Monday, February 8, 2010

GOLD: STEYN; SILVER: VIRU; BRONZE: BADRI - SO FAR ON DAY THREE

As I write this Dhoni has opened his account on the 15th ball that he faced and Badrinath has reached his maiden Test fifty in his Test debut. All this after Sehwag's responsible-till-his-dismissal-shot innings of 109 very valuable runs for India and Dale Steyn's fiery spell of fine swing bowling in the morning (very ably supported by Morne Morkel).

South Africa dominated India over the last 2 days (except for the first hour on the first day). And they have continued their dominance even today, despite Sehwag's knock. It's weird that no Indian batsman, apart from Sehwag, averages 50+ against South Africa in India. There will be chances over the course of this series, but it will not be an easy task if Dale Steyn has his say.

Dale Steyn has been in tremendous form since his return after injury in the Second Test against England. His spell to Paul Collingwood in the Third Test would have fetched him a 5-for on any other day. Lady Luck was just not happy with him that day. But he made up for it in the Fourth Test, finally getting a 5-for that he deserved in the previous Test itself. And now, with his outstanding spell this morning, he is well on his way to having an outstanding series here in India as well.

However, despite India's troubles, I think that the most likely result of this match is a draw. There are 7 more sessions left in the match. Assuming that South Africa would want atleast 2 sessions of batting for themselves to set India a reasonable target, India has to bat out 5 sessions for 16 wickets. Given the batting form of the team, I do not think this should be a very difficult task (despite having two debutants).

I hope that Badri can manage a good score here and push Yuvraj Singh out of the Test spot. At the age of 29, his chance was overdue.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

End of Day 3:

More like Gold : Steyn, Silver : Steyn , Bronze : Viru,

That was just brutal to watch. A lesson in fast bowling and a lesson in how not to face fast bowling.

Very impressive insight about sehwag being the only batsman with a 50+ average against SA in India!

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