Ind SA ODI 1 Thriller: Wayne, Steyn Star as India Nearly Steal Defeat from Jaws of Victory

Sreelata YellamrazuFeb 21 2010

This was a typical game that went down to the wire but technically speaking should not have. But credit must go to the South African captain and the tail for refusing to give up even as India have a few issues to address even in victory.

jacques kallis wayne parnell

The dreaded problem was back for India as the first ODI of the India South Africa series at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur even as India appeared to be cruising to victory.

That was because apart from Jacques Kallis, the South African captain, none of the top order batsmen stuck around long enough to really impact the game. The 58 run opening partnership between Loots Bosman and Herschelle Gibbs apart, the only top order partnership worth mentioning was between AB de Villiers and Kallis for 45 runs. But while the other three batsmen were unable to convert their starts, Kallis stood like a pillar between India and defeat staring South Africa straight in the face as South Africa were reduced to six down for 161 in the 32nd over.

Ravindra Jadeja appeared to have done the trick, his spinning overs tying South Africa up as they failed to rotate strike. Two wickets for him and a measly spell later, there was not much hope left for the visitors.

jacques kallis sa captain

But that was before Wayne Parnell, coming in at no.9 nearly pulled off the unthinkable. First it was a critical partnership of 45 runs for the eighth wicket with Kallis. But it was the partnership to fall after Kallis fell to a valiant eighty-nine (from ninety-seven balls)that nearly gave India a heartbreak.

Parnell and Dale Steyn stuck around to the agony of the growing anxious Indians on the field. From eight down for 225, the duo started changing the asking rate from 12 to a more attainable one. It did not help that the Indian bowlers, and Sreesanth included, became a little too lenient at the wrong time to allow South Africa to walk right into the door left ajar.

Eventually it came down to 10 runs from 6 balls and there will be a contentious issue of whether Sachin Tendulkar stopped a possible boundary cleanly off the penultimate ball. The reason? Because South Africa lost the match by a single run chasing 298!

An additional run could have given South Africa some consolation in a tie in a match they nearly did not deserve to win by the performance of the top order.

suresh raina against sa

The target appeared colossal after Kallis won the toss and decided to field first, keeping in mind the dew factor. Two freak run outs saw Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag back in the pavilion, after the latter made a thirty-seven ball forty-six and starred in a crucial partnership for the second wicket with Dinesh Karthik,who was dismissed for forty-four runs.

More bridges needed to be built and while the Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Virat Kohli tried, it was Suresh Raina's timely knock of fifty-eight from sixty-three balls that gave India the momentum they dearly wanted. South Africa will also perhaps look back on the fact that on a batsmen friendly pitch, they gave away needless 20 runs, including 13 wides that perhaps came back to bite them.