After the disastrous 4-0 one-day loss, India redeemed their lost glory on the cricket field in the first test match at the Wanderers which was won by 123 runs and completed in 3 and a half days by some superb display of grit and talent. When we made 249 in the first innings, one thought the score to be unsubstantial against the SA batting line-up. Until I received an SMS from a colleague who asked me to switch on the TV. A certain lad by the name of Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was running through the opposition with his seam bowling. Suddenly I saw the final score and rubbed my eyes in dismay – SA were bowled out for a paltry 84; their lowest score since readmission. In the second innings Zaheer Khan’s late outburst with the bat with VVS Laxman ensured that we had a decent target of 402 set for the springboks. Ashwell Prince seemed to be the only ray of hope in the playing eleven. South Africa was the only country where India had never won a test but all that’s changed now.
wanderers
South Africa clinch a Historic Match
Exactly a decade ago, during the 1996 cricket world cup, Sri Lanka scored a massive 398 against Kenya in a one day international (ODI) game at their home ground. That score was challenged so many times but never broken and most recently by New Zealand who scored 397 against Zimbabwe. The record was finally crumbled today first by the Aussies who scored a massive 434-4 in their 50 overs and then the South Africans got the better of them by scoring 438-9 chasing and clinching the series.
I always look forward to watching these 2 countries play cricket since the result cannot be predicted so easily. The ranking apart I think they are the best teams in world cricket today. It was Ponting’s day first who scored his highest ODI score of 164 off just 105 balls hitting 9 sixes and one thought that the Aussies always rose to big occasions like this one. At this point the South Africans looked like they had given up already and I never thought they would give a fight back. It was a daunting task to score 435 off just 300 deliveries and we all know the bowling attack of the Aussies.
There are a few parallels which I want to draw from this match particularly with relation to India. This was the same Wanderers (Johannesburg) ground where we played our 2003 world cup finals against Australia. If you recall, the Aussies batted first and made a mockery of us. The bowling attack of Srinath-Khan-Nehra seemed overtly aggressive and gave away too many runs. Srinath in particular was hammered and came back with the most expensive figures for any bowler in a world cup match. In the end the score of 359-4 seemed too much and we lost that game. We lived up to our reputation of losing the BIG matches. This is the same ground and almost the same team playing under captain Ricky Ponting and Smith’s South Africans have blown their heads off. THAT to me is the difference between a good team and a world class team. When the bets are drawn on who wins the 2007 world cup edition, I will put my money on South Africa. As for this new record – they took 10 years to break the old one and this one will take ages to break.