Gibbs, Kirsten have a feast

By G. Viswanath

SHARJAH, MARCH 22. There was no need to look at the crystal ball to spot the outright winner on the first day of the Coca Cola Cup tri-series. The South Africans who have a blemishless record here having outsmarted the Asian giants in five matches in the only appearance they made here in April `96, appeared to have come to terms with the new conditions and straightaway run into form won in style.

They were so thorough on the field in the first two hours of the first session that the task in hand under the lights was always going to be less burdensome. The South Africans simply crushed the Indians who had lorded over their rivals in the three of the five matches played on flat and placid pitches in India. Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs' who have been such a durable pair at the top made it a start-to-finish show that saw South Africa romp home by ten wickets (their first win in such a manner in one-day internationals) and 124 balls to spare.

Kirsten and Gibbs made sure that they would make batting look more enjoyable and not a chore which was what the Indians made it appear. The two openers have been in splendid form. When they made 235 at Kochi 12 days ago they were only 18 runs short of breaking Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly's world record for the first wicket in one-day internationals. Kirsten was so cross with himself at Nagpur after needlessly charging for a single and failing to beat Tendulkar's direct hit. This was the only time the left hander failed to put up a decent start with Gibbs.

There is no shame in losing to a rival which got its bearings and performed better in the day. But the Indians were beaten convincingly on a pitch they are familiar with and favourable to them. Kirsten and Gibbs's authoritative batting made unmistakable their complete breakdown of form and lack of fervour. Their poor showing on the first day of the tournament must be the most happy news for Pakistan which has held its own in 17 of the 22 matches against its arch rival.

Kirsten who had scores of 115, 93 and 72 and completed 1000 runs against India in the Pepsi series was the first one to play the first big shots against Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar who was back in the squad after being dropped in the last match at Nagpur. Gibbs who believes in dominating the bowling was soon timing his shots so well square of the wicket and to the straight field boundary. It was not a day - which the Indians would be tempted to put is an off day - when any of Ganguly's bag of tricks would have worked. Gibbs' dozen boundary shots just about made obvious his confidence level in his first innings at Sharjah.

The Indians arrived here as the most popular bunch of the three teams, although they are not seen as a frontrunner to win in the second Friday of the tri-series. They made such a heavy weather of the batting conditions at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium that it looked as though they would be shot out for their lowest score in seventeen years.

It was somewhat face saving that the last wicket pair in Ajay Jadeja and Srinath who showed enough pluck to put on the best partnership prevented the Indians to be shown in such poor light to be skittled out for a double digit score. In the circumstances they were at the half way stage of their innings, Srinath's mighty blows not only pushed back a few South African fielders to the edges of the boundary, but also provided some dazzling entertainment to the sizeable Indian segment in the stands. What the tenth wicket pair in Jadeja and Srinath did was taking the Indian innings from a miserable 102 for nine to a target like looking 164.

The pitch here might have behaved true to its nature. It is never easy driving on a surface from which even the hard and shining ball does not come up above knee height. The Indian captain, Ganguly, who has been a regular to this part of the world since his cricketing career was resurrected only said the obvious on the eve of the match about the unique nature of the pitch here. But yet for a team whose top three batsmen are reckoned to be world class it was strange that they allowed their mindset to be weighed down by negative thoughts.

To blame the pitch the for the Indian innings to have slipped would be unreasonable. The Indians have played enough cricket in the last seven months to adapt to the new conditions they were aware of. Ganguly won the toss for the second time a row and in ten matches. There was an inevitability to his decision to bat, but his team never got a start that are quickly recovered in roaring fashion as it happened last week in the fourth and fifth matches of the Pepsi Cup on flat pitches in Vadodara and Nagpur.

Jadeja appeared to be the only Indian batsman who was comfortable on a sluggish pitch. He was prepared to play the few shots he struck through the off side of his front foot and on the up. His front foot play gave him that much leeway to meet the ball at a height with a full face of the bat. There was safety in following this approach because none of the South African bowlers were able to move the ball in the air and of the pitch. He appeared to be full control when he square drove Makhaya Ntini recalled for his record one-day international in 26 months.

The South African bowlers were clever and maintained a disciplined line that rarely drifted towards the batsmen's pads. They did not run and bowl fast, except for Ntini who was evidently geared up rise to the occasion after a long break. He was the only seamer skipper Hansie Cronje used appeared to make the ball carry through to Mark Boucher. The 22-year-old Ntini, got his rewards for persevering after being put away for a couple of boundaries when he pitched short to Sunil Joshi who was promoted ahead of Mohammad Azharuddin, Jadeja and Robin Singh.

Sachin Tendulkar was bowled another time. So often he has been dismissed while shaping to work the ball to the on side. Shaun Pollock's straightish delivery just about found the gap between Tendulkar's closed bat to hit the stumps of the batsman's back pad. Rahul Dravid was struggling to time his shots and was dismissed in a similar manner. Ganguly was the one who seemed to have got into his stride, striking the ball fluently on the off side. But he holed Jacques Kallis straight to Nicky Boje at mid on.

There were quite a handfull of victims to the slowness of the pitch. Saba Karim and Agarkar were both bowled of the under edge, while Azharuddin, who has revelled in such batting conditions and playing his 55th match here fell as a big victim to Ntini, which made the first black player's return to big time cricket a successful one. The Indians have been twice bowled out here for scores of 125 - in 1985 and in 1999 - by Pakistan. The Indians defended the small target the first time, but were beaten here last April by Pakistan. Jadeja and Srinath's rollicking stand of 62 for the tenth wicket during which the fast bowler even lifted Lance Klusener for a six prevented a complete batting collapse.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Anand overpowers Lautier
Next     : Pakistan aims at revival at favourite hunting
           ground