By Avishek Roy, IANS,
Nagpur : India lost their Group B World Cup match against South Africa they should have won comfortably, first failing to capitalise on a majestic century by Sachin Tendulkar and then losing their nerve in the slog overs, both while batting and fielding to lose by three wickets in a pulsating finish here Saturday.South Africa chased down 297 with just two balls to spare, the victory coming after their morale-shattering loss to England chasing a modest target in their last match in Chennai.
Here in front of a 44,000-capacity crowd crying hoarse to egg the home team on, South Africa showed that they are made of sterner stuff then to be easily rattled.
Hashim Amla (61), Jacques Kallis and A.B. de Villiers (52) all came up with purposeful 50s while Jean-Paul Duminy (23), Faf du Plessis (25) and Johan Botha (23) chipped in with useful contributions batting under pressure while Robin Peterson (18) gave the finishing touches, clobbering Ashish Nehra when he bowled the last over to defend 13 runs.
Botha and Du Plessis added 32 precious runs. Botha hit a six and a four in Munaf Patel’s last over before Suresh Raina pulled off a brilliant catch to get rid of him.
Seventeen were needed in 12 balls when India wasted an easy run out opportunity with both Peterson and Du Plessis at the same end. Zaheer Khan bowled tightly, conceding only four runs in the penultimate over.
The atmosphere was tense when the Indian think-tank go together to decide who should bowl the last over. The choice was between Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra. Nehra got the vote as he had bowled in similar situations before, though Harbhajan looked a good bet, having taken three wickets.
Four runs came off the first ball, a thick inside edge of Peterson’s bat speeding to fine-leg. Peterson connected the next one to clear the boundary for a six to whittle down the difference to three runs from four balls. With the field closing in, Peterson hit through the winning four.
South Africa began their chase cautiously with Smith and Amla (61) putting on 41 runs in 8.3 overs. South Africa were 17 for no loss after five overs before Amla broke the shackles with two fours off Nehra.
Smith, however, was not so comfortable in the middle and was yet again dismissed by Zaheer, caught by Tendulkar at mid-off.
Amla and Kallis then put on 86 runs in a business-like manner, bisecting the field for ones and twos to get the scoreboard ticking. They built the innings block by block. There was a period for 11.1 overs when the boundaries had dried up. But the run-rate was within manageable limits.
India’s out-cricket was not up to the mark with Yuvraj Singh dropping Amla at mid-wicket when he was on 57. Amla however did not profit much from the reprieve and Habhajan had him caught behind.
Kallis opened up with two fours off Harbhajan. With in-form De Villiers at the other end, runs came at a brisk pace, the two adding 46 runs off 48 balls.
Kallis, who struck four fours in his 88-ball innings, was run out, thanks to Harbhajan’s good throw from the deep and Dhoni’s smart work.
De Villiers, who needed a runner in the middle, added another 50 runs with Jean Paul Duminy (23).
Harbhajan again was in the thick of action, dismissing De Villers, with Virat Kohli taking a good catch at midwicket. De Villiers hit six fours and one six in his 39-ball 52.
The feisty off-spinner was fired up and struck again removing Duminy (23), Dhoni stumping him after failing to gather the ball cleanly. The crowd suddenly sprang back to life.
Morne Van Wyk (5) followed soon, dismissed lbw by Munaf, two balls after Gautam Gambhir dropped a regulation catch in the deep. The three quick wickets in the space of 24 runs brought India back in the match.
It was South Africa’s third victory over India in as many matches in the World Cup.
Earlier, India lost the plot in the slog overs after Tendulkar scored his masterly crafted 99th international century. His dismissal at 267 triggered an amazing collapse — nine wickets crashing for 29 runs — as India were bowled out for 296 in 48.4 overs.
It was carnage earlier as Tendulkar (111) and his opening partner Virender Sehwag (73) smashed the South African attack with Gambhir (69) joining the party to raise visions of a 350-plus total.
But once Tendulkar left early in the batting Powerplay, there was an unending procession of batsmen leaving skipper Dhoni (12 not out) a mute witness at the other end.
In the Powerplay between 39-43 overs, India lost four wickets including those of Tendulkar and Gambhir.
Tendulkar, however, majestically got to his sixth World Cup century and second in this edition, following the 120 in the tied-match against England. It was his 48th ODI hundred.
Tendulkar and Sehwag rattled up 142 runs in 17.4 overs and South Africa. South Africa heaved a big sigh of relief seeing Tendulkar’s back, they got a further bonanza of quick wickets. Gambhir, Yusuf, Pathan (0) and Yuvraj Singh (12) followed him. As has happened often in this tournament, the batting Powerplay yet again proved the undoing of the batting side.
Once the top-order batsmen fell, the Indians lost the momentum and South Africa grabbed the opportunity to come back strongly. Dale Steyn (5-50) ran through the middle order.
Tendulkar was at his punishing best, beautifully controlling the innings in the middle overs. He hit eight fours and three sixes in his 101-ball unblemished knock.
Three sixes that flew from Tendulkar’s bat were a treat — a pull off Steyn over backward square leg before smacking Jean-Paul Duminy and Robin Peterson into the straight-field. His timing was impeccable, more so when he drove straight.