Historic win for India in Kingsmead

India's saviour, yet again.

The script for India’s sorry demise in South Africa had already been written. After the meek capitulation at Centurion even more embarrassment was said to be in store for the Indian cricket team in Kingsmead, the fastest and the bounciest of all venues in the country. Haunting memories of the 1996 Durban Test did not help either. On that occasion, India had been bowled out for 100 and 66 in their 2 innings, one Indian batsman after another succumbing haplessly to fiery pace bowling. But this Indian team was not like the one that toured South Africa in 1996. This team was an embodiment of all the positive changes that Indian cricket had undergone in the 14 years from 1996 to 2010. Under pressure of retaining their number 1 status in Tests, the Indian team responded. And how!

Things got off to the worst possible start for India when Dhoni lost the crucial toss yet again. As expected, South Africa put India into bat on a green hard surface. However, to most Indian supporters’ surprise India got off to a decent start. With Sehwag and Vijay riding their luck India reached 43-0. Then Steyn struck. Sehwag was gone and soon Vijay followed him back to the pavilion. Sachin Tendulkar played some good looking shots before falling to the debutant Tsotsobe. An absolute peach from Steyn later, India found themselves at 117-4 with Dravid gone too. Laxman was the only Indian batsman who looked at ease with the conditions, playing shots on both sides of the wicket in his inimitable style. He fell unfortunately, to a stunning catch from Tsotsobe at mid on, but his batting had shown enough signs of things to come. Thereafter, wickets fell regularly and only decent contributions from Dhoni and Harbhajan could prop India up to 205. By no means an imposing score, but on this demon of a wicket it still provided India’s bowlers something to fight with. And boy did they fight!

I wouldn’t disagree with anybody who says Zaheer is, at the moment, one of the best bowlers in Test cricket around the world. He has become a master of swing and seam and his consistent line and length means he is able to execute his plans to the last detail. Perhaps South Africa were too confident of themselves or they’d forgotten to factor in Zaheer’s presence and the difficult batting conditions, either way they soon found themselves in a gooey mess soon. Zaheer accounted for the openers and Ashwell Prince, while a lucky deflection off Ishant Sharma ran out Kallis at the non strikers end and Harbhajan picked up the crucial wicket of Hashim Amla. Thereafter 3 world class catches by Dravid(this one was truly phenomenal), Pujara and Harbhajan mopped up the Proteas’ tail and they were all out for 131, handing India a vital lead of 74 runs.

In the second innings, India found themselves in trouble at 56-4, but Laxman decided to stamp his authority on the game at this point. He is the undisputed God of 2nd Innings’ and he proved it here yet again. Batting as if he was created only for the purpose of thwarting South Africa on a venomous Kingsmead track, he built up crucial partnerships with Pujara, Dhoni and Zaheer Khan in succession to take India’s lead beyond 300. During his stay at the crease, not once was he hurried by the South African speed merchants; an amazing contrast to the batsmen at the other end who were hurried and hassled throughout by the bounce and pace of the wicket. Zaheer Khan played as important a hand in batting as he did with his bowling, adding 80 priceless runs with Laxman for the 9th wicket. There is something about Laxman that brings out the best in tail enders. India were finally bowled out for 228, a lead of 302 runs, with Laxman falling last for 96. He richly deserved a century for his efforts but his career will not be measured merely by the numbers against the 100s/50s columns; his innumerable match saving knocks mean his place as one of India’s great cricketing legends is ensured.

Graeme Smith came out to bat with a clear plan. He started counter attacking the Indian bowling and it paid him rich dividends. The Springboks raced to 63-0 at over 5 runs an over. At which point, a bouncer from Sreesanth drew a false shot from Smith and he was caught by Dhoni. The dismissal was well planned by Sreesanth who sought to get under Smith’s skin from the start and the provocations paid off. Zaheer got rid of Peterson a short while later, bowled off his thigh pads, perhaps a touch unfortunately. The dangerous Amla who had been India’s bane last year and also at Centurion then fell to Sreesanth playing a rash far shot away from his body. South Africa ended the day’s play needing 193 runs for victory with 7 wickets in hand. The experienced Kallis and the flamboyant de Villiers were at the crease. The match was evenly balanced at this stage.

The 4th morning started with the Indian speedsters bowling immaculately, leaving Kallis and de Villiers with very few opportunities to score. Then Sreesanth produced the ball of the series to remove Kallis. The ball pitched on good length and just kept rising from then on. Kallis tried his best to get out of harm’s way but all he could do was glove the ball for a simple catch at slips. De Villers and Boucher were then removed in quick succession, both falling to dubious lbw decisions. The South Africans wouldn’t have been too happy about that and it certainly made the case for using the UDRS stronger. From that point on, India were in control as they neared victory. Ashwell Prince played a sedate innings of 39 and Albie Morkel counter attacked his way to 20 quick runs, but that was never going to be enough. South Africa were all out for 215, falling 87 short of their target. India had leveled the series.

The Indians were jubilant and rightly so. But noticeably, none of them were going overboard. Winning has become a habit for this team and they know there is more work to be done before they can start celebrating. The Cape Town Test starts in 2 days time and the Indians will know they have a very good chance of winning their first Test series in South Africa. This was a wonderful Test match and it just goes on to show how important it is to make pitches that offer some assistance to bowlers rather than dead, flat tracks that produce only run fests. Hope the Cape Town test turns out to be as entertaining as this one.