India whip Proteas
CENTURION (AFP) — India inflicted a crushing 9 wicket victory over South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday and move 2-0 up in the six-match ODI cricket series after bowling out their hosts for 118 – the lowest ever total at this ground — before easing past their target inside 21 overs.
As it stands, South Africa are still the No. 1 side in the world in this format but you’d be forgiven if you refused to believe that after watching this particular encounter.
After being sent in by Virat Kohli on a pitch that may have lacked the usual pace and bounce generally associated with this venue but was hardly an “Indian pitch” as Sunil Gavaskar’ cheekily suggested, South Africa’s batsmen were made to look ordinary against spin bowling that was controlled and attacking yet far from unplayable.
In what is becoming a perennial problem, and one that will no doubt have Ottis Gibson scrambling for a solution, the home team failed to navigate a slow and turning ball as they lost their last 9 wickets for just 79 runs.
Yuzvendra Chahal was the destroyer in chief as he bagged a career best 5-22 from 8.2 overs but was well supported by Kuldeep Yadav (3-20 from 6 overs) as the pair secured the most wickets from spin in the ground’s history.
Shikar Dhawan (51* off 56) and Kohli (46* off 50) then combined for an unbeaten and untroubled 93 for the second wicket the ease their side over the line with 177 balls left in the bank.
The victory procession was farcically halted when, with just two runs needed, the umpires called for the scheduled interval. Underlying the ridiculousness of it all, the winnings runs were hit in front of a near empty stadium nearly an hour later.
Kagiso Rabada (1-24 from 5 overs) got the only wicket for South Africa, that of Rohit Sharma (15 off 17) with a snorting bouncer, but that was about as good as it got with the ball as Dhawan and Kohli put to bed any suggestions that this was a tricky wicket to play on.
Earlier in the day, Hashim Amla showed glimpses of his fluent best with 23 off 32 balls that included some delicious strokes through the off side.
He was the first to go when a Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1-19 from 5 overs) cutter scythed in him in half and found the inside edge for MS Dohni to collect behind the stumps. Then the collapse began.
In two consecutive balls, the out of sorts Quinton de Kock (20 off 36) and stand-in skipper Aiden Markram (8 off 11) hit long-hops off Chahal and Yadav respectively to fielders at deep-midwicket.
Four balls later, Yadav landed a beauty around off stump and turned the ball enough to find David Miller’s edge. The ball nestled in Ajinkya Rahane’s hands at first slip, the belligerent lefty was out for a duck and the home side were reeling at 51-4 inside 14 overs.
The task of rebuilding the innings rested on the shoulders of two players whose inclusion in the side has divided opinions but there was a glimmer of hope when JP Duminy (25 off 39) and Khayelihle Zondo (25 off 45) were at the crease together.
Though they hardly troubled the boundary riders, hitting 4 fours between them, they rotated the strike to good effect in a patient stand of 48 for the fifth wicket.
Inexplicably, Zondo felt the ante needed upping and fetched a wide Chahal delivery with an ugly sweep. The resulting top-edge barely made it past the inner ring on the leg side where Pandya took his second catch of the game after an initial fumble.
Duminy must not have been paying attention as he too was out sweeping Chahal. A wonderfully flighted delivery dipped on the left hander who was in no position to play the unnecessary stroke and was trapped in front lbw.
The final four wickets fell in 24 balls with Chris Morris (14 off 10) the last man to go when he was caught on the cover boundary to hand Chahal his maiden ODI five-for.
While there is no need to hit the panic button just yet, some serious work needs to be done if the Proteas are to end the years of hurt and lift the World Cup trophy next year.
A blueprint has been set by the Indians on how to beat this crop of South Africans. The challenge now is to rectify the obvious shortcomings.
The sides head south to lock horns again in Cape Town on Wednesday with the series hanging by a thread for the home side.