Related Links : South Africa’s Tour of India 2007/08 : Scorecard
India has come back strongly in the 3-Test Series by bowling out South Africa for 265 on the first day of the third and final Test at Kanpur. On a wicket that was tailor-made for spinners, the Indian team came good after a worrying start this morning. The onus is now on the batsmen to grab the initiative that has been provided by a bowling attack that was without the leader – Anil Kumble.
South Africa were a confident team having beaten India by a huge margin in the second test at Ahmedabad. And with India making lot of changes, the pressure was on them to get everything right to draw this series with a win at Kanpur. The curator did half of the job for India by giving an under prepared wicket that was full of cracks right from the first day. However, the toss went in SA’s favour and the visitors did the sensible thing in batting first on a wicket that would only get worst with each phase of the match. India brought in their fastest bowler Ishant Sharma for RP Singh, Yuvraj Singh for Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla for the injured Anil Kumble. MS Dhoni, the Vice-Captain got the big opportunity of being the first ever Indian wicket keeper to become a Captain in Test Cricket. The South Africans stuck to their winning combination.
The openers for SA – Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie have been going on with world beating confidence and today was no different. India’s two fast bowlers Sreesanth and Ishant were not able to create any impact with the new ball. Yet another strong start was given by Smith and McKenzie and it needed Dhoni to quickly introduce the slower bowlers. In the 18th over, McKenzie was tempted to step down the track to a delightfully fligthed leg break from Piyush Chawla which got the better of the batsman to have him stumped. McKenzie literally threw away his good start with that rash thinking, he made a score of 36 (from 57 balls with 5 fours) in an opening stand of 61. The Indian spinners then pulled things back and showed what the wicket was going to play like. South Africa went to lunch at a steady 80 for 1 in 25 overs.
Most of the South African batsmen have been in good form in the last 2-3 series and the pair of Smith-Amla only consolidated further to leave India in an anxious state. But Dhoni made some innovative changes like bringing on Yuvraj Singh to break the routine passage in the game. Yuvraj almost gave him the breakthrough when he had got Graeme Smith rapped up on the pads with some quick turn off the track. But Umpire Billy Doctrove was caught in an overcautious mood which gave a let off to Graeme Smith. Justice was done soon when Yuvraj surprised Graeme Smith with a delivery that kicked off to force a bat pad catch at short leg. Smith was taken for a surprise by that delivery and had to cut short his promising innings to 69 (from 134 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes). India found some new life now with that wicket and pacer Ishant Sharma returned back for a new spell to force Hashim Amla (51 from 101 balls with 6 fours) to play a 140kmph incoming delivery back onto his stumps leaving SA at 160 for 3. Before Tea, India got another big wicket in the form of Jacques Kallis who also played onto his stumps. Kallis (1) wasn’t in control of his backfoot defence to a sharp kicking off break from Harbhajan and unlike in Ahmedabad, the ball this time managed to get the bails down! At Tea, it was the home side on the attack with the score at 175 for 4 in 55 overs.
The final session started off in a dull manner with Aswhell Prince scratching around at one end. The double centurion in the last game – AB de Villiers played some shots to push the scoring forward but didn’t last long as he miscued a pull shot off Piyush Chawla to be caught at mid wicket. It was a near half tracker that gave Chawla his second wicket and for Ganguly at mid wicket, it was a nervous high catch. de Villers made just 25 (from 45 balls with 3 fours) this time. The next breaks came without much of wait for the Indians. First Sehwag got Prince (16 from 71) lbw with a flatter delivery that got him on the backfoot followed up with the wicket of Morne Morkel (17 from 17 with 3 fours), who was caught in the slip after trying to cut Harbhajan to leave SA at 241 for 7. The only capable batsman for SA was Mark Boucher and his fight ended by a terrific incutter from Ishant that stayed low to hit the timber. Boucher made 29 and the remaining two wickets went to Harbhajan and Ishant respectively. SA were bowled out for 265 in 87.3 overs which also brought a close to the first day’s play.
After a disappointing spell with the new ball, Ishant Sharma returned back to prove why he is the latest sensation in Indian Cricket with his 3 for 55 in 12.3 overs. Harbhajan was superb in putting a lid on the scoring as he conceded just 52 runs in 31 overs along with 3 wickets. Piyush Chawla was promising but every now and then was guilty of bowling the long hops which clearly affected his economy rate which was a high at 4.12. This match will be highly unpredictable as the South African bowlers who have the speeds of close to 150kmph can be deadly dangerous on a track that has uneven bounce. It all boils down on how the experienced Indian batsmen can handle the tough job ahead.