Ganguly resists as Morkel decimates top order
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran in PotchefstroomDecember 7, 2006
Lunch Indians 69 for 5 (Ganguly 20*) against Rest of South Africa If the Indians expected a gentle introduction to the longer version of the game, they were in for a rude shock at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom. Morne Morkel showed just why he's so highly rated by the likes of Allan Donald with two excellent spells of fast bowling that ripped out the heart of the Indian batting. By lunch, the Indians were down to 69 for 5, with Sourav Ganguly left to wage a battle to stave off utter humiliation.
The rot started in the very first over. Mornantau Hayward, who once broke Mohammed Azharuddin's hand in a tour game at the Brabourne Stadium, bowled a couple of innocuous deliveries, including a wide, and then speared one in at Wasim Jaffer's toes. Swung in from wide of the crease, it rapped him on the back leg, leaving the umpire in no doubt whatsoever.
Worse was to follow. Morkel started with a wide, but the very next delivery, a blistering yorker, crashed into the base of Virender Sehwag's off stump. Before you knew it, Sachin Tendulkar was in the middle, with VVS Laxman for company. Tendulkar flicked one off the pads to get off the mark, and then nudged the singles as both bowlers continued to generate real pace.
Laxman got going with an exquisite cover-drive, and then pulled Hayward for four when he dropped one short. Tendulkar had played a similarly emphatic pull off Morkel, but could only produce a tentative push when the ball was deliveried from wide of the crease. Justin Kemp gleefully took the edge, and Ganguly was on his way to the middle just 45 minutes into the session.
Three slips, a gully, a short point and short leg greeted him, but two runs guided to third man calmed the nerves somewhat. A streaky edge through the slip cordon followed, as the drinks came on the field with the scoreboard making for depressing reading at 44 for 3.
Friedel de Wet, of the Highveld Lions, and Alfonso Thomas, who moved from Cape Town to play his cricket for the Titans, then kept the scoring in check, though a sublime off-drive from Laxman and a push through point from Ganguly gave the bowlers something to think about.
Thomas gave nothing away, getting the ball to swing quite late, but it was the reintroduction of Morkel, 15 minutes before lunch, that pushed the Indians closer to the precipice. A fairly wide and rising delivery had Laxman playing away from his body, and the attempted steer over slip was superbly taken by Kemp at second slip.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni came in and slashed de Wet over cover for four, but Morkel had to have the final say. A ball outside off stump moved away a touch, and Dhoni's flayed drive was wonderfully taken on the dive by Morne van Wyk. Morkel's figures of 4 for 29 didn't flatter him, and for all the talk of a batting paradise, the morning at Sedgars Park had been one sharp descent into hell for the Indians.
Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfohttp://content-ind.cricinfo.com/rsavind/content/current/story/271536.html
AuthorTopic: India vs Rest of SOuth Africa (Read 8149 times)
