the wicket to make him effective. Sreesanth and Singh leaked runs as South Africa neutralised the lead in the 19th over.
Smith fell leg before in the 11th to Harbhajan who in that spell of 10 overs had probed the batsmen. McKenzie and Amla stood firm. The wicket calls for incisive bowling from the spinners on the final day. It may not be beyond Kumble, Harbhajan and Sehwag but it will be a difficult task considering the quality of the slow wicket.
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