Rain comes to the rescue

By G. Viswanath

PORT ELIZABETH, NOV. 19. The weather lent a helping hand to the Indians on Monday, when most of the day was spent contemplating on Sachin Tendulkar's inadvertent folly in trying to remove grass from the seam of the ball which the laws of the game regard as a clear violation and sufficient to invite disciplinary action from the Match Referee. Four hours and six minutes was lost to two separate spells of rain on the fourth day of the Castle Lager/MTN second Test leaving Jacques Kallis stranded 11 runs short of his 10th century. Play was called off 23 overs in advance.

Shaun Pollock, under fire for delaying the second innings's declaration, yielded to the circumstances brought about by the rain leaving India 395 runs to make in the fourth innings. India will probably have to face less than 90 overs on Tuesday (play to start at 10 a.m.) because of poor light conditions on the fourth evening. The umpires offered light to the Indians who happily accepted it.

This coastal city in the Eastern Cape usually has wet weather this time of the year which is actually the early phase of summer. There were genuine fears of rains cutting down on the 30 hours in five days of the Test match. Sourav Ganguly's team, outplayed in the first three days and facing defeat in the Test and the series, saw luck smile on it.

There was a backlog of 14 overs to be covered by the Indians when the umpires, Zimbabwe's Russell Tiffin and Ian Howell, offered `light' to Pollock and Kallis on Sunday evening. The 10 a.m. start was put off by one hour because of a shower at 9 a.m. The outfield was in excellent condition in spite of heavy rains in the night. But the Indians and the sixth wicket pair of Pollock and Kallis returned to the stands after Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar bowled just 15 balls.

The umpires ordered a restart at 1.30 p.m. after carrying out an inspection half an hour earlier. Pollock square drove Javagal Srinath drawing a big round of applause from the few hundred spectators present. Pollock also completed his half century in the 21 minutes of play that was possible after the second break due to rain.

It was in these difficult conditions that the Indian opening pair faced Pollock and Mornantau Hayward. After the fifth-ball dismissal of Shiv Sundar Das, Deep Dasgupta and Rahul Dravid played out 17 overs and one ball. Dravid has spent more than an hour's time, his longest in the four innings in this series. What India needs now is a couple of batsmen who can graft and keep the interest alive in the third Test at `The Centurion.'

Scoreboard

SOUTH AFRICA - 1st innings: 362

INDIA - 1st innings: 201

SOUTH AFRICA - 2nd innings:

H. Gibbs b Agarkar                           12
(34m, 23b, 3x4s)
G. Kirsten c Laxman b Srinath                 5
(21m, 17b, 1x4)
J. Kallis (not out)                          89
(299m, 229b, 6x4s, 1x6)
N. McKenzie c Dasgupta b Srinath              2
(21m, 17b)
B. Dippenaar c Sehwag b Harbhajan            28
(97m, 75b, 4x4s)
L. Klusener c Sehwag b Harbhajan             29
(46m, 32b, 3x4s)
S. Pollock (not out)                         55
(119m, 80b, 6x4s, 1x6)
Extras (b-3, lb-3, nb-7)                     13
                                            ---
Total (for five wkts. decl.in 78 overs)     233
                                            ---

Fall  of wickets: 1-14 (Kirsten), 2-22 (Gibbs), 3-26  (McKenzie), 
4-91 (Dippenaar), 5-139 (Klusener)

India  bowling:  Srinath  17-9-28-2,  Agarkar  23-3-71-1   (nb3), 
Ganguly 5-0-17-0 (nb 4), Tendulkar 4-0-10-0, Harbhajan 20-2-79-2, 
Kumble 9-0-22-0

INDIA - 2nd innings:

S. S. Das c Boucher b Pollock                0
(4m,5b)
D. Dasgupta (batting)                       22
(75m, 64b, 3x4s)
R. Dravid (batting)                          3
(70m, 41b)
Extras (lb-1, nb-2)                          3
                                           ---
Total (for one wkt in 18 overs)             28
                                           ---
Fall of wicket: 1-0 (Das).

South Africa bowling: Pollock 7-4-5-1, Hayward 6-0-21- 0 (nb  2), 
Kallis 5-4-1-0.

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