India, without their frontline players, fail to complete a whitewash as SA win by 90 runs to end tour on a winning note.
The GenX of Team India may be very vibrant and promising but they still need the support of the senior pros simply because they are still raw.
This was clearly evident at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, on Saturday. MS Dhoni and his youngistan outfit failed to complete a whitewash in the three-match series against South Africa.
India, who didn’t field a full-strength side in the dead rubber, suffered a 90-run defeat. This was the home team’s fourth successive ODI defeat at the venue.
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies had beaten India on previous occasions. Chasing South Africa’s mammoth score of 365 was never easy. And Dale Steyn and Tsotsobe only made India’s job difficult. Dinesh Karthik, who was trying to accelerate, volleyed a simple catch to Hashim Amla off Steyn. Murali Vijay was dismissed for 25.
Rohit Sharma (48) and Virat Kohli (57) did some damage control. However, when it looked that the pair would take India’s total towards the target, they departed. While Rohit was deceived by off-spinner Johan Botha, Kohli was done in by Steyn’s pace. India were eventually bowled out for 275.
Earlier, the visitors, who chose to bat, were fortunate to survive the initial scare. Openers Loots Bosman and Hashim Amla were caught off no balls before they cut loose and punished the inexperienced Indian attack, led by S Sreesanth.
Bosman was more aggressive of the two. Apart from scoring 12 runs off Sudeep Tyagi’s third over, Bosman disturbed Sreesanth’s rhythm with a six over mid-wicket as India conceded 70 runs in the first ten overs.
Dhoni then had no option but to toss the ball to his spin doctors. However, Bosman welcomed Yusuf Pathan with a towering six over long-on to complete his 50 which came off just 36 balls. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja was subject to a similar treatment.
Attempting yet another lofted shot, Bosman was caught in the deep off Yusuf for 68. After a sedate innings of 87, Amla top edged Jadeja and debutant Murali Vijay made no mistake at the mid-wicket fence.
Captain Jacques Kallis was joined by AB de Villiers who has fond memories of this ground. During his last visit, De Villiers had notched up his first Test double hundred.
De Villiers and Kallis complimented the efforts of the openers by amalgamating 173 runs in 103 balls. This included 44 runs in the batting powerplay which was taken in 41st over. The seasoned duo punished the Indians for some wayward bowling.
Tyagi and debutant Abhimanyu Mithun — who seemed to have been overwhelmed by the occasion — were guilty of offering juicy full tosses, half volleys and overpitched deliveries. Kallis, who is one match away from his 300th ODI, showed his class as he raced to his 17th century with back-to-back sixes off Sreesanth.
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