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[ramshorns]

And now Dhoni is 12-1 as a Test skipper.

[vincent]

What a player this Amla! He seems to do particularly well against Indians. His average for this series is sky high!!!

[Blwe_torch]

time to bring out all the posts about crappy eden wicket, over the hill bhajji...

Rambha Ho Ho Ho... Chhammak Challo... kahan hai re tu... asli deshdrohion ke tarah chhup gaya kya?

It was  too close for comfort.. I think we were helped by the form of Prince & Duminy.

Let us not forget we achieved this with only 3 bowlers so to speak.

Some time was lost thanks to rain and bad light.

[ramshorns]

What a player this Amla! He seems to do particularly well against Indians. His average for this series is sky high!!!

Yup one needs to spare a thought for him.  It is nice to see SRT, VVS and others instead of getting caught up in the moment rightfully go and shake hands with him and applaud his defiance.

[dhruvdeepak]

now radhakrishnan sreenivasan

Who is this guy ?

anchor in the studio. blind leading the blind. RKS holding discussion with venkatesh prasad

[Blwe_torch]

from Cricinfo......

Harbhajan Singh: "This was probably a better wicket than Nagpur.. We played fantastic cricket , the way we bowled on the first day and the way we batted. Today we just bowled with three bowlers but have done the job. Eden has been special to me. I don't know what it but I have done well here always. We wanted to be at the top of the table; we know we got the players to keep being No 1. We are very happy and it's fantastic to win the way we did. The heart was pumping in the end! My sister is getting married and so I won't be playing the first two ODI games. I want to wish my team well."

Hang on for quotes from the post-match ceremony

131.3
   

Harbhajan Singh to Morkel, OUT, Eden Gardens has gone mad as Harbhajan Singh, the man under immense pressure after a lackluster performance in Nagpur, does it for India in his favorite Eden. Hashim Amla is devastated. What a moment this. Trapped in front. Eden Gardens has gone wild. They are screaming their heads off. It landed on the middle stump line and just about straightened, Morne pushed slightly outside the line, and the ball hit the pad in front of middle ..middle and leg. It would have hit the leg and middle stump. Gone! The fatal finger goes up! India remain no 1. Harbhajan leads the celebratory run to nowhere. He screams and screams as he looks at the crowd and is mobbed by his team-mates. The Indians quickly break away to run and congratulate Amla on an outstanding innings. They couldn't get him out at all but they have taken out the rest. It will go down as one of the most memorable games played on this hallowed venue.

The appeal was typically Indian. Harbhajan was back--pedaling even as he shouted out an huge appeal. Every close-in fielder jumped up to scream and everyone in the crowd were obviously appealing. The umpire Steve Davis thought about it for a moment before ruling it, correctly, out. As the finger moved, Harbhajan turned and dashed for his run. And the crowd began their typical R O A R.
   

M Morkel lbw b Harbhajan Singh 12 (60b 3x4 0x6) SR: 20.00

131.2
   

Harbhajan Singh to Morkel, no run, lands on the leg stump line, straightens to hit the pad ...

And the crowd ... boy are they into the game or what,. Tremendous noise being generated. Claps, shouts, screams and a relentless roar

131.1
   

Harbhajan Singh to Morkel, no run, 83.9 kph, on the middle stump line, defended to silly point....
End of over 131 (maiden) South Africa 289/9

HM Amla          127* (394b 16x4)            A Mishra          40-12-78-3
M Morkel          12* (57b 3x4)            SR Tendulkar          2-1-5-0

And the plan continues. You face one over, I face the other. It's working like a treat. Morne is playing the innings of his life. Super support under immense pressure

[ramshorns]

Some nice words by Amla.  Well played.

[Blwe_torch]

Graeme Smith: "It would have been terrific if we had hung around. England did it couple of times against us but credit must be given to MS an his boys. We should have batted better in the first innings. We then came and dropped a few catches. You have to give credit to all the boys for trying. The pitch (here) was still good. Batting on last day in India was always going to be difficult. Special words to Amla .. he has been outstanding through the series. He is become our glue at no 3. I don't think any of us have seen him play better. He has a calm mind and has been working very hard. Great to see it coming together for me. The last two trios to India ... I can't complain. We have drawn the series.. not every team can say that. Hopefully next time we come out here, we can go one step forward. But next India will be coming to South Africa later this year. They will want to win at our home and we want to do well. I would like to thank the crowd for all the support."

Man of the match and the Man of the series is Hashim Amla:: "I am feeling tired. I am very disappointed in losing this game. Me and Morne were just having some fun out there. He played really well and so did Parnell earlier. Fortunately, Morne and Parnell are decent batsmen and took lots of pressure of me. I am being just grateful that I have had a good tour. I have now the one-days to look forward to .Unfortunately we have lost the game ... It was a very good wicket. we could have saved it; there wasn't' anything unplayable from the wicket."

[Blwe_torch]

I remember in 2001, Bhajji spoke about his sister's marriage.............and again he mentions it now. Our hearty congratulations to him on this big occasion of his life.

[ramshorns]

Keys to win at Eden:

Day 1 -  Session 3.  ZK and HS ably assisted by IS and Mishra pin down SA from 218/1 to 266/9.   That was really huge in the final outcome of the game.

Day 2 - VS and SRT partnership and fine centuries from both that steadied the innings and got India in front.   Enter VVS and survive crucial last 6 overs after losing VS, SRT and Badri in the final 30-40 minutes of the day.

Day 3 - VVS and MSD unbroken partnership the biggest of the game with 259 runs sets the team up that put SA out of the game.   Great classy century from VVS typical of the man and an equally important century with some big blows by MSD took the wind out of the sails of the SA'ans.

Day 4 - Rain and murky conditions on a day when India got 3 crucial wickets most importantly the one of Kallis that turned out to be the final moments of the day when only 35 overs were possible.

Day 5 - ZK injury but both HS and Mishra did a fabulous job ably assisted by IS to get crucial breaks all through the day to take the game to the wire in fact the last 20 minutes before HS got the final wicket and the rest is history with India clinging on to the No.1 spot with a great nerve wrecking win.

Special Mentions:

1) Hasim Amla's grit and technique on the 5th day especially needs a special mention.  Rarely one gets to see innings of such high class in Test cricket.  One of those special tours for him.   MOM in both Tests and MOS too.  Thouroughly deserved.

2) Great Umpiring throughout.

3) And VVS's return after an innings defeat at Nagpur tilted the balance back in India's favor that helped them set up that huge first innings score and a huge lead.  Some players are just special and VVS happens to be one of them.   A good luck charm to the team always.

[ramshorns]

time to bring out all the posts about crappy eden wicket, over the hill bhajji...

Rambha Ho Ho Ho... Chhammak Challo... kahan hai re tu... asli deshdrohion ke tarah chhup gaya kya?

It was  too close for comfort.. I think we were helped by the form of Prince & Duminy.

If we keep going by that line of thought India were severly hampered by injuries in the first Test and last minute inclusions.   So each defeat has it own storylines to it.   So as long as one wins all these if's and but's matter for little.

[cricinfo]

I remember in 2001, Bhajji spoke about his sister's marriage.............and again he mentions it now. Our hearty congratulations to him on this big occasion of his life.

is it the same sister?

I fear Bhajji does not let her sister get married in the fear of lady luck of the house going away ...

[ruchir]

I think it is a different sister. Bhajji has 5 sisters, if I'm not wrong.

[gouravk]

yehahahahaha !!!!!!!!!!!!! 

its party time ! i dont think ill be working till the end of the weekend !!!!!!!!!!!!!

i feel like a world number one my self !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[ramshorns]

Just watched the recording to the last few overs again.

It is a great feeling to pull this one with 16 minutes or about 3-4 overs remaining.

It is almost scary we came so close to losing the No.1 ranking that we got few weeks back.

Watched interviews of SRT and HS again.  I tell you this core group of players SRT, VVS and RD who is missing out on this series are just too much.  These guys are too good and yet so humble.  And MSD is lucky to have these greats in his team for Tests and show no ego while he leads them yet give it their best and set an example.  Could not have happened to a nicer trio of players.

Great victory to each member of the team and they all played well as a unit top to bottom to even this one out.   Eden was special.

[LosingNow]

Wooooo hoooo. What a win!!
On par with WC 83.

EDEN GARDEN ROCKS!!!

What a match. What a win. What a ground. What a crowd.

How come they played the last test here in 2007. It is simply a travesty. Friggin Nagpur get a test and eden doesn't. BCCI folks are morons. SRK knows how good he has got it made .. He better deliver a winning team

[kban1]

Dhoni keeps his word

A STAFF REPORTER
 

Calcutta: On the field, the most endearing sight was when a delirious Harbhajan Singh came sprinting towards the Dr BC Roy Club House acknowledging the cheers of the crowd. But off it, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his band of bravehearts decided to keep the celebrations low-key.

Unlike the 2001 epic win against Australia at the Eden, there was no one to uncork the bubbly in the dressing room. Injured Zaheer Khan left for the airport to catch an early evening flight to Mumbai. The Delhi boys — Ishant Sharma and Gautam Gambhir — had soon left for Delhi. The others will be leaving by Friday afternoon.

Late on Thursday, the players who have stayed back had a party of sorts at the poolside of the team hotel.

So, the players might not have gone overboard, with the celebrations, but for 14-year-olds Subhashish Bhattacharya and Kanik Seth it was a day that will forever remain etched in memory.

After all, not everyone is lucky enough to be presented with cricket gear by the Indian captain. A little after the match was over, Dhoni quietly came out of the dressing room with a couple of wicket-keeping pads and gloves. The proud recipients, Kanik and Subhashish, were beaming with joy. The Indian captain, in fact, autographed the pads.

“I don’t know whether I will ever wear these pads. Rather than using it, this is something I can only possess with a sense of belonging. During one of the practice sessions, he saw me knocking and praised me. Then he asked what I did. I told him I was a ’keeper. He then promised to give me his ’keeping gear at the end of the match. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him coming out with the gear,” an ecstatic Subhashish said on Thursday.

Did Dhoni tell you anything else? “He was happy to learn that I come from Kharagpur where he was posted for a number of years. (Dhoni was posted in Kharagpur when he was an employee of the Indian Railways). Subhashish plays for City AC in the CAB second division league while Kanik, who is a trainee at the Videocon School of Cricket, plays in the second division for Narkeldanga Sir Gurudas Institute.
 
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100219/jsp/sports/story_12124967.jsp

[LosingNow]

Dhoni - good guy. But he needs to get his captaincy together..it was pretty ordinary. He will pay when he doesn't have the talent

[dextrous]

Dhoni - good guy. But he needs to get his captaincy together..it was pretty ordinary. He will pay when he doesn't have the talent

surely this 11 was one of the least talented 11s we have fielded in a long time, esp. the bowling attack, which was manned by basically 2 bowlers?

[cricinfo]

Dhoni - good guy. But he needs to get his captaincy together..it was pretty ordinary. He will pay when he doesn't have the talent

surely this 11 was one of the least talented 11s we have fielded in a long time, esp. the bowling attack, which was manned by basically 2 bowlers?

brain dead folks like CP will never appreciate either the nature of the pitch or the achievement of a Team India which is short of 2 bowlers and at least 1 batter.

[Cover Point]

Dhoni - good guy. But he needs to get his captaincy together..it was pretty ordinary. He will pay when he doesn't have the talent

surely this 11 was one of the least talented 11s we have fielded in a long time, esp. the bowling attack, which was manned by basically 2 bowlers?

tujhko bhoola nahin hooon ......

brain dead folks like CP will never appreciate either the nature of the pitch or the achievement of a Team India which is short of 2 bowlers and at least 1 batter.

[LosingNow]

Why was this not a 3 test series? IMO, this should have been a 5 test series - but that is wishful thinking. Can you believe 2 best sides in the world fighting it out for the first place!!

Frankly, even the cricket administrators - BCCI, ICC - do not understand the value of Test cricket played in good centers.

I was amazed at the following of Test cricket at MCG in December.. I think it can prosper..the admins have given up too soon.

[RicePlateReddy]

Why was this not a 3 test series? IMO, this should have been a 5 test series - but that is wishful thinking. Can you believe 2 best sides in the world fighting it out for the first place!!

I think this happened since this series was hurriedly scrambled together in a tight window.

Frankly, even the cricket administrators - BCCI, ICC - do not understand the value of Test cricket played in good centers.

Agreed! The BCCI should make an open offer to SA to drop the 3 (meaningless) ODIs in lieu of a decider. SA will appear to be chicken if they say no! But I feel for the players on both sides if this was done. You want both sides to be mentally prepared and these sort of surprises won't do the players any good.

The only reason I believe the 3 ODIs were  scheduled instead of a pure test series is money. The BCCI optimizes every paisa they can get from the advertisers / sponsorship / telecast rights.

I was amazed at the following of Test cricket at MCG in December.. I think it can prosper..the admins have given up too soon.

I think the ODI influence has made more teams and players result oriented in tests - both mentally, and because of their altered approach to play. I personally think this is good that has come out of ODIs.

[kban1]

Sehwag and Amla top, Duminy flops

Marks out of ten for the Test series between South Africa and India that was drawn 1-1

Sidharth Monga

February 19, 2010


India

 
9 - Virender Sehwag
A century he rated as one of his best, and another that unsettled South Africa - their coach Corrie van Zyl admitted as much. Loses one mark for the shot in Nagpur which started a collapse that cost India the match.

8.5 -Sachin Tendulkar
Worked over in the first innings, but scored two high-quality centuries in the knocks that followed. Guided Sehwag, averting a possible collapse, in Kolkata.

7.5 - Harbhajan Singh
Kept improving through the series. After a failure in Nagpur, he loved the bouncy pitch and the crowd support in Kolkata, causing a collapse in the first innings, and leading the charge towards victory in the second.

7 - Zaheer Khan
Reduced to nought South Africa's premiere batsman and captain, Graeme Smith. Got early wickets in two of three innings, and started the collapse in the first innings in Kolkata.

6 - MS Dhoni, VVS Laxman
The field placements that Dhoni used might be open to question, but the way he rotated the three bowlers available to him on the epic final day was commendable. Scored a quick century to bat South Africa out before that.

Laxman missed the first Test but made immediate impact in the second, seeing off the tricky second new ball, when India were about par with South Africa's first innings in Kolkata. The Jacques Kallis catch was special, so were all of those 143 runs.

5 - Amit Mishra
Had gone 70 overs without a wicket at one point of time, but stuck to the task. Took three big wickets - Smith, Kallis, AB de Villiers - in penultimate overs before session breaks to give Harbhajan the much-needed support in Kolkata.

4.5 - Ishant Sharma
Despite unflattering figures, Ishant bowled one spell full of bouncers on the first afternoon in Kolkata that Zaheer carried on from. Also took two of the last three wickets to fall on the final evening.

4 - S Badrinath
Looked the part in his debut innings before becoming one of Dale Steyn's seven victims. Took a superb catch at forward short leg in the final innings, and dropped one that didn't prove to be consequential.

3 - M Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Wriddhiman Saha
Took only one outswinger from Steyn to set Vijay up for the inswinger in the first innings of the series, and was uncomfortable against Morne Morkel's bounce in Kolkata. Was quick and energetic in the field, almost manufacturing a run-out, but wasn't safe as a catcher.

A rare ordinary series for Gambhir. Got worked over by some smart aggressive bowling from Morkel in the first Test. Was hitting the ball cleanly in the second before being run out by friend and opening partner, Sehwag.

Saha was caught in the wrong place, wrong time, and in the wrong role. Will hope for a better, proper initiation to Test cricket sometime soon.


South Africa

9 - Hashim Amla
The Last Man Standing didn't win. The numbers tell his story: 1402 minutes of risk-free batting, 490 of the calmest runs, and one mistake. That one mistake, though, part of a first-innings collapse in Kolkata, will rankle.

8 - Dale Steyn
Bowled one of the most lethal spells of pace and swing seen in India to set up the Nagpur win. Bowled well enough to be rated the best bowler Sehwag has faced but lost swing when he needed it most: when Sehwag ran amok in the first innings in Kolkata.

6.5 - Jacques Kallis
Started South Africa's rescue from 6 for 2 on the first morning with a century of pure class. Didn't look uncomfortable in the second Test, yet failed to make a telling contribution. Failed to hold on to a few tough slip catches off Paul Harris.

6 - Alviro Petersen, Morne Morkel
Brought in because of injury to Mark Boucher, Petersen scored a century on debut, an innings that should have sealed the series but for an injudicious shot that began a monumental collapse.

Four wickets at an average of 59.5 don't do justice to Morkel's effort, his aggression, and the role he played in the Nagpur win. In another series, he might bowl worse and end up with 10 wickets. Also hung around for 76 minutes along with Amla on the final evening.

5 - Paul Harris
Played his role to perfection when his fast bowlers got off to a good start. Struggled to do damage control in Kolkata, but could have still ended with much better figures had all the chances been held.

4 - Mark Boucher
There wasn't much to do for him before he went out with a bad back. Kept without any mishaps, but would have been a handy man on the final day had he been fit.

3 - Wayne Parnell , AB de Villers


Parnell couldn't quite fill in the third seamer's role, entrusted with only 40 overs in three innings. Did take Sehwag's wicket in Nagpur, and also put on a 24.2-over partnership with Amla on the final day.

de Villiers started promisingly, scoring a quick fifty in Nagpur, but came up short when the going got rough, even running himself out in Kolkata. A missed stumping of Sehwag's, when filling in for Boucher, didn't help his confidence either.

2.5 - Ashwell Prince, Graeme Smith
Prince was a reluctant opener coming into the series and it showed in the first Test. Down in the middle order in the second, but he couldn't figure out Harbhajan.

Couldn't free himself from the vice-like grip Zaheer has had on him. Would have wanted to do better than get lbw playing across the line to Mishra in the final innings, after having done the hard work of seeing Zaheer off.

2 - JP Duminy
The biggest disappointment of the series on either side. Was Harbhajan's to be had throughout, and also dropped Sehwag and Laxman in their 40s in the first innings in Kolkata.

http://www.cricinfo.com/indvrsa2010/content/current/story/449106.html

[LosingNow]

Duminy - quite a fall.. from that peak in Australia

[ramshorns]

Duminy - quite a fall.. from that peak in Australia

What peak?

He had one really big knock thus far in his career.  He has a total of 500 Test runs.

So there is no peak whatsoever.

However the recent trends paint a really gloomy picture.  Here are his recent Test innings.

11, 4, 0, 0, 36, 7, 9, 0, 6

Of them 3 are first ball dismissals.

One thing working for him is he is oly 25 and can turn this around.

He has shown the raw talent in that one big knock versus the Aussies but he need to tranform that into some sought of a consistency if he wants to be a long term prospect in a team like the SA.

The jury is still out on that one.

[gouravk]

a peak however short, is still a peak. for hrishikesh kanitkar, hitting that boundary in 1998 was and is his own personal peak.