da esoccer bet： 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
da supremo： The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran29-Jun-2007India 227 for 4 (Sachin 93, Yuvraj 49*, Karthik 32*) beatSouth Africa 226 for 6 (van Wyk 82, Boucher 55*, Yuvraj 3-36) by 6six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Silencing the cynics: Sachin Tendulkar was back to his glorious best © Getty Images
As the sun shone over Stormont in the afternoon, Father Time wasforgotten, with Sachin Tendulkar delving into his back pages to produce asparkling innings. Chasing a tricky target of 227, Tendulkar dusted offhis pull stroke and took a heavy toll on the pace attack, but when he fellto Thandi Tshabalala for 93, India experienced an almighty stutter. Ascore of 134 for 0 soon became 142 for 4, and it required a rollicking85-run partnership between Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik to square theseries 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 Khanand RP Singh had the top order in all sorts of trouble, and it needed an85-run association between van Wyk and Jean-Paul Duminy to lead SouthAfrica towards respectability. Mark Boucher’s belligerent 55 not outprovided the late flourish, but even that appeared to be inadequate whileTendulkar was leaving his inimitable imprint on proceedings.Having decided that discretion clearly wasn’t the better part of valourhere, Tendulkar initially trained his sights on Makhaya Ntini. A firstpull for four signalled intent, and after Charl Langeveldt had been tuckedoff the pads for two fours, Ntini was infuriated to find two short-pitcheddeliveries pulled with contemptuous ease.It wasn’t as though that was the only shot in the arsenal either. Whenafforded width, Tendulkar cut powerfully and precisely to the rope. Therewas a stroke of fortune, an edge of Langeveldt that just grazed JacquesKallis’s fingers at second slip, but otherwise, he bided his time andwaited for the loose ball to put away. On the rare occasions when heswished impetuously, Ganguly would be down the track to ask his partner toplay it cool.South Africa’s biggest threat came from Andrè Nel, whose pace andhostility pushed both men on to the back foot. Sourav Ganguly was becalmedfor vast portions of his innings, but twice he showed what he could do bystepping out and driving Ntini through the covers. This though was theTendulkar show, and even Nel wasn’t exempt from some punishment. Havingavoided several short-pitched ones, Tendulkar finally let his instinctstake over, hooking one powerfully over square leg for six.The 15,000-barrier was surpassed with the aid of overthrows, andcelebration came in the form of some gorgeous drives off the medium paceof Andrew Hall. By the time Kallis turned to the offspin of Tshabalala,South Africa’s task had become an onerous one. Just how onerous becameevident when Ganguly sauntered down the track and pinged one over long-onwithout even connecting cleanly.When he fell though, smooth progress became tortuous passage. Dravid wasundone by steepling bounce, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni went to an insideedge, but the biggest blow was delivered by Tshabalala. Having been takenfor six over long-on, and 14 in an earlier over, he refused to compromiseon flight and turn, and reaped the reward when Tendulkar chopped one on.With the light fading and South Africa scenting victory, Karthik andYuvraj rode their luck to the finish. Nel and Ntini were a handful, butcouldn’t quite provide the breakthrough as India sneaked home amid thelengthening shadows. Yuvraj finished on 49, while Karthik’s Energizerbunny-style fetched him an unbeaten 32.The bowlers had been to the fore in the morning, with Zaheer Khan and RPSingh bowling superb new-ball spells. They tied the batsmen down, and thefrustration undoubtedly contributed to the dismissal of AB de Villiers,caught just short of his ground after being sent back by van Wyk. Theprized wicket arrived soon after, with Kallis – matchwinner in the lastgame with an unbeaten 91 – dragging an RP Singh delivery back on to hisleg stump.Herschelle Gibbs got going with a nonchalant cover-drive, but when hedrove lazily at Zaheer, India were very much in charge of proceedings withthe scoreboard showing 46 for 3. It took van Wyk’s determination, Duminy’sclass and Boucher’s ebullience to wrest control back.
Rudra Pratap Singh is ecstatic after bowling Jacques Kallis through the gate © Getty Images
van Wyk played and missed often, with the pitch affording both appreciableseam movement and bounce, but once his trademark cuts started to findtheir range, the complexion of the innings changed. With the more gracefulDuminy playing some gorgeous strokes down the ground, van Wyk played tohis strengths, cutting and pulling with immense power.There were moments of anxiety, most notably against the wiles of PiyushChawla and Ramesh Powar, but with Ishant Sharma largely disappointing onone-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 thetrick, with Yuvraj Singh’s left-arm spin accounting for both Duminy andvan Wyk as the bat started to be thrown around.Duminy cut a loose delivery straight to short third man, while van Wykwent for one cut too many. As in the opening game, India scented anopening, but this time it was Boucher that closed the door. There was ahuge six over long on as Chawla went for 13 in his comeback over, and somehefty clouts off Powar, and with Hall joining in, 52 runs came at betterthan a run a ball. Yuvraj took a third scalp when he cleaned up Hall, butby then, South Africa had exceeded all but their own expectations.On another day, it might have been enough. But after Matthew Hayden andAdam Gilchrist had pulled alongside them during the World Cup, this was anafternoon for the old firm of Tendulkar and Ganguly, who reclaimed therecord with a 17th three-figure partnership. The halcyon years may be longgone, but as Tendulkar demonstrated, there are days when he can stillshine like the sun.
