Sport

Amla adds to India’s misery with a gritty knock

— Photo: K. Pichumani

TESTING DAY: Harbhajan Singh gives vent to his feelings after taking a return catch to dismiss Morne Morkel on the second day of the first Test on Thursday.

Chennai: Remorse is a vice in professional sport. Hashim Amla displayed the virtues of sound batting, which included apathy towards a tiring, toiling bowling attack. His 159 saw through India’s efforts to end the misery on the second day of the Chennai Test.

South Africa made 540 in the first innings and going by the ease with which Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer scored, the third day promises a similar frenzy. One could be forgiven if Harbhajan Singh’s expensive five-wicket haul escaped notice.

Amla’s batting followed a method of accumulation which he rewarded with periodic moments of release. Slightly built and with a backlift cut from silk, he launched an attack on the bowling.

Sreesanth’s three deliveries in the 96th over were driven for fours, helping him notch up century No. 4 and his first against India.

The spinners bowled too short. Sourav Ganguly — the sort of a bowler who can test egos — gave him nothing to work with; but Amla was secure in his set agenda, and save the mistimed shot through off-side, gave it a decent show of defence.

The bowlers’ persistence was put through a trial by fire, as Amla’s innings was chanceless. A batsman on a rampage gives bowlers a chance, but such an innings hurts. The bowling offered him time for appropriate footwork and choice of shots. The execution was superb.

With a lack of hesitation in his batting, it required collective hesitancy in the company of Boucher for Amla to exit. The batsman was so much short of his crease that the ball managed to change hands twice before Kumble dislodged the bails.

Later, Amla was thrilled with the effort. “It’s right up there. May be number two. Obviously the 176 against New Zealand was better, because it was trying time for me. My career depended on it that time. This one is up there because it’s away from home. Anyway away from home is a huge challenge,” he said.

The run out was the only positive aspect of the Indian fielding, which was abysmal. It escaped the scrutiny it deserved because of the listless bowling. Misfieldings galore, with R. P. Singh and Sreesanth watching twos and threes turn into boundaries. As a mark of protest, the ball repeatedly fell short and wide of the close-in fielders, denying the Indians whatever chances they could take.

Mark Boucher prospered in Amla’s company with a well-made 70. Both put on 99 runs for the sixth wicket. Boucher was aggressive. He edged, flicked and paddle-swept to his half-century. The spin was predictable, which made it easy to deploy the traditional South African method — brought to the fore by Hansie Cronje — of countering spin.

The slog-sweep did Boucher in. Virender Sehwag forced him into attempting the shot too early. The top-edge was taken by Dravid.

Boucher’s dismissal, that followed A. B. de Villiers’s and Amla’s, encouraged the Indians into attacking.

Earlier, Sreesanth, compelled to resorting to antics, took a while to retreat to being the good bowler he could be. The intimidation tactics against de Villiers saw the batsman unmoved, except for the front foot that he adjusted for a show of power through mid-wicket. The last ball deceived him in length, and he edged it to Dhoni.

Harbhajan capped a strange day with a five-wicket haul. After getting the ball to scrape Paul Harris’s glove to reach Rahul Dravid; but to no avail, suffering the embarrassment of being reverse-swept for four by a No.10, and a journey of doubt that ended in a missed catch, he registered his five-wicket haul. Not one of his best.

South Africa’s total had 81 boundaries, the most in an innings at Chepauk. The Indians had just 21 overs to give vent to their feelings. Dale Steyn was hit by the malaise of inaccuracy, bowling a loose first over. The first six of the match came well into the end of day two, when Sehwag steered Makhaya Ntini over third-man.

Visiting bowlers tend to find hidden merits in Indian wickets that home side ignores. The tall and strong South African bowlers could extract reasonable bounce. Ntini’s high-rising delivery was put in its place by Sehwag. Wasim Jaffer profited from the ball’s economy of movement off the pitch and used Steyn’s pace for some glorious boundaries. Sehwag raced to his fifty in no time.

Fall of wickets: 1-132 (Smith), 2-196 (McKenzie), 3-244 (Kallis), 4-291 (Prince), 5-357 (de Villiers), 6-456 (Amla), 7-510 (Boucher), 8-520 (Morkel), 9-529 (Harris).

India bowling: R.P. Singh 23-1-111-0, Sreesanth 26-5-104-1, Kumble 45-11-106-2, Harbhajan 44.5-4-164-5, Sehwag 11-1-37-1, Ganguly 3-0-12-0.

India — 1st innings: W. Jaffer (batting) 25, V. Sehwag (batting) 52, Extras (lb-5): 5; Total (for no loss in 21 overs) 82.

South Africa bowling: Steyn 6-1-27-0, Ntini 7-1-26-0, Morkel 5-1-15-0, Harris 3-1-9-0.

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