First Double There was one way Kallis was going to feel edgy in this test match - that was once the thought struck him about his nearing double-century. The Indians sensed this and tightened the field refusing the singles. But, the Giant was not denied this time. He has missed the Double many times earlier but not now. This was the only time India was close to getting him dismissed. The problem for India was that he had added more than two hundred runs in the first session (extended by 30 minutes) at a rate of more than run-a-ball.AB De Villiers showed exactly why he is the promising player in all formats of the game in today's world. His run-scoring was quick without taking any major risks. He made sure that Smith could execute his plans even earlier than he had planned for.
Once Kallis scored his double and De Villiers got out trying to increase the scoring rate further, Smith decided that he had enough runs in the bank to win the match. As soon as the Indians started batting in the second innings, appeared clouds on the horizon. Was it going to help the Indians draw the match or was it going to spice up the pitch like it did in the first innings?
Sehwag and Gambhir showed that there were no demons on the pitch, like the Proteas showed. The run-rate was healthy and the pace bowlers were not able to trouble the batsmen like the way they did in the first innings. It was good to see the way they had put the lead behind and notched up runs in quick time. But, Sehwag has shown a recent trend of getting out to a spinner after having settled down. It happened once again and South Africa were celebrating. The dismissal of Gambhir later in the day also ensured that there would be two relatively new batsmen at the crease in the morning.
Session-Dashboard has the South Africans leading the Indians by 6-2. Can the Indians win 4 sessions (of the remaining 6) in a row to equalize the match and go to the next test at 0-0? The weather has to help the batsmen in achieving this target. The forecast is for rains today and more tomorrow - will the Indians push the match till tomorrow?
No comments:
Post a Comment