Ganguly and Co. lay the Proteas low

By Vijay Lokapally

NAIROBI, OCT. 13. The youngsters are scripting a new chapter on Indian cricket with the inspirational mantra coming from the guru of consistency - Sourav Ganguly. Another emphatic triumph at the Nairobi Gymkhana, this one against South Africa, underlined the new-found fire in the Indian ranks to play to their potential. And when they do it they end up victors by yards.

Few had backed this Indian team to do well, forget making it to the final of the ICC knockout tournament. On Friday, it took its place for a title-clash with New Zealand as a matter of right, giving millions of people back home enough to celebrate and reason to start believing in this bunch. In a matter of 15 days Indian cricket is looking up incredibly, having conquered two of the best teams in the business.

A wonderful innings from Ganguly, his 14th one-day hundred, laid the South Africans low on a day when India seemed to have discovered the road to a win quite early. The positive decision to bat first was the right step and the Indian skipper led by example. He whipped the ball around with disdain and the team rallied around this graceful strokemaker to post a formidable target that failed to evoke a brave response from the South Africans.

If there was an act which signified the triumph of youth it was Gary Kirsten's run out. A misfield by Robin Singh saw Yuveraj Singh set off as if his life depended on that one stop. He slid, picked and returned to Ganguly, who had the sense to receive the throw midway and fling it in a flash to wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya. Kirsten lunged desperately but the decision was made without the third umpire coming into the picture. A brilliant piece of fielding indeed.

India's domination was complete in this match, beginning with the toss. The batsmen ravaged the South African bowling, with the exception of Allan Donald, and the bowlers completed the task with an impeccable show. How often do you see an Indian bowler yorking the batsman. Zaheer Khan inflicted the misery on Andrew Hall as India took a near-invincible grip on the match in the next few overs.

No game plan

The South Africans had talked of some game plan to contain the Indians but their laptop must have malfunctioned overnight. With misplaced data, skipper Shaun Pollock struggled to keep a field as his bowlers came up with an awful performance. The fielding too suffered immensely as Sachin Tendulkar and Yuveraj earned reprieves and when Jonty Rhodes caught Ganguly with the batsman on 75 the umpire Steve Bucknor had signaled no- ball off Lance Klusener. That was the closest they came to snaring Ganguly.

Watching Ganguly, the undisputed `man of the match', was sheer joy. His flawless essay, a sublime portrayal of attacking batsmanship, took ones breath away. It was a splendidly paced innings which spoke of the man's mastery in this form of cricket. It took Ganguly 30 innings to register his first one-day century but he has grown thereafter into a champion performer, rarely failing on the big stage.

It was also a joy to watch Ganguly guide the enthusiastic Yuveraj, gesturing him to play straight and admonishing him when the youngster disobeyed. Ultimately it was Yuveraj who prospered and livened up the pace by clouting Donald for three fours in an over. It was a fitting commentary on the new breed of performers in this Indian team, which has begun to show it can win even when Tendulkar fails.

It may have been a collective show by the Indians but the day belonged to Ganguly. Team game yes but cricket needs characters who perform when the stage is big and the left-hander, belonging to that elite category, exploded with a flurry of sensational strokes. That six sixes adorned his matchwinning innings should indicate the nature of his stay but there were some classic boundaries too that saw the stands erupt into delirious celebrations as Ganguly strode over the opposition.

Ganguly's pre-match intuition that Tendulkar would get a hundred was misplaced. The master was stroking the ball well but the assurance was missing. And when Tendulkar fell one was not surprised. Ganguly, quick in studying the situation, chose to play the ball on merit in the company of Dravid and their 145-run partnership was easily the best phase of the day.

If there was a poet of the day around, Ganguly and his batting would have been an ideal subject. It began on a note of circumspection, gained in stature gradually and buried the opposition under a torrent of shots.

Fielding a revelation

India's batting was certainly in keeping with its potential but the fielding was a revelation indeed. For once, a conditioning camp had proved worthy, what with a genuine physio in charge and not some doctors. Electric fielders boosted the spirits of the bowlers and it was a remarkably transformed set of cricketers that we witnessed this afternoon. If there was a sore point, it came late in the day - Ganguly dropping Nicky Boje of successive balls off Kumble.

Just consider this scenario where the opposition would have been in a state of shock because of superior Indian fielding standards. How often would one encounter an opposition reeling at 50 for four before Anil Kumble had even bowled a ball. It has been rare for Kumble to bowl with this kind of luxury but then the Indian attack has added teeth in Zaheer only now. To make his presence felt, Venkatesh Prasad too chipped in with the wicket of Jacques Kallis with his customary slower one.

``Just one victory. Please don't read much into it'' Ganguly had said on the conquest of Australia. The skipper wanted his players to remain on ground and shed complacency. His century this day was an authoritative statement on his form and also a confirmation of the fact that he is enjoying his captaincy, claiming a wicket later with his first ball of the day.

What marked Ganguly's innings was his ability to pick the bowler for punishment. At one stage the runs were difficult to come by but the induction of left-arm spinner Boje opened the floodgates. Ganguly swung him for three sixes in two overs and it was the beginning of the South African misery. Ganguly spared none thereafter and India cruised brightly with Yuveraj once again displaying his hard-hitting. He was on one when Boje grassed him but the Punjab youngster deserved a pat for coming good after being promoted in the order.

Timely return to form

Dravid shall not remain unsung, for his was a timely return to form. He was sluggish initially but played some correct shots as is his wont. But for Dravid, the Indians would not have had such a strong platform for the middle order to prosper. It was a valuable knock which should give Dravid the much-needed fillip.

South Africa was extremely disappointing in the field. Roger Telemachus bowled tidily to begin with but was quickly sorted out. Kallis was a disaster while Boje and Andrew Hall were never allowed to settle.

The batting just fell apart in the face of the challenging target. Hall, Kirsten, Boeta Dippenaar, Kallis and Rhodes proved unequal to the team's expectations and surrendered without a fight. If Dippenaar got a bad decision, the Indians were unlucky in the case of Mark Boucher, ruled not out as Dahiya snapped him off Yuveraj. But Boucher left soon, this time the third umpire judging the low catch by Tendulkar at mid-on.

The Proteas, who will not forget this pasting in a hurry, lacked a batsman's of Ganguly's character and the Indian bowlers enjoyed their stints in turns. Nothing worked at all for South Africa, as signified by the long-hop that fetched Yuveraj a wicket too. What more, Dahiya affecting a stumping off Kumble was good news for the Delhi lad has found the Karnataka leg-spinner a mystery hard to read.

With Ganguly enjoying a dream match, it was indeed India's day all the way.

Scoreboard 


INDIA

Sourav Ganguly (not out)                   141
(142b, 12x4, 6x6)
Sachin Tendulkar c Klusener b Kallis        39
(50b, 4x4)
Rahul Dravid c Boucher b Klusener           58
(71b, 8x4)
Yuveraj Singh c Rhodes b Kallis             41
(35b, 6x4)
Robin Singh (run out)                        0
(1b)
Vinod Kambli lbw b Donald                    0
(1b)
Vijay Dahiya c Hall b Donald                 1
(3b)
Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-3, w-5)               15
                                           ---
Total (for six wkts in 50 overs)           295
                                           ---

Fall   of  wickets:  1-66  (Tendulkar),  2-211  (Dravid),   3-293 
(Yuveraj), 4-293 (Robin), 5-293 (Kambli), 6-295 (Dahiya).

South  Africa bowling: Shaun Pollock 10-1-43-0, Roger  Telemachus 
9-0-62-0, Allan Donald 10-1-34-2, Jacques Kallis 10-0-71-2, Lance 
Klusener 6-0-29-1, Nicky Boje 2-0-26-0, Andrew Hall 3-0-23-0.

SOUTH AFRICA

Gary Kirsten (run out)                       12
(13b, 2x4)
Andrew Hall b Zaheer                          1
(4b)
Jacques Kallis c Ganguly b Prasad            15
(18b, 3x4)
Boeta Dippenaar c Dahiya b Zaheer             5
(6b, 1x4)
Jonty Rhodes c Prasad b Yuveraj              32
(55b, 2x4, 1x6)
Mark Boucher c Tendulkar b Ganguly           60
(78b, 9x4)
Lance Klusener c Dahiya b Kumble             29
(37b, 2x4)
Shaun Pollock st Dahiya b Kumble              4
(10b)
Nicky Boje b Tendulkar                       10
(16b)
Roger Telemachus c Prasad b Tendulkar        13
(13b, 2x4)
Allan Donald (not out)                        1
(1b)
Extras (b-3, lb-4, nb-4, w-7)                18
                                            --- 

Total (in 41 overs)                         200
                                            ---

Fall  of wickets: 1-13 (Hall), 2-21 (Kirsten), 3-28  (Dippenaar), 
4-50 (Kallis), 5-106 (Rhodes), 6-161 (Boucher), 7-171  (Pollock), 
8-179 (Klusener), 9-199.

India  bowling: Zaheer Khan 5-0-27-2, Venkatesh Prasad  8-0-54-1, 
Anil  Kumble 9-1-28-2, Ajit Agarkar 7-1-21-0, Yuveraj Singh  4-1- 
15-1,  Sachin  Tendulkar 5-0-32-2, Robin Singh  2-0-11-0,  Sourav 
Ganguly 1-0- 5-1.

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