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Hashim Amla cracks unbeaten double ton to help SA seize control

For the 2nd straight day, Indian bowlers made to look less than ordinary on a fruitless pitch; Amla cracks unbeaten double ton to help SA seize control.

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During the media interaction at the end of day’s play, Hashim Amla spoke so softly that one had to strain at times to pick up what he said. He didn’t need to shout. Out in the middle for 334 minutes on Sunday and a little over 10-and-a-half hours in all, Amla made a much louder statement with his maiden double century.

The slow wicket, customised to suit the spinners and take the sting out of South African fast bowlers, ironically made life difficult for Indian bowlers. So much so that for long periods on Sunday they were forced to adopt a defensive line as wickets were few and far between.

In the past, visiting spinners used to adopt a negative line to quell the Indian batsmen. But the dominance of Kallis and Amla on the first day prompted the hosts to quickly go on the defensive on Day Two.

Harbhajan Singh came around the wicket and bowled into the rough to restrict the scoring areas. He had a short-leg and backward short-leg in place. At the end of a long day, only Jacques Kallis fell to Harbhajan’s ‘negative line’ strategy for a mammoth 173.

Amla, in his 42nd Test, notched up his maiden double hundred and allowed South Africa to pile on the misery. Kallis, who has played three times the number of Tests as Amla, missed out on his maiden double ton.

Amla’s Indian roots didn’t mean he extended any generosity to the hosts while it probably explains his wristy touches on the leg-side. The only time he gave a chance was when Murali Vijay spilled a sharp catch at short-leg. Amla was on 149. He finished on an unbeaten 253 as South Africa declared their first innings at 558 for six, 26 minutes before the scheduled close of play.

Over the past two years, Amla has been involved in a majority of big partnerships that the South Africans have put up. He has made the No.3 spot his own and is the glue that binds this line-up.
Harbhajan finally achieved success when Kallis was caught by Vijay at short-leg. But for long periods the off-spinner looked listless and failed to dictate terms even on own turf to the South African batsman who cleverly worked the ball in the gaps.

Harbhajan, in fact, was lucky to have got JP Duminy leg-before-wicket when the batsman attempted a sweep. But what must irk the off-spinner is that the South African batsmen, except for Duminy, played him like they were brought-up on a diet of spin.

Amit Mishra showed the heart to give the ball flight and was by far the most impressive spinner. He did beat the bat on many occasions. But it was not his day as the leg-spinner went wicketless. Virender Sehwag was effective but had to thank AB de Villiers’ indiscretion in shot selection for his only scalp. Zaheer Khan was difficult to score off while Ishant Sharma couldn’t generate anything to threaten the batsmen on this wicket.

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