Third Test headed for tight finish

Prem Panicker

Pretty good advertisement for Test cricket, this third and final Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

At the end of day four, we are left with a situation in which either of the two sides could win. Then again, we could find the game ending in a draw - in other words, all three results still possible after four days of play, so what more did you want anyway?

Here's how it went.

India second innings

India began its second innings this morning 89 runs ahead on the first innings. The obvious gameplan was to play out the first hour, then see what the situation was and how the bowlers were doing before reworking strategy.

To the credit of Nayan Mongia and Vikram Rathore, they did far more. Not only did the last out the first hour, they continued right through to lunch and, in the process, kept the scoreboard ticking over with some superb running between wickets, the calling and response immaculate right through and the pressure even yielding the odd overthrows from the normally tight South African fielding.

Mongia stuck to his strength of getting runs off his pads or off the front foot push through the covers, and the 50 he came up with before Donald, after lunch, produced a sharp lifter on the off stump to take the splice of the bat and find McMillan at second slip was good, tidy and, barring a couple of horribly mistimed pulls that fell in no man's land, blemishless. Nayan Mongia caught McMillan bowled Donald 50, India 90/1.

Vikram Rathore has on this tour time and again come in for flak for his weakness outside off. Even on the day, he was beaten on the odd occasion when he poked at balls leaving him from off stump - but against that, he looked really solid when the bowlers bowled on the stumps and, after the first few overs, began playing with a composure and confidence he hasn't shown thus far. The good balls were defended, the odd misses outside off shrugged off, the bad balls despatched to the fence and, at every opportunity, the pushes into gaps for singles availed of to ensure that the scoreboard never stayed static. Rathore got a wicked delivery from Donald, bowled at express pace and cutting sharply in to trap him in front, but when he left the crease it must have been with the satisfaction that this time, he gave the side even more than was expected of him. Rathore LBW Donald 44 off 111 with five fours, India 109/22.

Sachin Tendulkar has one flaw that, time and again, has accounted for him just when the conditions seemed ideal for him to show his abilities. Here he was coming in with India already ahead by 200-plus, the bowling jaded and the wicket still playing easy. A few overs to get his eye in, as he had done in Cape Town, and Tendulkar could have milked this attack for all it was worth. But again, the Indian skipper fell playing the cut to Cronje's delivery just outside off - obviously, he judged that it would leave him, and when the ball came back in off the seam, the top edge yielded the catch, taken very well by a diving wicket keeper. Tendulkar caught Richardson bowled Cronje 9 off 11 with two fours, India 124/3.

That brought Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly together yet again, with India in some trouble after having wasted the work of the two openers. But the two youngers stars, yet again, came up with a great display of batting that fetched them the second century partnership of the match.

Ganguly, as per usual, was all timing and grace outside off. And interestingly, the batsman whose weakness on the leg stump has been discussed ad infinitum not only handled the short pitched stuff into his ribs with ease today, but when Cronje tried to bounce him, got under it to play a perfectly executed pull for six. Another point worth noting is that this time round, Ganguly was careful to avoid the weakness that has got him out several times on this tour - trying to drive the ball going too far from the stumps and edging to slips. This time, the ball was selected perfectly, and despatched with minimum effort to the fence despite four fielders patrolling the off. And Dravid, meanwhile, was his usual watchful self, circumspect to the good ball and prompt in punishing the loose deliveries.

These two have, earlier in England and now here, made something of a habit of producing nice partnerships - and given their position in the batting order, will have more opportunities to do so. Which makes it all the more urgent for the two to work on their running between wickets. Dravid is an aggressive runner, Ganguly a lethargic one, and the combination ensured enough mid pitch dramas to give the faint-hearted a coronary.

In the event, Ganguly and Dravid got the score going at a fairish pace, and the former perished sweeping at Adams and being bowled when he attempted to accelerate even further after tea - no blame there, as Ganguly at that stage did need to look for the runs. Ganguly bowled Adams 60 off 93 with 11 fours and one six, India 232/4.

In came Azharuddin at this stage - the setting just right for him to play his usual aggressive game, as it was post tea and India, with 300-plus on the board (including the lead), could really afford to go after the tiring bowling. And then Pollock bowled one from wide of the crease, Azhar glided back and tried to whip the full length delivery through leg, got rapped on the pads and despite off, middle and part of leg stump showing at the time, umpire Peter Willey gave the decision. True, you expect to get the odd bad one, but this one was way too bad. Azhar looked up, saw the pointing finger, and walked. Why Pollock needed to say something to the departing batsman, only he knows - but whatever was said was obviously bad enough for umpire Cyril Mitchley, standing at square leg, to call the bowler over and talk to him. Pollock is a talented young man, would pay for him to take a leaf out of Allan Donald's book and keep his aggression for the bowling crease rather than trying these stunts.Azharuddin lbw Pollock 2 off six, India 235/5.

In came Kumble and out he went again, badly misreading an Adams wrong one that went under his bat to mess the stumps. Adams to his credit shook off the memories of the pasting Ganguly gave him, and kept tossing the ball right up all the time, making the batsman play - a lesson there for Kumble himself perhaps? Kumble bowled ADams 6 off 17, India 256/6.

Srinath came in next, and after chipping Adams over the infield for a couple and gliding two more singles, went, again LBW to Donald. Again the decision looked rather unjust, given the ball was slanting across the stumps and looked to be leaving the leg stump, but again, the fortunes of war at work here. Srinath lbw Donald 4 off 11, India 265/7.

There was some debate about Sachin's decision to continue the Indian innings beyond this point, risking injury to the likes of Prasad and Ganesh against Donald. The point however was to keep an eye on the overs to be bowled - give South Africa too many overs, and it could just be gifting the game away. In the event, Sachin opted to delay the declaration. Dravid, meanwhile, went his steady way, playing all the strokes in the book with ease and timing till the exit of Azhar. At this stage, he appeared to lose his concentration - rather unusual in one whose main strength seems to be the ability to keep focussed. After this point, his batting got a shade ragged, a shocking pull at McMillan's slower one saw the ball just go over the stumps and just a while later, Dravid swept Adams straight to the fielder at square leg waiting for the shot. Dravid caught Cullinan bowled Adams 81 off 146 deliveries with 11 fours, India 265/8.

Sachin allowed Prasad and Ganesh to play out two overs before applying the closure with India 266 for eight off 83 overs, which meant that South Africa needed to make 356 in 95 overs to win - if done, that would be the fourth highest target every chased successfully by a team batting second.

Kirsten and Hudson came out to begin the chase with five overs to play out in the day. The wicket continued to play easy through the day, so they had no worries on that score. And the openers rather calmly negotiated the first four overs from Srinath and Prasad, saving a needlessly risky run that could have ended in a run-out if the throw had hit the stumps.

Kumble, expectedly, bowled the last over with a ring of four round the bat. Hudson, in the first innings, had perished to Kumble, Tendulkar's decision to let the leggie have one over before close made sense in that context. Hudson played the first four deliveries coming well forward, so why he chose to go back to the fifth one, again on a length, can't be explained. In the event, it was the flipper, pitched right up and hurrying through to crash into the stumps, and SA had lost the wicket they did not want to see go down in the little time they had to bat today. Hudson bowled Kumble 3 off 23, SA 4/1.

So there we have it, SA now needing 352 runs to win off 90 overs on the final day with nine wickets in hand. The wicket is still playing easy though, as Adams showed, the spinner can get turn if he tosses the ball up. And again, vide Srinath on day three and Donald just after lunch today, when a fast bowler bowls flat out, there is lift and movement to be had as well.

In other words, the bowlers have a chance, the batsmen have a chance, so where is this one going?

I suspect the first hour tomorrow will provide the key. If Kirsten and Adam Bacher can see off Srinath and Prasad's early morning bursts, then they will put South Africa in a position to try and create history of sorts. The trick for the batting side would be to concentrate on getting runs at a nice, easy, three per over pace, which will put them in a position to make a push just after tea. As for the Indian bowlers, the trick will be to keep the ball right up and make the batsmen play, knowing a mistake could lead to their dismissal.

All told, we are in for an interesting day tomorrow... don't miss it.