Martin, Agarkar and Yuveraj star in India's second win

By G. Viswanath

BENONI, OCT. 4. Well into the nightfall on Wednesday, Ajit Agarkar became the first Indian on this tour to win a `Man of the Match' award. It is not possible to say how much value the wiry Mumbai allrounder would place on the prize he won for taking three wickets in good bursts of ten overs split into two spells of seven and three, and followed by a forceful 49 off 43 balls that saw India home by three wickets in a thrilling finish in a winter-time-like atmosphere at the Willowmoore Park in Gauteng Province.

Though the one-day match against South Africa `A' side can be correctly put down as more than a friendly spar before the Standard Bank tri-series, what cannot be disregarded is Agarkar's conscientious effort to make a valuable contribution to the side. Agarkar's partner in India's second win of the tour was Yuveraj Singh; the two made 78 for the seventh wicket from a `gone-out-of-the-hands' looking 156 for six to 234 for seven, two boundary shots away from victory.

Typically, Agarkar staged a quick stride to the podium to receive the cash award the sponsor of the series, Standard Bank, had put into place as a small incentive to make such matches interesting. He was singled out from the 22 players because he contributed with the bat and ball. The match adjudicator had to pick one of the three in the hat so to say. The other two being leg spinner Anil Kumble (he bowled ten overs in the first match against Nicky Oppenheimer XI and took two wickets). and Jacob Martin.

On Wednesday, Kumble's immediate task at the point of time he was introduced was to check the run rate and take wickets. He responded to the circumstances in a big way, but the South Africa `A' batsmen did not chance their arm against him after left hander Jacques Rudolph edged him to Deep Dasgupta. In two spells of seven and three (he was not scored off in four) he conceded 1.5 runs an over. Such an analysis ought to be regarded as incredible in any class of cricket.

Set a target of 242 for victory, the Indians pushed for it with a new opening pair in Shiv Sundar Das and Virendra Sehwag. Seamer Justin Kemp was the sharper of the two new ball bowlers-the other being Roger Telemachus.

Sehwag departed at 31 and Das at 38. Then Jacob Martin-`asked, ``who he is, and ``where is he from'', by the curious here-struck a few well timed straight drives off Telemachus.

Martin, who is in the team only because Venkatsai Laxman pulled out of the tour needing more time to recover from a surgery performed to correct his right knee and also because his replacement Hemang Badani hurt himself in the Moin-ud-Dowla in Hyderabad, grabbed the first opportunity and impressed. He showed what a fine frontfoot and backfoot batsmen he is and what a solid defence he has. But it was his temperament and heart to persevere that saw him stage the first recovery of the India innings with captain Rahul Dravid. The third wicket added 91 runs, Martin (54, 81b, 7 x 4s) Martin making his first half century in a first class match on foreign soil.

The second match for the visitors started with South Africa `A' winning the toss and batting for 50 overs to make 241 in which substantial scores came from Martin van Jaarsveld (69) and Gerald Dros (85). There was a half century partnership and one century partnership in the home team's innings. India got off to a poor start, but the young men who would not have been here at the first place (had Laxman and Ashish Nehra been fit) fashioned a win for India along with Yuveraj Singh, whose hard back hit created a scare in the middle of the pitch when the ball hit Charl Langhveldt somewhere on his bald head.

Going by the law the umpire declared a `dead ball' because it appeared to be a case of a player suffering a serious injury on the field. There was much relief when Langhveldt picked himself up from the ground and walked by himself without any assistance.

The hard shot struck by Yuveraj Singh was good enough to roll over the boundary line. But with the umpire Karl Hurter ruling a `dead ball', a four was not credited to Yuveraj's account; but the left hander executed a cut shot for four in the first ball of the 100th over of the match for India to score a remarkable win, an event that should see the team take on Shaun Pollock's South Africa on Friday with its hopes not dented.

lThe scores: South Africa `A': B. Dippenaar c Dravid b Agarkar 34, J. Rudolph c Dasgupta b Kumble 25, M. vaan Jaarsveld c Dravid b Harvinder 69, H. Ackerman c Dasgupta b Agarkar 1, G. Dros c Sodhi b Srinath 85, J. Ontong c Dasgupta b Agarkar 4, J. Kemp not out 8, J. Kent not out 5, Extras (lb 1, nb 4, w 5) 10, Total (for six wkts in 50 overs) 241.

Fall of wkts: 1-62, 2-64, 3-77, 4-192, 5-198, 6-234.

India bowling: Srinath 9-0-58-1, Harvinder 9-0-48-1, Agarkar 10-0-46-3, Kumble 10-4-15-1, Yuveraj 3-0-24-0, Sehwag 5-0-24-0, Sodhi 4-0-25-0.

India: S.S. Das lbw b Kemp 17, V. Sehwag c Dros b Kemp 14, J. Martin run out (Dippenaar) 54, R. Dravid b Telemachus 35, Yuveraj Singh not out 46, R. Sodhi b Langeveldt 6, D. Dasgupta c Dippenaar b Ontong 1, A. Agarkar c (Hayward) b Telemachus 49, A. Kumble not out 1, Extras (lb 12, nb 4, w 6) 22; Total (for 7 wkts in 49. 1 overs) 245.

Fall of wkts: 1-31, 2-38, 3-129, 4-129, 5-140, 6-156, 7-234.

South Africa bowling: Telemachus 10-0-45-2, Kemp 9.1-1-50-2, Kent 8.1-0-50-0, Langhveldt 9.5-0-32- 1, Ontong 10-0-36-1, van Jaarsveld 2-0-20-0.

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