India came back well on the back of some clever bowling by Anil Kumble who out-thought the lower order batsmen.
Sunil Gavaskar
India came back well after a listless afternoon to get 8 South African wickets. That recovery came on the back of some extremely clever bowling by Anil Kumble who out-thought the lower order batsmen and had them back in the pavilion to swing the day’s honours India’s way.
Having opted to bat first on a pitch which had the reputation of being the quickest in South Africa the home team were rattled by some top swing bowling by Zaheer Khan who once again got his man Graeme Smith. There is huge pressure building on Smith for quite some time now, as many South Africans don’t approve of his abrasive behaviour and so would have someone else take his place.
Smith has been shuffling too much in his crease but as is the current norm, is reluctant to ask former South African greats for some help. Coach, Micky Arthur has not played any Tests nor did he ever look like playing one so it is not easy for him to offer any advice and this is what happens when a player or a team is suffering from bad form.
The former South African players who one meets in the TV commentary box area all wonder at the kind of batting, coaching that the youngsters are getting at schools and at the franchise levels where the batsmen are taught to move forward with the front foot pointing straight down the pitch. If the ball is pitched away or moves away as Sreesanth can make it move, then the batsman has to reach out for it without any move of the front foot which is pretty much rooted after the initial movement.
That’s how AB de Villiers was out pushing out at a delivery swinging away from him. Hashim Amla is getting caught in no man’s land with no appreciable feet movement. Gibbs dropped down the order after his pair in the first innings showed some patience till he got to his half century but then was back to his careless ways and it was no surprise to see him dismissed soon after when he should have shown the resolve to make the bowlers pay for the ignominy of the pair at the wanderers in the first Test.
The one solid player in the South African ranks apart from Kallis is Ashwell Prince who showed great temperament. He looked unconcerned as Sreesanth lost the plot a bit as he started mouthing off and so lost focus. The bowler was spoken to by the umpires as well as the skipper who was also told to ask his bowler to cool off. While Sreesanth can be allowed the folly of sledging because of his inexperience at this level, it will be interesting to see if the same standards will be applied by the umpires to Andre Nel who was the last man to be out showing a gap between bat and pad which was almost as big as his mouth.
India need to ensure that the tail doesn’t wag because they really don’t want South Africa to get past 300.
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