After Tendulkar had helped India to 134 for 0, it soon became 142 for 4, and it required a rollicking 85-run partnership between Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik to square the series at one all
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran29-Jun-2007India 227 for 4 (Sachin 93, Yuvraj 49*, Karthik 32*) beat
South Africa 226 for 6 (van Wyk 82, Boucher 55*, Yuvraj 3-36) by 6
six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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As the sun shone over Stormont in the afternoon, Father Time was
forgotten, with Sachin Tendulkar delving into his back pages to produce a
sparkling innings. Chasing a tricky target of 227, Tendulkar dusted off
his pull stroke and took a heavy toll on the pace attack, but when he fell
to Thandi Tshabalala for 93, India experienced an almighty stutter. A
score of 134 for 0 soon became 142 for 4, and it required a rollicking
85-run partnership between Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik to square the
series at one all.South Africa’s total of 226 owed much to a gritty 82 from Mornè van Wyk.
After Rahul Dravid opted to bowl in seam-friendly conditions, Zaheer Khan
and RP Singh had the top order in all sorts of trouble, and it needed an
85-run association between van Wyk and Jean-Paul Duminy to lead South
Africa towards respectability. Mark Boucher’s belligerent 55 not out
provided the late flourish, but even that appeared to be inadequate while
Tendulkar was leaving his inimitable imprint on proceedings.Having decided that discretion clearly wasn’t the better part of valour
here, Tendulkar initially trained his sights on Makhaya Ntini. A first
pull for four signalled intent, and after Charl Langeveldt had been tucked
off the pads for two fours, Ntini was infuriated to find two short-pitched
deliveries pulled with contemptuous ease.It wasn’t as though that was the only shot in the arsenal either. When
afforded width, Tendulkar cut powerfully and precisely to the rope. There
was a stroke of fortune, an edge of Langeveldt that just grazed Jacques
Kallis’s fingers at second slip, but otherwise, he bided his time and
waited for the loose ball to put away. On the rare occasions when he
swished impetuously, Ganguly would be down the track to ask his partner to
play it cool.South Africa’s biggest threat came from Andrè Nel, whose pace and
hostility pushed both men on to the back foot. Sourav Ganguly was becalmed
for vast portions of his innings, but twice he showed what he could do by
stepping out and driving Ntini through the covers. This though was the
Tendulkar show, and even Nel wasn’t exempt from some punishment. Having
avoided several short-pitched ones, Tendulkar finally let his instincts
take over, hooking one powerfully over square leg for six.The 15,000-barrier was surpassed with the aid of overthrows, and
celebration came in the form of some gorgeous drives off the medium pace
of Andrew Hall. By the time Kallis turned to the offspin of Tshabalala,
South Africa’s task had become an onerous one. Just how onerous became
evident when Ganguly sauntered down the track and pinged one over long-on
without even connecting cleanly.When he fell though, smooth progress became tortuous passage. Dravid was
undone by steepling bounce, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni went to an inside
edge, but the biggest blow was delivered by Tshabalala. Having been taken
for six over long-on, and 14 in an earlier over, he refused to compromise
on flight and turn, and reaped the reward when Tendulkar chopped one on.With the light fading and South Africa scenting victory, Karthik and
Yuvraj rode their luck to the finish. Nel and Ntini were a handful, but
couldn’t quite provide the breakthrough as India sneaked home amid the
lengthening shadows. Yuvraj finished on 49, while Karthik’s Energizer
bunny-style fetched him an unbeaten 32.The bowlers had been to the fore in the morning, with Zaheer Khan and RP
Singh bowling superb new-ball spells. They tied the batsmen down, and the
frustration undoubtedly contributed to the dismissal of AB de Villiers,
caught just short of his ground after being sent back by van Wyk. The
prized wicket arrived soon after, with Kallis – matchwinner in the last
game with an unbeaten 91 – dragging an RP Singh delivery back on to his
leg stump.Herschelle Gibbs got going with a nonchalant cover-drive, but when he
drove lazily at Zaheer, India were very much in charge of proceedings with
the scoreboard showing 46 for 3. It took van Wyk’s determination, Duminy’s
class and Boucher’s ebullience to wrest control back.
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van Wyk played and missed often, with the pitch affording both appreciable
seam movement and bounce, but once his trademark cuts started to find
their range, the complexion of the innings changed. With the more graceful
Duminy playing some gorgeous strokes down the ground, van Wyk played to
his strengths, cutting and pulling with immense power.There were moments of anxiety, most notably against the wiles of Piyush
Chawla and Ramesh Powar, but with Ishant Sharma largely disappointing on
one-day debut, the runs started to come too quickly for Dravid’s liking.
As is so often the case, it was the desperate bowling change that did the
trick, with Yuvraj Singh’s left-arm spin accounting for both Duminy and
van Wyk as the bat started to be thrown around.Duminy cut a loose delivery straight to short third man, while van Wyk
went for one cut too many. As in the opening game, India scented an
opening, but this time it was Boucher that closed the door. There was a
huge six over long on as Chawla went for 13 in his comeback over, and some
hefty clouts off Powar, and with Hall joining in, 52 runs came at better
than a run a ball. Yuvraj took a third scalp when he cleaned up Hall, but
by then, South Africa had exceeded all but their own expectations.On another day, it might have been enough. But after Matthew Hayden and
Adam Gilchrist had pulled alongside them during the World Cup, this was an
afternoon for the old firm of Tendulkar and Ganguly, who reclaimed the
record with a 17th three-figure partnership. The halcyon years may be long
gone, but as Tendulkar demonstrated, there are days when he can still
shine like the sun.
