INDIA'S WASHOUT IN SOUTH AFRICA : 1st TEST MATCH
India vs. South Africa - The 3 test match series. It was indeed the most awaited series of the year!
The media hype and all the media following that this test series received was outstanding. "Clash of the Titans" "Cricket's No.1 Team vs No. 2 Team". All this went to WASTE as the 1st test match was completely dominated by SA. The South Africans crushed the Indians and posed a humiliating defeat. Even the God of Cricket, our Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar couldn't save India from such a miserable loss. After all, Cricket is a TEAM GAME.
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
MS Dhoni, the Indian skipper, has a knack for losing tosses. And losing this one changed the shape of the game from top to bottom! Graeme Smith won the toss and after giving it some thought, decided to field and put the Indian batting order to face the heat of the SA pace bowling attack.
Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn opened the bowling attack and what a show they presented! Pace bowling, Swing, Bouncers, EVERYTHING! The Indian batsmen, who are not accustomed to play bouncers were in an utter state of misery. Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman and Raina were entirely disappointing. Tendulkar was looking good but even he was dismissed for 36 by Steyn. Dhoni was dismissed by Morkel on 33. Harbhajan, who has lately been in good touch, got 28 but was unfortunately run out.
Morkel's bowling figures were his career best. 5-20. India were all out for 136.
The South African batsmen were ready to take control of this situation as Graeme Smith and Petersen steadily built a partnership 111. Graeme Smith and Petersen, both, were dismissed by Harbhajan Singh for 62 and 77 respectively. THEN CAME THE BIG ONES. Hashim Amla scored 140. Kallis finally got to his double-hundred. An achievement that only enhances his treasure belt. There already was no doubt that Kallis is a class-player. AB De Villiers took the attack to the Indian bowlers and scored 129. This was the fastest century ever scored by any South African player in test matches.
A horrible bowling performance by the Indians helped SA declare for 620-4.
Not much of a fight was expected from the Indians but they really turned on the heat. Sehwag and Gambhir had a partnership of 137. Sehwag was dismissed for 63 and Gambhir was dismissed for 80. Ishant Sharma was sent as a night-watchman. He took the bouncers and with Dravid, he spent the night. Dravid was dismissed for 43. Tendulkar, the Little Master, reached his 50th test century. Dhoni counter-attacked and batted out almost the whole day with Tendulkar. But an amazing ball and a sharp, steep bouncer bowled by Steyn eventually dismissed Dhoni. Harbhajan couldn't make much of an impact. Sreeshanth and Tendulkar were left. And then the storm came in.
The next day, Sreesanth was dismissed quickly. Unadkat and Tendulkar were left the task of atleast putting the South Africans to bat again. But even Unadkat couldn't handle the bouncers. And with this, South Africa won by an innings and 25 runs.
India have a lot of hard work to do if they want to save this series and retain their No.1 Spot.
