South Africa are not an easy side to defeat as a record of just three Test losses
in nearly four years testifies. India are finding that out first hand
in Johannesburg, as the home side put up a stubborn resistance on the
fourth day. India remain on top, more so after having squeezed out two
major wickets, but another day of intense combat awaits them on Sunday.
India lost wickets regularly on the fourth day but that didn't alter the
match situation much as Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli had already
put the visitors in a dominant position yesterday. By the time India
were bowled out midway through the second session, the target had
reached never-chased-before proportions of 458.
South Africa's redoubtable batting line-up is stacked with players who have stellar second-innings records,
and grinding out five-and-a-half sessions isn't a task beyond them. It
wasn't Jacques Kallis (second innings avg 56.06) or Hashim Amla (53.51)
or even opener Graeme Smith (48.06) who led the resistance early on.
Instead, it was
Alviro Petersen,
possibly playing for his place in the side after a lean run in recent
months, who soaked up much of the bowling and led a sprightly start.
India's bowlers didn't get alarming movement with the new ball and
though there were edges and beatens aplenty, the only chance that came
their way was a tough overhead catch for Virat Kohli on the first ball
Smith faced off Zaheer Khan. It came off the middle of the bat, and
though Kohli managed to get a hand on the ball, he couldn't hold on and
it popped too far for him to get a second chance.
South Africa's openers were never really at home - the leading edge or
the ball that squared them up was never too far - but they went for
their strokes and the runs came along briskly. Petersen played a
gorgeous straight drive early on, and accumulated the bulk of his runs
through whips towards midwicket. Smith, as usual, specialised in
survival, besides muscling the ball frequently to the leg side.
It was only when the openers have been together for nearly two hours
that Smith seemed to be getting fluent, and the openers put together
their first 100-run stand in
more than a year.
India desperately needed something to go their way, and it did. Smith
has never been the nimblest runner between the wickets, and in 196
previous Test innings he had been run out only twice.
Today, with his team still needing an enormous effort to save the game,
he was caught short attempting a sharp, needless single. The throw from
the mid-on fielder, Ajinkya Rahane, arrowed in on the base of the
non-striker's stump to catch Smith short. Perhaps Smith was convinced
into going for the run as he played the shot from well outside his
crease, but for a man who prides himself on his ability to thrive in
high-pressure situations, this was a tame way to go.
When India won the
Durban Test
on their previous tour, the defining delivery was the one from
Sreesanth that leapt at Kallis' throat and led to his dismissal. If
India do go on to complete a famous win tomorrow, the defining
deliveries could well be the ones to dismiss Amla in each innings.
Opponents will consider Amla getting bowled without offering a stroke
once as a bonus, but twice in a match is a bonus of the size investment
bankers dream of.
While Amla shouldering arms to a typical incoming Ishant Sharma delivery
in the first innings was inexplicable, he was less culpable in the
second innings. He saw Mohammed Shami drop it short and ducked, but the
ball stayed low, so low that it crashed into the top of off. Amla had
said after the first innings, "there are two types of leaves - a good
leave and a bad leave." You can't classify this as a bad leave, but it
cost Amla his wicket, and he trudged off after staring at where the ball
bounced.
While there has been plenty of intensity right through this game, there
was also time for MS Dhoni to bowl a couple of overs when the light was
fading towards close, making this the first time both teams'
wicketkeepers have bowled in a Test.
India will hope they can take the remaining eight wickets tomorrow
morning with the haste with which South Africa got them today. Pujara
went on to his fourth 150-plus score of his short Test career before
nicking behind off Kallis. Kohliclosing in on joining greats Vijay
Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid as the only Indians to make a century in each innings of a Test. He couldn't get there though, edging JP Duminy to the keeper on 96.
Dhoni holed out for a typically busy 29, but it wasn't as action-packed
as Zaheer Khan's cameo - french cuts and wild heaves were mixed in with a
couple of cleanly struck sixes, all of which had the Indian dressing
room laughing gleefully. Zaheer's hitting meant India added 37 for the
final two wickets, and pushed the target beyond 450.
