Monday, Apr 14, 2003
Monday, Apr 14, 2003 |
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Sport
-
Cricket
By S. Dinakar
Ajit Agarkar nails Graeme Smith.
Cricket is also about handling conditions. In hot and humid weather and on a truly sub-continental pitch, one side thrived and the other clearly didn't. The lights went out for South Africa under the floodlights at the Bangabandhu Stadium here on Sunday as Sourav Ganguly and his men scored a thumping 153-run win, their second successive in the TVS tri-nation tournament. Mohammed Kaif (95 not out) and Dinesh Mongia (55 not out) cut loose towards the end after Ganguly (75) had sizzled during the middle of the innings as India notched up a formidable 307 for four. The Proteas were caught out on the chase. Skipper Graeme Smith, driving away from the body, dragged the delivery on to the stumps and newcomer Jacques Rudolph was picked up smartly by Virender Sehwag at slip — both scalped by paceman Ajit Agarkar who sent down a probing first spell. There was a worrying moment too for India when key left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan left the field after what looked like a hamstring pull, but skipper Ganguly filled the breach, operating stump-to-stump and getting duly rewarded. The decisive moment of the encounter arrived when ace off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, cleverly introduced by Ganguly before the first 15 overs, deceived the dangerous Herschelle Gibbs in the air and accepted the caught and bowled offering gleefully. There was a wicket for debutant leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who dismissed Neil McKenzie with wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel pulling off a good catch. It was Patel who ended the contest, coming up with a smart stumping to send back Charl Willoughby. Sehwag got into the act as well, bowling off-spin, and it was he who consumed Mark Boucher (48, 59b, 6x4), the only South African who provided some resistance on a night when the side hardly displayed any fight or resolve. There simply was no commitment from the men in green. But commitment and heart are never in short supply when Mohammed Kaif does business at the crease. A quintessential limited-overs batsman who cuts and drives, nicks and tucks, scampers between the stumps and delivers the big blows when the side requires them. Man of the Match Kaif's brilliantly paced unbeaten 95 (103b, 7x4, 3x6) was easily the highlight as India went on an overdrive at the `Death.' Even as Kaif soared, Dinesh Mongia, under pressure to perform and desperately in need of runs, cracked a whirlwind unbeaten 55 (38b, 6x4), the South African bowlers running out of ideas on a placid pitch. The final 10 overs yielded 101 and the last five a whopping 67. No doubt, the new man at the helm, Greame Smith, underwent a tough initiation. In a hectic thrill-a-minute unconquered fifth-wicket stand, Kaif and Mongia raised 110 in only 70 balls, the South African bowling coming under the hammer. Kaif punched Shaun Pollock — who was handled in a rather bizarre fashion by Smith — through covers to signal his intentions and a rasping flick off Mkhaya Ntini confirmed the mood he was in. Towards the end, Kaif opened his shoulders against the hapless and wayward rookie left-arm paceman Willoughby by clearing the mid-wicket fence with ease. He might well have reached the three-figure mark had he received more of the strike in the last over. But then, this was an evening when Mongia was enjoying himself, making room to slam Pollock through the covers, flicking, turning and gliding with panache with the failures of the past a distant thought. Earlier, Ganguly's decision went along expected lines. Gautam Gambhir inspired some confidence, rising on his toes to cut Ntini and hooking Willoughby. He, however, succumbed while attempting to pull Ntini and only succeeding in gloving the ball to 'keeper Mark Boucher. Another opportunity came and went with the Dhaka wind for Gambhir, who would do well to check the impulsive streak in him. Coach John Wright, who joined the team in the early hours of Sunday, would surely have a word with the Delhi left-hander.
Pollock gets raw deal
Willoughby opened the attack with the pacy Ntini, however, on a pitch bereft of any pace or bounce, the pacemen were always going to struggle. Smith also held back Pollock till the 20th over, the ploy was to have this experienced customer operating in the middle and conclusive stages of the Indian innings. This clearly did not work, and apart from splitting the Pollock-Ntini partnership, the former South African captain's skills with the new ball went unutilised. Virender Sehwag had the rub of the green when Robin Peterson made a mess of a catch at square-leg, Willoughby being the bowler to suffer. The Indian celebrated the let-off by launching into a scintillating cover-drive, Willoughby suffering again. The explosive opener greeted paceman Alan Dawson with a superb flick and was just getting into his stride when a miscued stroke off the same bowler was well held by Jacques Rudolph, running to his right from mid-wicket.
Ganguly in full flow
Ganguly had a slice of luck when on nine, holing out to mid-wicket off Ntini, but umpire Brent Bowden signalled a no-ball. Moments later, the Indian skipper was caressing the ball through the off-side field even as Dawson looked skywards. The Indian captain waltzed in the afternoon, driving fluently in the arc between point and cover and dancing down to dismiss the left-arm spin of Peterson over the sightscreen. Ganguly (75, 79b, 7x4, 2x6) was in sight of a hundred when he played a touch too early on a sluggish surface, scooped a catch to mid-off, the hard-working Dawson being the bowler. Dawson, the most disciplined of the South African bowlers, got his deliveries to skid off the pitch, not allowing the batsmen to launch into big drives. He had a hand in one more Indian dismissal. Yuvraj Singh, the man in form, raced down the track after Kaif steered Dawson to point, only to find Herschelle Gibbs swooping on the ball. Before the Punjab cricketer could regain lost ground, the bowler had the bails off. Then arrived the blitz from Mongia and Kaif. The South Africans had lost the initiative. India brought in Mishra for paceman Avishkar Salvi while South Africa left out Paul Adams and Andrew Hall from the 13. Bangladesh takes on South Africa in another day-night encounter on Monday. SCOREBOARD
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
