Pacer's career-best 4-22 helps SA restrict India to 190; Graeme Smith scores half century as SA reach 119-3
Pacer's career-best 4-22 helps SA restrict India to 190; Graeme Smith scores half century as SA reach 119-3
South Africa lost three wickets in their quest to chase the target of 191 in the second ODI against India at the Wanderers Stadium here on Saturday.
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| Pacer's career-best 4-22 helps SA restrict India to 190; Graeme Smith scores half century as SA reach 119-3 |
However, skipper Graeme Smith kept the hosts on course for victory with a crafty half-century. Smith was batting on 65 while new batsman JP Duminy was on 13 as the Proteas needed 73 runs in 26 overs at the time of going to press.u00a0
Earlier, Lonwabo Tsotsobe's career-best haul of 4-22 meant India were shot out for a paltry 190. Amidst a heaving Saturday crowd, Tsotsobe, along with new-ball partner Dale Steyn (2-35) didn't allow India's top-order batsmen to gather momentum after the visitors elected to bat on a surface that boasts of an average first-innings total of 224.
There was a lot of bounce in the surface, absolutely no swing or turn, couple that with a fast outfield and batting conditions were healthy.
However, India's batsmen were perennially expecting short pitched bowling, especially youngsters Murali Vijay (16) and Suresh Raina (11) and that to an extent removed attacking strokes from their repertoire.u00a0
Graeme Smith, who surpassed the late Hansie Cronje as the captain with most ODI caps, was on the button with his field placements during the power-play periods. When Vijay targeted the off-side field, he packed the on-side, and asked Tsotsobe to bowl bouncers outside off-stump.
ReluctanceSimilarly, when Sachin Tendulkar (24) was expecting wide deliveries to a 9:2 off-side field, Steyn bowled hostile, well-directed bouncers to the maestro. In hindsight, there was reluctance from India's batsmen to step on the accelerator.
Tendulkar displayed flashes of brilliance, especially when he pierced mid-on off Steyn in the fifth over to pick up his first boundary. However, it was evident that the batsman, who equalled Sanath Jayasuriya's world-record of 444 ODI caps, looked to anchor the innings, rather than take the attack to the bowling.
Smart captaincy A smart piece of captaincy led to his dismissal in the 19th overu00a0-- when Johan Botha (1-35) bowling to 6:3 on-side field, pitched one short of a length, tempting Tendulkar to play the square-cut, who played on. The off-spinner was instrumental in not allowing the middle-order batsmen to cut loose.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (38) broke the shackles in the first ball of the 24th over with India's first boundary in 75 balls.
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Later, an eventful 32nd over saw Yuvraj Singh (53) take the charge to Steyn. The duo added a crucial stand of 83 runs for the fourth-wicket.
After the drinks interval, Yuvraj came out with an aggressive intent in the 36th over, hammering Morne Morkel with a customary square-cut. With his high bat-lift, Yuvraj used the steep bounce to his advantage, square cutting anything that was short and wide.
He struck the ball to Steyn at mid-off just two balls after bringing up his half-century. Smith was smart in bringing Tsotsobe back when India took the batting power-play. Firstly, he trapped Raina plumb in front.
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He backed up his wicket-maiden over by cleaning up Dhoni with an outstanding yorker. India collapsed from 150-3 to 190 all out in 47.2 overs. It was the Tsotsobe show, for the second game in succession.
