India would have thought they had started on the right note, dismissing Graeme Smith. But little did they know that a grind was to follow after the South African captain completely missed on timing the shot and left a huge gap between bat and pad for the Zaheer Khan delivery to sneak through and crash into stumps.
hashim amla century alviro petersen
graeme smith dismissed
From 9 for 1, South Africa were pushing India against the wall in front of a huge crowd at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on the first day of the second Test of the India South Africa series with a double drama that had the Indians on the back foot.
The absence of regular wicket keeper, Mark Boucher, South Africa sent in uncapped Alviro Petersen in the opening position to partner Smith, with Ashwell Prince brought lower down to no.6. This after Graeme Smith won the toss and chose to bat first.
With the skipper gone early, it could have thrown the balance helter-skelter. But with double centurion from the first match, Hashim Amla balancing the inexperience at the top, South Africa not only overcame the early loss of the captain but also, denied India honours early in the Test.
alviro petersen century
In fact, by tea, one team had established the firm ascendancy in the match and it was not that of the hosts. While Petersen looked calmer than a typical debutant, Amla was in full flow. Combined, the duo dented the confidence of the Indians looking to win the match, square the series and regain the no.1 Test rank in the ICC Test rankings.
As the partnership grew stronger, the "here we go again" was beginning to gain ground amongst the Indian skeptics. Such was the overpowering performance for the second wicket. The only time when South Africa slowed down briefly was when both the batsmen were into their nineties. But they survived the spell of intent from Ishant Sharma just before tea. Peterson though made his maiden Test century on debut only to fall to Zaheer to break the 200 run partnership even as Amla looked to make good his promise of a century and more for a second Test in a row.
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