Indian quicks take out South Africa on opening day

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The times they are a-changing, as the old cliche goes.

A year ago, if you told someone that India would go into a game with three fast bowlers and just one spinner; more, that it would insert the opposition on day one of a Test match on a fast track; bowl the side out within the day and, most importantly, that its lone spin bowler would have gone wicketless throughout the innings, they'd have said you were nuts.

But that is precisely what happened, on day one of the Castle Lager three-Test series between India and South Africa at Kingsmead, Durban.

And here is how it all happened...

The wicket, weather, teams and such

It was always on the cards that the ground staff at Kingsmead would produce a fast, lively wicket - and so it proved on the day, with the Test wicket proving to be hard, bouncy, with a layer of grass left uncut on the wicket.

Indications were that the ball would seam and swing, with lots of bounce for the quick bowlers. For the batsmen, the option was predominant front foot strokeplay through the line, the higher bounce making playing away from the body very dicey.

India gambled going into this one, chosing to pick just four specialist bowlers in Srinath, Prasad, Johnson and Kumble and using the extra slot to fit in Vikram Rathore in the opener's berth.

South Africa, interestingly, also opted for four regular bowlers in Donald, Klusener, Pollock and McMillan, dropping Adams and accomodating, instead, the teenaged Adam Bacher.

Officiating were umpires Steve Dunne of New Zealand and Dave Orchard of South Africa, with Rudi Koertzen doing duty in the video umpire's chair.

Despite a bit of early morning rain, the game kicked off on time and Sachin Tendulkar, winning the toss, decided to insert the opposition.

It's none too clear whether Tendulkar was looking to put SA under pressure on a fast track, or whether he was keeping his own batsmen away from the dangers Donald, Pollock et al could pose on the new track at Kingsmead.

In the event, the decision was made, and it was South Africa to take first strike on day one...

The South African innings

Gary Kirsten and Andrew Hudson, the South African openers, are both tentative starters, and always vulnerable at the start of their innings.

It's always a bit of a toss up which of the two succumbs first - and on this instance the victim was Kirsten. Turned inside out by Prasad's variations as the Indian seamer alternated the ball leaving the batsman with the one cutting sharply back into him, Kirsten took to coming tentatively forward and pushing with bat well away from the body - and Prasad, in the fourth over, produced the classic delivery, pitching bang on middle stump, leaving Kirsten tentatively forward and unsure which way the ball was going. In the event, it cut in off the seam, found the gap between bat and pad and crashed into the stumps to reduce South Africa to 8/1.

Adam Bacher, all of 19, came in one drop and from the first ball he faced, looked a very fine player. He is very assured in his footwork, his initial movement being back and across but quickly back onto the front foot if the line and length warrants. Very fluent through the off though somewhat more restricted in his on-side play, Bacher looked far better than his senior partner as the second wicket partnership added 62 runs.

Good batsmanship was one reason for the partnership developing through the morning, and the other was that Srinath in particular, carried away perhaps by the pace and bounce on the wicket, tending to stray outside off. The result was that the batsmen did not need to play at a good proportion of deliveries, which in turn meant that they were under far less pressure than they should have been.

Johnson came on as first change and proved equally wayward, while Sachin Tendulkar, backing his own ability to move the ball off the seam, looked good for a couple of overs before trying too hard and ending up with a catch in the side that took him off the field.

70/1 was a good score to take into the lunch break, and at that point it seemed that Sachin's decision to insert could well cost the side. However, someone appeared to have talked to the Indian seamers during the break, for they straightway settled down to doing just what they should have been looking at all along - keeping the ball right up, letting it move in the air and off the wicket and forcing the batsmen to play at everything.

The first ball after lunch saw Srinath straighten one pitched on line of off stump - and Bacher, his concentration disrupted by the break, played down the wrong line and was caught in front of the wicket for a well made 25 inclusive of three fours and an effortlessly hooked six when Prasad pitched one short.

Out came Cullinan, and in Prasad's first over after lunch, off he went again, groping forward to a ball that pitched on off and seamed away to take the edge and land safely in Mongia's gloves - a regulation fast bowler's wicket, and SA on 71/3 were pushed back onto the back foot.

Skipper Hansie Cronje must, about now, be feeling the pressure of a string of low scores. The captain of a winning side can get away with batting failures, but when the side is losing the pressure on the captain to lead the way intensifies - and Cronje appeared to be feeling it, judging by his tentative approach to the job.

Prasad and Srinath continually kept him guessing with variations of pace and movement, and the former finally put an end to his agony when he got one to pitch on middle stump, opening Cronje up with the one leaving him and giving Mongia yet another regulation catch behind the stumps to put SA on 99/4.

Herschelle Gibbs, seen as a player of promise, came out to partner Hudson who, all along, had been solidering on at the other end, playing and missing but hanging on and getting runs whenever the bowlers dropped the ball on wrong line and length. Gibbs, however, never really looked at ease on this wicket. Johnson, brought back into the attack, came up with one of his rare really good deliveries, finding the off stump line and seaming it away - and Mongia, again, did the needful diving to his right.

SA 113/5 at this stage and interestingly, of the five wickets, three had been snared by the ball on off, leaving the batsman and finding the edge. This was a mode of dismissal much favoured by Indian batsmen throughout the sixties, seventies and eighties, and it was interesting to see that quality seam bowling could induce the same errors in South Africa as well, even when they were playing at home.

Brian McMillan was the next man in, though on reputation Shaun Pollock would have been the better bet. In the event Mac, after a sequence of low scores on the tour of India, batted with his head down, letting the odd play-and-miss slide and concentrating on picking runs as and when he could. Rathore grassed a difficult chance when he failed to hold on to an uppish pull at square leg, VVS Laxman let off Hudson off a high chance at third slip, and a repair job looked likely as the two pushed the score along to 162.

Sometimes, the most unlikely bowler is the one to strike when a partnership looks to be developing - and on this occasion it was Ganguly. Bowling at a slow medium, concentrating just on keeping the ball in the slot and on the stumps, Ganguly was obviously doing nothing more than filling in with a few overs while Srinath and Prasad rested between spells. The ball that got rid of Hudson was outside off, moving a fraction further - Hudson drove without ever being in line, the outer edge flew true to Mongia, and a momentary lapse in concentration had negated all the earlier hard work by a batsman who stuck it out for 191 deliveries for his 80 in an innings that was definitely a model of application, if not of outstanding batsmanship.

Brian McMillan never really looked good today - but at the least, he looked competent when he played down the line. His penchant for playing across, however, proved to be his undoing when a ball from Johnson straightened on the stumps, beating McMillan's attempted flick and rapping him on the pads bang in front of the wicket.

Richardson joined Pollock who, meanwhile, was batting in exemplary fashion, perfectly behind the line to everything and hitting through the line of the ball, never looking hurried either in defence or offense. The carrot-haired all-rounder did make a mistake, however, when he tried a third run to a pull to square leg, banking on Sachin Tendulkar's pulled side muscle not permitting the fielder to throw as flat as he normally does. Sachin, however, let fly, Kumble took the stinging throw at the bowler's end and threw it onto the stumps with Pollock a good five yards out of his ground. The third umpire, for some strange reason, ruled not out - the only possibility of doubt was if Kumble broke the wicket with the ball or with his hand, and the slo-mo replay clearly showed that the dismissal was clean. Why the third umpire, with benefit of slow motion replays, ruled otherwise will remain one of those mysteries.

An over later, Richardson took one from Prasad bang on his pads in front of off and middle, but again the batsman had the benefit of doubt from the umpires. Again, it must be added, inexplicably.

However, Prasad put the issue beyond doubt when he produced the faster ball, bang on off stump and seaming in just a shade to go through the gate and peg back the off and middle stumps. And just one run later Lance Klusener, who tends to get carried away by his own reputation for strokeplay, drove at Srinath without getting in line, got the edge, saw the ball pop into, and out of Prasad's hands at second slip for Mongia to grab it on the rebound.

Allan Donald did have one moment of defiance when he guided Prasad down to third man for a four, but a ball later the Indian quick made one stand up from short of length, forcing Donald to fend it away into the hands of Vikram Rathore at third slip.

South Africa were all out for 235 in 86 overs, and India's decision to bowl first had paid dividends.

The Indian bowling

Much has been said of Prasad's increasing ability to strike often and hard - and after today's display, even more will be said.

On Indian wickets a fortnight ago, Prasad had relied predominantly on the slower ball to get the batsmen confused - here, he used the faster ball. And in doing this, showed that he was a thinking bowler, capable of changing his mode of attack as conditions varied. Add to his nagging accuracy an ability to swing the ball both ways and move it off the seam, and the number of wickets he has taken in recent times is easily explained.

Srinath was, well, Srinath. Unplayable when he had the bit between his teeth and bowled at his most hostile - and, as always, unlucky not to get more wickets than he ended up with. His first spell, in the morning, was wayward to an extreme - but after the lunch break, he was bang on target and no batsman, with the possible exception of Pollock, played him with any measure of confidence.

Johnson had a rather hard baptism to cricket on foreign soil. Tempted by the pace in the wicket, Johnson tended to try for pace at the expense of accuracy, and though he did get two wickets, it must be added that he needs to learn a lot more before he becomes an ideal support for Srinath and Prasad. Johnson's main problem is that he doesn't have a good outswinger, and this limitation means batsmen are confident of the line to play him through. It was, though, interesting to see Srinath permanently stationed at mid off while Johnson bowled, and talking to his young colleague after every ball, cooling him down and getting him to concentrate on the job.

Kumble bowled as he always does - slinging the ball down fast, and not looking for much turn. It meant the batsmen were comfortable playing him on the front foot, sure the ball wouldn't take the edge - with the result the leggie went wicketless. Kumble appeared to have worked out towards the end of the day that he needed to flight more, but before he could use his new found wisdom, Prasad and Srinath finished off the innings.

One decision of Sachin's was rather inexplicable. It did make sense to give Kumble and Ganguly a long bowl before tea, to get the over quota back within limits. But every indication was that Prasad and Srinath would be the ones to strike - it didn't, in this context, make sense for Kumble and Ganguly to continue after the break, when the better bet would have been to have Kumble at one end, while Srinath and Prasad took short spells at the other.

In the event, though, Tendulkar must be a happy camper at the end of the day - he took a risk in inserting RSA after winning the toss, and it paid off handsomely thanks to the Prasad-Srinath combo.

The Indian innings, and after

Thanks to the fact that India had only managed to complete 86 overs, the equation meant that the openers had to come out and play two overs before stumps were drawn.

Donald was electric in the one over that he bowled - one ball seaming away to beat the edge, the next cutting in to rap the batsman on the pads, the variations - added to Rathore's habit of walking across his stumps - resulting in several narrow shaves for the Indian opener.

Raman as usual looked more assured in the few balls he faced, and India went in after two overs with the score on 2 for no loss.

The first task for the two, when they go out to bat tomorrow morning, will be to weather the initial burst by Donald. Pollock, in the one over he bowled, looked fast but, rather in the Srinath mould, carried away by the possibilities and straying all over the place.

The Indian openers will need to look at playing out the first hour or so tomorrow - if that is safely done, then the fielding side begins to feel the pressure all over again given its rather limited bowling resources.

India should, realistically, be aiming at putting between 350-400 on the board in the first innings if it wants to consolidate the advantage it won today - and though this could be sticking my neck out somewhat, I suspect that this batting lineup could just do the deed, given the form of its younger stars and the experience and ability of Azhar and Tendulkar.

One thing is for sure, there are runs to be made on this wicket if the batsmen apply themselves and play through the line - now to see if India has the character to do it...

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