THRILLING SERIES

Not being able to watch a Test match at Eden Gardens live on TV feels awful. Thank God for Cricinfo! Now, this Test is living up to its billing as the battle for World No. 1 Test team status. South Africa, continuing with their momentum from the Nagpur Test, dominated two sessions of opening day’s play. India, trying to hold on to their top ranking, suddenly roared back to life. Spurred on by vociferous Kolkata crowd, Zaheer and Harbhajan turned things around and South Africa were dismissed for less than 300.

Then, it was time for ‘Star Wars: Attack of the Clones’. Sehwag and Tendulkar made life difficult for Greame Smith’s boys, and Dale Steyn’s hostile spell of fast bowling in Nagpur might well have been story of some other time. South Africa, to their credit, did fight back. Three wickets late on Day 2 pegged India back just a little.

But India had more in store for them. The Eden Gardens specialist was due for a big score and what better time could he have chosen! VVS Laxman slowed down when Amit Mishra was trying to be Sehwag-like. But once he departed, he joined skipper MS Dhoni to grind the Proteas to a point from where even their most optimistic fans cannot hope for a return.

I am quite liking this Test Series (wish it could have been longer than 2 Tests, though). This series, thus far, is 1 and a half Test old. We have already seen 1 Double Century (Amla), 9 Centuries (Kallis, Sehwag, Sachin, Amla, Peterson, Sehwag, Sachin, Laxman , Dhoni), 1 Seven-for (Steyn), and few more good spells of fast as well as spin bowling (Steyn, Morkel, Harris, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Ishant). And what’s more, we already have 1 result and can expect another one in the next 2 days. Three debutants got a taste of Test cricket, and all of them showed mettle at some point or the other. One got a 50, another got a 100. We have even witnessed something very rare in Test cricket - 12 wides bowled by a bowler in an innings! What more could you ask for from Test matches!

This Test match is even attracting a fairly large crowd, who have been generous in their support for the home team, especially given their performance just a week back. Let’s hope this rivalry continues and the teams provide us with another thriller in the return series later this year.