India flattered to deceive as the Dravid and Co lose the Test by five wickets; Man of the match Graeme Smith leads from the front with a well-made 55.
CAPE TOWN: At 11:20 am on Saturday, the clouds that had gathered over Newlands burst open to give India a shower of hope. That lasted for a little less than four hours. Play resumed at 3:05 pm and, three hours later, South Africa had won yet another Test series against a touring Indian side. None of the previous defeats would, however, have tasted as bitter as this one. This time, you see, they had come closer to victory than they ever had before.
A little more than an hour after all was lost, a desolate Indian squad would have boarded the 7:40 pm flight to Johannesburg en route to Mumbai, still unsure about what exactly had gone wrong when so much could have gone right.
The scoreboard showed that South Africa had won the match by five wickets and the series 2-1.
Starting at 55 for 2, skipper Graeme Smith walked out with Shaun Pollock as his partner and, till the rain came down, they had seemed well on course to wrapping it up well before tea. Pollock played Anil Kumble with a familiarity reserved for close friends, and the born-again Smith — well, there really seemed to be no stopping him. How frustrating then would that unending rain-break have been for a dressing room that had mastered their fortune after a disastrous first Test at the Wanderers?
For the Indians however, who looked bewildered and unnerved through the morning, it wasn’t just a reprieve, it was also a time to regroup and re-strategise.
For a while, play had seemed unlikely. And then, when the rain stopped, the super sopper didn’t work causing more delay. But the Test, and South Africa, deserved an outcome. The ground staff worked overtime and play resumed under a persistently cloudy Cape Town sky.
It was a revitalized Indian team that stepped out, more purpose and determination in their step than had been seen for the whole morning. They were rewarded with the crucial wicket of Graeme Smith soon enough, and the voices on the field grew louder and more hopeful. Zaheer Khan, who had bagged the South African skipper’s wicket yet again in this series, bowled a magnificent spell and kept the batsmen guesing through the afternoon. The line never went astray, Pollock finally did, and Zaheer had his third victim of the innings. The fourth wicket fell at 132 - was it finally turning India’s way?
No, said Jacques Kallis, as he and Ashwell Prince kept the chase going without any further hiccups. The Indians, meanwhile, became more desperate but there were never enough runs on the board for the fight to have any end bar one. As even the Indian captain admitted, the batsmen hadn’t done their job — another 50 runs might have been enough for an entirely different outcome.
As it stood, by the time Zaheer had Kallis play an unlikely misjudged shot, it was too late for any celebrations. South Africa were just two short of popping the bubbly.
Most had believed that this would be an unforgettable Test for India . That remains true. Sadly, the memories are going to be nowhere as sweet as they were supposed to be.
Scorecard
India, 1st Innings: 414
South Africa, 1st Innings: 373
India, 2nd Innings: 169
South Africa (2nd Innings, overnight 55-2)
AB de Villiers c Kaarthick b Khan 22
G Smith c Kaarthick b Khan 55
H Amla lbw b Kumble 10
S Pollock c Laxman b Khan 37
J Kallis c Dravid b Khan 32
A Prince not out 38
H Gibbs not out 0
Extras (11b, llb, 5nb) 17
Total (for 5 wickets, 64.1 overs) 211
FoW: 1-36, 2-55, 3-127, 4-132, 5-209
Bowling: Z Khan 21-2-62-4 (3nb), S Sreesanth 13-2-50-0 (1nb), A Kumble 25-4-74-1, M Patel 1-0-2-0, V Sehwag 1-0-8-0 (1nb), S Tendulkar 3.1-2-3-0
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