LBW, LBW, Bowled, LBW, LBW, Caught 2nd slip. India's three fast bowlers effected these 6 dismissals within the first 45 overs of South Africa's first innings on the 2nd day at Johannesburg. Six batsmen who were forced to defend their off stump and were beaten. It is that sort of wicket. South Africa discovered this earlier in the day. Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel added a few inches to their first day length and the ball evaded the middle of India's bats with alarming regularity.
Over 169 overs, this Test had turned on 5 key moments thus far in my view. Had all these moments favored one team, this game would have been a blow out. As it happens, South Africa are behind, but only to the extent that a Draw has been ruled out as a possible result. The rate of scoring and the uneven bounce available on the pitch suggest that South Africa could very easily chase a target in the region of 250 in the 4th innings even if they concede a lead.
The first key moment, was the run out which broken the stand between Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli. These two men at the heart of India's batting had added 89 against a South African attack which seemed a little nonplussed that their efforts of a helpful pitch did not seem that threatening.
The second, was the dismissal of Virat Kohli in the 76th over of India's first innings. Had Kohli stayed in to face the second new ball, India might have been closer to 290 at the end of the day's play. He was dismissed just as he was poised to collect the cheap runs he had earned by doing the hard work of reaching a century. On India's next tour of South Africa, Kohli will probably turn an innings like this into 150 not out at the end of the day's play. On December 18, 2013, it was not to be.
The third, was the adjustment in length made by Morkel and Philander this morning. They did not try to intimidate the batsmen by bowling short. Instead they focussed on hitting the pitch as hard as they could on a good length and made the batsmen defend their off stump. There was nothing to hit - at least, not without taking huge risks. 255/5 could easily have turned into 340 all out. Instead, it was 280.
The fourth, was the bowling of Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami after Tea. Zaheer and Shami had begun well with the new ball, but seemed to be bothered by the method adopted by the South African opening pair. Both Smith and Petersen batted on off stump and concentrated on getting outside the line of off stump to take LBW out of the equation, and also to force the bowlers to bowl wider than they wanted to. Zaheer and Shami bowled a very attacking length which resulted in a few drives for boundaries.
Ishant Sharma had begun indifferently as usual. But his first ball to Hashim Amla, a rip snorter of a bouncer carried a message to South Africa's batsmen. Ishant has always had pace, albeit not Mitchell Johnson pace, and his height gives him the ability to get steep bounce. Batsmen don't like this style of bowling very much. I suspect that Ishant's first ball to Amla was watched in South Africa's dressing room, in particular by Jacques Kallis. Kallis seemed to expect a similar greeting first up, and was caught on the crease against the full, straight delivery that India's most prodigal pacer produced.
The fifth, was India's slip catching. One problem with having a Test team in which many players have played only a few Tests is that specialist fielding positions like the slip cordon are not settled. There are few opportunities to play with 4 slips in India, and having a specialist 2nd slip fielder is difficult. Dismissing Kallis with the score on 47, or de Plessis with the score on 207 might have put decisively ahead.
The fact that most of these five moments are ones India could have done better in is a tribute, both to the quality of India's play, and the value of bowling well. Until Tea, it looked as though the superior experience and familiarity of South Africa's batsmen would help them weather the bowling and regular scoring opportunities that India's pacemen tended to provide would make it easy for Amla, Smith, de Villiers and others to score reasonably quickly. It took a sustained attack on a good length, on the stumps, to prove that it is not only India's batsmen who struggle in these conditions.
What would India not give, first for a lead and then for some rapid, unorthodox runs from Shikhar Dhawan on Day 3! They are well and truly in this Test match. At the start of the series, they would have taken this position at the end of the second day. But at the end of Day 2, I suspect they will be disappointed that they have allowed South Africa to reach 200. If, at the start of the game, India (and their fans) were worried about a glass ceiling beyond which lay the ability to compete in South Africa, then 169 overs in, they must fret a little bit that their blow to shatter it did not lack strength, but perhaps was not timed as well as it might have been.
View the Original article
No comments:
Post a Comment