3rd Test: South Africa 232/4 on Day 1, match evenly poised

2011-01-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

CAPE TOWN: India failed to fully exploit the seaming conditions as South Africa recovered from two early jolts to reach 232 for four on the opening day and leave the crucial third cricket Test evenly poised on Sunday.

Scorecard

Put into bat in overcast conditions which suit seam bowlers, South Africa lost both openers quickly but relied on Jacques Kallis (81 batting) to guide them to a far more comfortable position at stumps on a rain-truncated day.

Ashwell Prince was giving Kallis company on 28 when the stumps were drawn after an extended final session at Newlands.

Having put South Africa into bat for the first time in the series, India would have been in a better position if they had taken a couple of more wickets as conditions would be favourable for batsmen in the remaining days.

South Africa were tottering at 34 for two at one stage but the experienced Kallis again thwarted India's plans of ripping through the home side batting line-up by holding fort with a mix of caution and aggression. He hit 16 fours while facing 169 balls.

Kallis stitched three substantive partnerships, first with Hashim Amla (59) for 72 runs for the third wicket before stands of 58 and 68 runs for the fourth and unfinished fifth wickets with AB de Villiers (26) and Prince respectively.

The Indian pace trio of Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma failed to capitalise on the favourable conditions as they could get just four wickets on a day which was overcast for most part with two rain-breaks.

Zaheer (1/62) was impressive in his first spell when he dismissed Smith for the 11th time in all formats of the game taken together but erred in line and length later by bowling overpitched deliveries and to the pads of the batsmen.

Sreesanth (2/70) was also not consistent in his line and length though he was the most successful bowler of the day, taking the crucial wickets of Amla and de Villiers.

Ishant (1/39) bowled within himself hitting the deck besides getting movement. Harbhajan Singh did not get much turn on the first day pitch but was able to contend the South African batsmen with figures of 0/55 from his 18 overs.

India began well with Zaheer removing South African captain Smith in the morning session which had only nine overs due to inclement weather.

Amla, who hit a nine fours and a six in his 80-ball stay, was at his element again after failing in the second Test in Durban. His counterattack saw South Africa score at a brisk pace though they lost two wickets, including that of Amla, in the second session to reach 125 for three at tea.

South Africa added 104 runs from 28 overs in the second session thanks to a 72-run third wicket partnership between Amla and Kallis after they reached 21 for one when early lunch was taken due to inclement weather.

Amla was looking good for a big innings as he played the Indian pace trio with a lot of conviction, especially after second rain break, before a poor shot off Sreesanth's bowling did him in.

The hosts were in a tricky situation at 61 for two in 21 overs at the second rain break but Amla made his intentions clear as he clipped Zaheer for three boundaries. The senior India pacer was guilty of bowling juicy half volleys on Amla's pads and got duly punished in the process.

When Sreesanth bowled outswingers, Amla drove through covers. When the temperamental Kerala speedster dug one short, Amla, South Africa's most consistent batsmen over the last season, got into perfect position to pull-it over fine-leg for maximum to complete his 19th half century in Test cricket with the help of eight fours and a six.

However, Sreesanth had the last laugh when Amla fell for the bait going for another pull-shot. Cheteshwar Pujara was stationed at deep mid-wicket for this particular shot and he took a simple catch.

As play resumed post-lunch, Ishant Sharma got into the act as he got Alviro Petersen (21, 47 balls, 3x4) to drive on the up and the snick was taken easily Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.

In the post tea-session, India could take only de Villiers' wicket with a Sreesanth outswinger luring the batsman into the cover drive only to swing away late for Dhoni to catch the edge.

Earlier, Indian captain Dhoni finally found some luck going his way as far as the spin of coin is concerned.

Dhoni won the toss for the first time in the series and put South Africa on to bat as he wanted his bowlers to make full use of the overcast conditions.

Pace spearhead Zaheer moved the ball both ways during his five over-spell.

It was no surprise that Zaheer finally got his bunny Smith (6) once again trapping the Proteas skipper plumb in front.

The delivery held its line after pitching on the off-stump as Smith played thinking it to be an away swinger. The ball kept low and hit him on the back leg. This is the 11th time that Zaheer has dismissed Smith in all formats taken together.

Read more: Times of India

Kallis boosts South Africa in Cape Town decider

2011-01-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

In conditions where the ball swung and seamed all day, South Africa would be pleased with a score of 232-4. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis struck fifties after MS Dhoni won the toss just for the second time in 15 matches.

A wicket in the final hour would have made it India's day but Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince took them to stumps with a confidence-boosting 68-run partnership.

Zaheer Khan dismissed Graeme Smith for the sixth time in Test cricket but India's standout performer was S Sreesanth who overcame a sloppy start to set up Amla with a bouncer and AB de Villiers with an out-swinger.

In chilly, overcast conditions and on a green-tinged pitch, India sometimes lacked the luck, and at other times the discipline, to push for more wickets. There were a handful of edges past the slips and the stumps, and India could have easily finished with a couple of wickets more.

With India on top, MS Dhoni baffled by not using a third slip, which saw Kallis and Ashwell Prince getting away with edges against Sreesanth and Zaheer. At the other end, Harbhajan Singh had an uneventful day, partially because of Dhoni's annoying tendency to allow the opposition easy singles playing with the spin.

After an interruption for bad light in the morning session, the sun came out in the evening. The forecast for the next four days is for clear skies. India would love this considering they'd batted in less than ideal batting conditions in Centurion and Durban.

ZAHEER GETS SMITH AGAIN

In the morning, Zaheer trapped Smith LBW with an in-coming ball. Zaheer has worked out Smith to perfection. The South African captain has rarely understood if Zaheer is moving the ball in or out. Today, Zaheer had to wait till the fifth over to bowl to Smith, but only seven deliveries to get him out.

The first ball of their mini-battle was turned away through midwicket for two runs. Zaheer beat the bat once and kept mixing the in-coming ball with the out-swingers. It paid off when the third ball of the seventh cut in, going past Smith's bat and thudding into his pads in front of off-stump.

Ishant Sharma was tidy today, getting Alviro Petersen caught behind with a gentle out-swinger. Sreesanth operated under the 130s; in the evening his rhythm was upset by a wobbly run-up area which forced him to move his run a few inches to the left.

He had been marked out by captains of both sides as the one who needed to behave. He did behave, but not before going after Amla.

The quiet, rock-steady batsman once managed to split two fielders in the deep in pulling Sreesanth for a six. But at some level, Sreesanth's verbal barrage would have got to him as he was caught at deep square leg trying to repeat the shot.

Sreesanth then set up de Villiers with the out-swinger. Right after one ball had moved in, Sreesanth got the next ball to cut away as de Villiers readied for a cover drive. The movement was enough to take the outside edge to Dhoni.

Dhoni's task now is cut down Kallis from running away with this Test. He's batting 81. Newlands is by far Kallis' most favourite batting ground --- at the start of this game, he had six hundreds and eight fifties in 17 matches here, while making 1602 runs at 66.75.

Only with him gone, India can think of winning this game and, with it, the series.

Source:Yahoo Cricket

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3rd Test: South Africa 232/4 on Day 1, match evenly poised

Kallis boosts South Africa in Cape Town decider