Latest News – Sanjay's Cricket World

South Africa resuming on 266/9.

Have to try and get close to 300.

Out! Wayne Parnell trapped in front by Zaheer Khan for 11. South Africa all out for 296.

A handy last wicket partnership, but South Africa’s job today is with the ball. Have to Virender Sehwag early or it’ll get away from the Proteas.

India start well. Sehwag smashes Dale Steyn for 3 boundaries in a row. That’s the way he plays, and it can kill the opposition.

Sehwag is going after Steyn and Morne Morkel! India 45/0 after 6 overs. This is looking very ugly for South Africa!

68/0 After 9 overs. Parnell getting punished as well. Sehwag scoring at close to 2 runs a ball.

Out! Yahoo! Gautam Gambhir is run out. Finally! 73/1.

Sehwag needs 6 runs from 2 balls to beat the fastest test fifty held by Jacques Kallis. C’mon boys bowl some dot balls!

Another wicket! Murali Vijay gets knocked over by Morne Morkel and suddenly it’s 82/2. South Africa have an opening.

Dropped! JP Duminy drops Sehwag at first slip. You don’t get chances like that often, and this is oneman that can make you pay. What’s wrong with JP Duminy??

Lunch on day 2, India at 97/2.

India still have their noses in front, although if Duminy held the catch to dimiss Sehwag…well who knows?

India progessing along steadily. Sehwag is not letting Steyn dominate him. 2 more boundaries. India 120/2.

Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are slowly taking this game away from South Africa. The Proteas need a break-through fast! Currently 153/2.

Sehwag moves to his century. Ominously he rarely gets out for less than 150 when he gets a hundred, so the signs aren’t great for the Proteas.

Indian 200 up now.

At tea, India 235/2. Similar to South Africa in the first innings, but I can’t see them collapsing as dramatically.

Depressing stuff. India currently at 289/2 after just 60 overs. A run rate of 4.85. At this rate India will be 600 by close of play tomorrow and South Africa wil have to bat for 2 days to save the test.

A flurry of late wickets sees Sehwag, Tendulkar and Badrinath out, to leave India at 342/5 at the end of the day’s play.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

After starting beautifully, South Africa produced a dramatic batting collapse to gift the initiative to India.

South African captain Graeme Smith had won the toss and elected to bat.

It was a poor start once again for Smith who too often gets exposed around the off stump line. For a world class player, he gets bowled way too often through the gate.

Hashim Amla and debutant Alviro Petersen set about building a partnership and scored 209 runs together. Both players had reached their century, looked largely untroubled, and had batted at a really good rate of about 4 to the over.

Petersen was dismissed as soon as he had reached his hundred, and then the rot set it. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals, and the runs were getting scarcer and scarcer. Amla and Jacques Kallis were both out trying to be positive, for that one can’t fault them, but perhaps the shot selections need reviewing. Amla rarely plays the hook, especially to a ball outside off stump.

Kallis went for the slog sweep, and perhaps wasn’t ‘in enough’ to play the shot at that time. Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy were both out to Harbhjan Singh. Singh enjoys bowling to left handers, and has a great record at Eden Gardens too.

It’s a massive concern that Duminy can’t get past a few overs out in the middle. I don’t know we can say he is out of form as such, he just can’t defend a few for us to tell what he can do. The patience from the selectors must be starting to wear thin.

Things then went from bad to worse. A run out to AB de Villiers was suicide, and the South African tail didn’t show much resistance either. From 218/1, we lost 48/8 to end the day at 266/9.

We’ve just gifted India a golden opportunity on a pitch that looked fine to bat on for the majority of the game. Innings 2 and 3 are usually high scoring at Eden Gardens, meaning India can make use of the best batting conditions on days 2 and 3. It’ll require a repeat of Dale Steyn’s Nagpur heroics to rescue South Africa here.

Just as South Africa’s batting relies on Smith, Amla and Kallis to make the bulk of the runs. It’s time others stepped up to the plate and produced some match winning performances like Duminy’s innings in Melbourne many moons ago.

Indian coach Gary Kirsten applauded the tenacity shown by his bowlers. “When you looked at it at tea, we were in trouble. Let’s be honest about that. All credit to the bowlers for turning it around. They showed tremendous resilience. They have bowled pretty well this series without the rewards. When you’re picking four bowlers every Test, it’s an enormous workload on them. We’ve got to give them credit for the way they run in Test after Test. This is our fourth on the trot” said Kirsten.

Kirsten also suggested there were no demons in the pitch which is ominous for the Proteas having to bowl at India tomorrow, “If you’re not getting wickets because the ball’s doing a bit, you’ve got to build pressure. And there’s no better way of building pressure than getting a few wickets. It happened to us in the first Test. We were going nicely with the bat, we lost a wicket and pressure was created. We did that in this game. We mustn’t always be looking for assistance to get wickets. When you can create pressure by doing some creative things on the field, which I thought we did today, batsmen play very differently” said Kirsten.

“We didn’t feel it took too much turn. We didn’t feel that it offered that much assistance to the seamers. There’s a long way to go in the Test, but it looks a fairly good wicket at the moment. There was a lot less grass on the wicket today than there was yesterday, otherwise we would have gone for three seamers” continued Kirsten.

There is a massive road to climb for South Africa to get back into this match. A few quick wickets here and there can change the match, but at the moment India hold the upper hand.

At stake in this crucial test is the ICC number 1 ranking!

Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat. Both sides made 1 change from the first test in Nagpur.

Mark Boucher has been ruled out with a back strain for South Africa. AB de Villiers will keep wicket and Alviro Petersen (29) will make his test debut opening the batting. It certainly strengthens the batting with Ashwell Prince moving down the order. Graeme Smith will play despite a hairline fracture to the little finger on his left hand.

VVS Laxman returns to the Indian side to bolster their batting ranks.

Graeme Smith was the first wicket to fall, undone by a ball that nipped back between his bat and pad. It’s unfortunately a ploy that gets Smith way too often, he needs to learn to get his bat and pad closer together.

At 9/1, Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla set about resurrecting the innings and batted beautifully to finish at 116/1 at lunch.

at 140/1, Amla is dropped. Harbhajan Singh flighted the delivery nicely outside off stump and Amla tried to force it off the back foot. Laxman at slip couldn’t hold the chance. Those really should be taken at this level, and Amla is in the sort of form to make India pay.

A century for Amla. Well played and well deserved! That’s 350 runs without a dismissal!

100 to Petersen on debut! What a fantastic achievement! Plays a little tuck in the leg side to bring up the century.

Out! Petersen is gone straight after reaching his hundred. Zaheer Khan induces the edge from a fullish delivery outside off stump. Well bowled, but a great innings on debut for Petersen and one he’ll never forget.

Jacques Kallis is the new batsman.

Amla is out. Zaheer Khan gets Amla with a shortishdelivery that Amla tries to pull from outside off stump. He was batting beautifully but finally gets out in India.

Damn Kallis is out! Caught by Laxman off Harbhajan. Only made 10 and South Africa want to make sure they don’t squander a great start. JP Duminy and Prince will have to make some runs here.

Harbhajan on a hat-trick! He gets both Prince and Duminy out LBW. South Africa now in trouble at 253/6.  It’s been a great fight back from India and the turbinator!

AB de Villiers run out. Silly silly stuff, and a major mix up with the striker Dale Steyn. This is poor poor cricket from South Africa in the last half hour.

Another one out! Paul Harris out caught by MS Dhoni off the bowling of Ishant Sharma. This is extraordinary. South Africa have a habit of choking under pressure. I’m tearing my hairout now (which is getting more and more grey as this match goes on)!

And Steyn is out! 1 Last wicket and South Africa have a fairly low total after cruising at 218/1.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

After winning the first test against India, Graeme Smith showed confidence in what the Proteas were trying to achieve, and not trying to play the way that is necessarily expected in the sub-continent.

“It’s hard work to win here, but it was important for us to play our style of cricket. We can’t expect to play like India, we need to adapt our style to the conditions. Teams are close in world cricket and you have to make sure you stay that little bit in front” said Smith.

Smith appears to have learnt the lessons from South Africa’s brief sojourn at the top of the ICC rankings, and expressed a desire to want to reclaim this position for a much longer period.

“You have to earn the number one ranking through your performances, we want to start the next test fresh. We’ll focus on specifics and not get ahead of ourselves because we want to stay at number one for a long time” said Smith.

In this test Smith was aided by the world-class performances of Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn, and was grateful to have such wonderful talent at his disposal.

“We got a terrific first innings score, which was crucial, thanks to Hash and Jakes. It’s been terrific to watch Hashim become the glue in our side at number three, he’s such a strong character, and then Jacques also deserves a lot of credit for his 173″ said Smith.

“We thought there was a chance of getting some shape with the ball and if anyone’s going to do it, it’s Dale Steyn. He’s a quality bowler and he swings it at pace, his 10 wickets just showed the class of the man, with his subtleties, little changes in line and different angles of delivery from the crease” said Smith.

Indian captain MS Dhoni also has match winners, but on this occasion they could not match the South African performances. Many Indians have criticised Sehwag for throwing his wicket away in the first innings after scoring a century, but Dhoni refused to apportion any blame to his master blaster.

“You can say we lost the game but you can’t put the blame on him because that’s Sehwag-cricket for you and more often than not he’ll win more games then he’ll lose. He has that liberty because he is a match-winner” Dhoni said.

“When he is playing aggressive cricket he puts pressure on the bowlers, they have to shift their lines which may not be their strength. It may look like a rash shot, but that’s the kind of cricket he plays, and we should leave it to him because he’s very successful in the cricket he plays. It’s very difficult to imitate that so I will not recommend that. Sehwag is one of a kind, he’s a great batsman and I just love the way he plays, and I hope he gets more and more runs” said Dhoni.

It’s a great attitude and in my mind the correct one. With two strong captains who are keen to play to their strengths, the second test should be a cracker. It’ll come down to which individuals fire, and can impose themselves on the opposition.

India lost the first test against South Africa largely due to match winning figures of 10 for 108 by fast bowler Dale Steyn.

Earlier Virender Sehwag had said Dale Steyn was the best bowler he has ever faced, and Indian captain MS Dhoni was also lavish in his praise of Steyn.

“Credit to Dale Steyn, he bowled really well with that changed ball after tea (on day 3), it really began to swing. He had already bowled 12-15 overs and after that coming back and bowling the way he did was amazing. But it was also the best display of conventional swing I have seen here because you hardly ever see that on a good track like this” said Dhoni.

“Steyn would take the ball away but then bring it in from the same spot. You can’t leave on bounce in the sub-continent, so it makes it a tough decision whether to go after the ball or not. Dale Steyn had reverse swing and his channel was really good. We were not able to get reverse swing going, which is vital if you’re going to give your fast bowlers something to play with” continued Dhoni.

“We were blown away by Dale Steyn and his swing and he is among the most successful bowlers there have ever been” said Dhoni.

Dhoni compared Steyn’s accuracy and ability to swing the ball both ways to Glenn McGrath.
“When McGrath used to bowl around the off-stump it was always difficult to leave the ball, and that’s what is happening with Steyn. He was getting the ball to go away and from the same spot he was getting it to go in. You just get a fraction of a second to make up your mind and decide what you’re planning to do’ said Dhoni

It makes it difficult to know what direction the ball is moving and what to play. For instance Gautam Gambhir got caught in the slips in the first innings, and then bowled the second innings as he mid-read the line coming in to him (although on this occasion it was from Morne Morkel).

While Steyn did the bulk of the damage, he was aided by unheralded left arm spinner Paul Harris. Harris took more wickets during the match than both the Indian spinners.

“At some point you have to try and play a shot against him because Harris is the type of spinner who is willing to bowl 30 overs and then he can really bind up one end. So you try to be more positive against him and if it pays off, it looks good, but if it doesn’t, it looks like a rash shot” said Dhoni

“He was very difficult to handle bowling into the footmarks, but he’s not a big turner of the ball and, even from the rough, some of his balls went straight on,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni will be expecting much more from his bowlers, especially his number 1 spinner Harbhajan Singh.
“He’s a great bowler and I’m not worried about that. He’s a big-game player. He’s got the experience because of which he knows exactly what to do” said Dhoni.

Whilst I expect the Indian batting to be much better in the second test, their bowling is likely to struggle. Singh has a good record in Kolkata but it’s going to require a fair bit of luck to restrict a powerful South African batting line-up.

Dhoni may well up end up losing his first series on home soil.

South Africa lead the best of 2 test series 1-0, and only need a draw in the second test to claim the number 1 test ranking.

To win by an innings and 6 runs within 4 days, in India was a magnificent achievement.

It bears striking resemblance to the 2007 series where South Africa won the first test convincingly, only to be smashed senseless in the second. Captain Graeme Smith will aim to ensure a repeat does not happen.

India were eventually all out for 319 in their second innings, failing to make South Africa bat again. Other than Sachin Tendulkar who scored a testing hundred, there was little resistance from the Indian batsmen.

Dale Steyn was once again the pick of the South African bowlers, but Paul Harris did his job superbly to remove the key wickets of Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. There was also good back-up from Wayne Parnell and Jacques Kallis.

Morne Morkel, for all his talent, needs to lift his game ahead of the second test. Steyn showed Morkel it is one thing to be able to take wickets on a pitch with pace and bounce at the Wanderers, but to do it in India you need to change your approach, try different things, but above all remain accurate in your line and length. That’s where I fear Morkel is lacking, and will continue to produce inconsistent results.

Hashim Amla deserved his man of the match award, but Jacques Kallis on day 1 and Dale Steyn on day 3 also produced man of the match performances. It meant that South Africa dominated almost every session and each day. That’s what is required to win test matches.

India have indicated they will definitely make changes for the second test. I think they’ll go with 6 specialist batsmen and aim to bolster their bowling resources.

All it takes at this level is for a Sehwag to get going, an inspired spell from Zaheer Khan and India can pull this series back. I still favour South Africa because overall they are a better team. Get Sehwag and Tendulkar early and the Indian batting does not look dangerous.

Harbhajan Singh is past his best and South Africa have played spin well. Amit Mishra is not consistently threatening, and India lack back-up pacemen to help Zaheer Khan.

The second test will no doubt be closer, but South Africa have the measure of this Indian side.

India resume at 223/6 trying to take the game into the 5th day.

Harbhajan Singh is flashing the willow! 1 six and 4 four’s is the right stuff in wanting to make South Africa bat again.

Out! Harbhajan tries to work the ball accross to the leg side and gets trapped in fron tby Wayne Parnell. A quickfire 39 comes to an end.

Zaheer Khan smashes Duminy for a four and a six and hits him out of the attack. South Africa do struggle cleaning up the tail if Steyn doesn’t pick up wickets.

Jacques Kallis picks up another test wicket! Khan is out as he presents a catch to mid off.

India have 2 wickets remaining and need 7 runs to make SouthAfrica bat again.

All over! Dale Steyn picks up the last 2 wickets to end up with 10 for the match!

South Africa win by an innings and 6 runs!

India have only ever lost by an innings 3 times in the last 25 years. They’ve all come at the hands of South Africa! This was also MS Dhoni’s first loss as captain.

What an awesome victory.Absolutely emphatic!

South Africa lead the series 1-0.

Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni are trying to save India.

Resuming after lunch, Tendulkar and Dhoni appeared to be bating reasonably comfortably.

Harris strikes! Tendulkar is bowled after reaching his hundred. A leg side line induces the error and Harris is ecstatic. India struggling at 192/5.

Out! Harris strikes again. Once again the leg side line, and Dhoni changes from using his pad to trying to use the bat. An inside edge, onto the pad and AB de Villiers takes the catch. Harris certainly frustrates the batsmen out!

The end should be reasonably near now. It’s just a matter of time.

At tea, India are 223/6. The end is near, and it’ll be MS Dhoni’s first defeat as captain of India.

Sachin Tendulkar and Murali Vijay resume on 66/2 for India.

Tendulkar starts the morning with three boundaries in the first 4-5 overs, whilst Vijay plays a lot tenatively.

South Africa strike! Vijay is out for 32.

Paul Harris bowling from over the wicket, is rewarded for bowling a leg side line and induces the top edge as Vijay tries to sweep. India in trouble early this morning at 96/3, and it will be Badrinath to come in.

Jacques Kallis drops Tendulkar off the bowling of Wayne Parnell in a sharp chance at slip. Kallis had to move low to his right but those chances need to be taken. How crucial will that turn out to be? Tendulkar is moving along nicely now.

Out! Badrinath is gone. Parnell comes around the wicket, induces the edge and Boucher does the rest! India in deep trouble 126/4.

Tendulkar and captain MS Dhoni are India’s last chance now.

Dhoni is living dangerously. He is not moving well, and poking the bat out. Edges one between keeper and slip, and lucky to still be out in the middle.

Ravi Shastri caught up with Virender Sehwag who had the following to say, “I am very disappointed with the way I got out. I was trying to hit down the ground, I didn’t want to hit in the air but the length was shorter than I thought and the bat turned in my hands and it ended up going in the air. I shouldn’t have got out that time. I don’t know how many times I said sorry to my coach. It was my best knock because of the team situation. Me and Badrinath were in a good partnership and then I got out out. I was very disappointed.”

“Dale Steyn is the best bowler I have ever faced. He bowls outswinger and can also bowl the inswinger. The way he got Murali Vijay out, it was a fantastic delivery. We are hopeful today. Sachin is still out there.”

Interesting to hear him rate Steyn so highly. Steyn is a great bowler, but I still feel he hasn’t reached his peak yet. Considering all the other bowlers Sehwag has faced, it is indeed high praise for the South African fast bowler!