Call it a rush of blood or strange sense of complacency, South Africa will find it hard to explain the final session of the first day of the second Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in the India South Africa series.
The story was left at tea with South Africa looking well placed to take control of the match on the first day at 228 for two at tea. But it was not long for the tables to be turned as South Africa found themselves squandering the initiative of the morning.
In an innings that could well be recalled as the turning point of the match, South Africa managed just thirty-eight runs, lost seven wickets and went from a position of strength to a rather vulnerable one. If Zaheer Khan caused the early mayhem, the afternoon’s credits were shared by Harbhajan Singh under fire for being too quiet on the field in recent times.
Harbhajan struck too fast and furious for the visitors to respond. They had been lulled, as were much of the crowds, to believing that they would see out the day with prospect of more, a la the Nagpur Test. That though remained unfinished as Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy perished in quick succession even as both the century makers, Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla, were cooling their heels in the pavilion.
Not all of it could be attributed to great bowling although India were rewarded for their persistence in the afternoon. Shot selections such as Jacques Kallis’ slog sweep and Hashim Amla’s rare rush of blood contributed to India feeling their way back into the match and the context as South Africa were suddenly left frail at 266 for nine and not a batsman of pedigree left.
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