Vineet Sharma/Zeecric.com
Nagpur: South Africa wrapped-up a solid performance against a clueless Indian camp, winning the first Test at Nagpur by an innings and 6 runs. With the humiliating defeat, India got their first Test defeat under MS Dhoni’s captaincy and also their claim to the number one Test spot was put to test.
It was Zaheer Khan and Wriddhiman Saha’s efforts with the bat that helped India only near the first innings target set by Proteas, sadly not even in their second try. Sachin Tendulkar did give some hope with his ton, but even that was not enough when the rest of the batsmen were not up to the task.
It was a day for the tail-enders to shine as the established batsmen took turns in committing one blunder after the other. The duo of Harbhajan Singh and Saha came up with a quaint but handful partnership but their 50-run stabd was broken with the departure of Bhajji at a score of 39 runs.
Things were already looking bleak for India at tea time as the scorecard read 223/6, with Harbhajan and Saha holding fort, trying to avert a humiliating innings defeat. But it just did not materialize.
Sachin’s 46th Test ton in face of adversity, did help India to delay the time-span of an embarrassing defeat but not turn the match on its head. Calm, poise and elegance, these three words were personified in the gritty innings. But all was lost soon after he reached the 100-run mark, he was claimed by Paul Harris.
Sachin’s efforts were supported by MS Dhoni even though he looked edgy on the field at certain occasions. The duo however, used caution as the prime concern, while failing to really forge a strong Test partnership.
Scorecard: India Vs South Africa»
India had resumed services on Day 4 of the first Test match against South Africa at Nagpur with Virender Sehwag’s wish to see a Sachin Tendulkar century, a feat that was fulfilled but not fully bore fruit. The hosts were lurking in doldrums as the third day ended with the scorecard reading 66/2, that too after follow-on had been enforced.
The chief nemesis from the Proteas land was Dale Steyn, who with his career best figures of 7/51 in the first innings that helped wrap-up Dhoni’s men for a paltry 233. None of the batsmen barring Sehwag (109) clicked.
With the home team on back-foot after a smarting defeat at Nagpur, it would be interesting to see what Graeme Smith’s men would try to do at Eden Gardens where the final Test of the 2-match rubber will be played.
First Published: Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 00:41