DURBAN, Dec 25:
After sharing the honours in a thrilling draw, India and South Africa will renew their exciting battle for supremacy tomorrow in the series-deciding second and final cricket Test, which will serve as the farewell match for local hero Jacques Kallis.
38-year-old Kallis, one of the greatest all-rounders the game has produced, announced his decision to quit Test cricket after the match and his teammates will be eager to give him a prefect send-off with the series win.
The opening Test between the number one (South Africa) and number two (India) teams turned out to be the most perfect advertisement for Test cricket giving five days of an engaging clash.
In the end, South Africa were left needing just eight runs for what would have been one of the most memorable Test wins of all time. India, on the other hand, were left wondering as to what turned the fortunes so drastically after four days of domination.
At Kingsmead, on Boxing Day, the two sides will go head-to-head in a decider that is more than just another five-day game.
Ever since this tour got embroiled in a battle between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket South Africa for off-field matters, it has been about bragging rights.
Seemingly both sides knew what to expect from this short tour, one that did no favours to the watching fans, sponsors or broadcasters. It was about gaining supremacy over the other, and indeed there was a certain path needed to be taken to achieve this.
For South Africa, it had to begin early. The three-ODI-series was where they could do some real damage because there weren’t any practice games.
The Indian team flew in, fresh from an ever-lasting home season with little know-how to deal with conditions here. Not to mention, there was a lot to prove after the retirement of senior stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman over the past year. They had to be put on the back-foot immediately.
And so it happened. The number-five ranked ODI team handed out a 2-0 defeat to the number-one ranked side, a spanking really considering the huge margins of 141 runs and 136 runs in the two completed matches at Johannesburg and Durban.
The number-one ranked Test side though couldn’t be beaten, as they bounced back from near-defeat and rose up to near-victory in the span of three sessions on the last day. And so, the first match of this series came to be hailed as the greatest drawn Test ever.
Now, all of it boils down to what happens in Durban.
India have been meticulous in the way they have met with the daunting challenge this trip has been. A young team, out to take on the world, they have battled hard.
They realised early that the ODIs were a lost cause and instead used those games to steel themselves for the challenges ahead.
Despite two and a half days of competitive cricket washed away by unseasonal summer rains here, the batsmen knew which balls to leave and which to score off. The bowlers knew how to hit the right lengths, guided by the return of Zaheer Khan.
South Africa will not like that last sentence. The last Test they won at this ground, on this pitch, came nearly six years ago, when they beat West Indies by an innings and 100 runs in January 2008. Since then, the Proteas haven’t won here in four Test matches.
What’s more, in each of these four Tests, they have been bowled for under-200 in atleast one of the two innings. To add further concern, out of the 80 wickets they have lost in these four matches, 29 were taken by spinners.
That last bit gets highlighted when it is considered that South Africa isn’t traditionally a suitable environment for spinners.
A case in point is Harbhajan Singh’s performance from that 2010-11 victory for India here. The Turbanator had struggled in the first Test at Centurion (2-169), only to wreak havoc at Durban with match-winning figures of 6-80.
Teams (from):
South Africa: Graeme Smith (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile (wk), Kyle Abbott.
India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha (wk)
Match time: 1400 IST. (PTI)
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