Jaipur, Feb. 21: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s gamble of packing eight batsmen in the side almost misfired for India as they squeezed out a one-run win over South Africa in the first one-dayer at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Sunday. It took a combined effort from all eight of them to put up 298/9 in 50 overs after being sent in by South African skipper Jacques Kallis, and then bowling out the visitors for 297 off the final ball of the match to end a memorable encounter.
Wayne Parnell slammed a 47-ball 49 and Dale Steyn blasted 35 off 19 balls (1x4, 3x6) and the duo’s 65-run partnership for the ninth wicket guided the Proteas to the brink of victory. The scenario had looked unlikely when Kallis departed at 225/8 and the visitors required 74 off the last seven overs.
The Proteas were off to a flyer with openers Loots Bosman (29 off 23 balls) and Herschelle Gibbs (27 off 40 balls) flaying the opening bowlers to all parts. The two were severe on Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, carting him for 17 runs in his opening over. Much against the run of play Bosman dragged on Praveen Kumar to his stumps after putting on 58 for the opening wicket.
Twin strikes by part-time left-arm spinner and man of the match Ravindra Jadeja put the brakes on the South African innings. Gibbs went for a slog sweep only to sky it down to long-off, while AB de Villiers (25, 23b, 4x4) played back to an arm-ball that rattled his stumps.
Kallis was the stand-out performer for the visitors scoring 89 off 97 balls (6x4, 1x6) to follow up his three wickets. But all looked in vain when he was the eighth batsman to depart. With five overs remaining, the visitors needed an unlikely 62 runs to win. Steyn batted the only way he knows, smashing Raina for two big sixes over long-off to garner 14 off the over. There was more to come as Parnell and Steyn collected three boundaries from Sreesanth in the 48th over. In the next over, a six each by the duo brought down the equation to 10 off the last over.
There was a final twist in the tale in the last over bowled by Praveen. Steyn was bowled off the second ball before Langeveldt took three runs to deep fine-leg off the penultimate ball to bring the equation down to four off the final ball. Praveen bowled a wide to add to the drama and then Parnell got a thick edge off the last ball to third man and fell short off the crease going for the second run in a bid to tie the match.
For the Indians, Jadeja had outstanding figures of 10-2-29-2 but Ashish Nehra (67 off 10 overs) and Sreesanth (74 off nine overs) went for plenty. Earlier, six Indian batsmen got in but only Suresh Raina went on to score a fifty — a statistic that tells the tale of the innings. Sachin Tendulkar (4) was the only batsman to miss out after getting needlessly run-out.
The visitors were at the receiving end of Virender Sehwag’s willow as he clattered six fours and two sixes in his 37-ball 46. Sehwag was unlucky to become the second run-out victim of the innings after Charl Langeveldt deflected Karthik’s drive back on to the stumps at the bowling end with Sehwag backing up too far.
The second-wicket stand between Sehwag and Karthik (44) added 79 runs off 12.3 overs. But it was Raina (58, 63b, 6x4, 1x6) who played a crucial role in ensuring that India reached a total of respectability.
Scoreboard
india
Virender Sehwag run out 46, Sachin Tendulkar run out 4, Dinesh Karthik c Petersen b Langeveldt 44, Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Morkel b Kallis 26, Virat Kohli c Gibbs b Morkel 31, Suresh Raina c Boucher b Kallis 58, Yusuf Pathan c Kallis b Parnell 18, Ravindra Jadeja c Boucher b Kallis 22, Praveen Kumar run out 13, Ashish Nehra n.o. 16, S. Sreesanth n.o. 0.
Extras (lb-7, w-13) 20
Total (in 50 overs) 298/9
FoW: 1-10, 2-89, 3-116, 4-138, 5-204, 6-231, 7-260, 8-274, 9-292.
Bowling: Dale Steyn 10-1-46-0, Wayne Parnell 9-0-69-1, Charl Langeveldt 10-0-48-1, Albie Morkel 8-0-59-1, Johan Botha 6-0-40-0, Jacques Kallis 7-0-29-3.
south africa
Loots Bosman b Praveen Kumar 29, Herschelle Gibbs c Virat Kohli b Ravindra Jadeja 27, Jacques Kallis b Sreesanth 89, AB de Villiers b Ravindra Jadeja 25, Alviro Petersen run out 9, Albie Morkel lbw b Ashish Nehra 2, Mark Boucher c M.S. Dhoni b Sreesanth 5, Johan Botha lbw b Yusuf Pathan 10, Wayne Parnell run out 49, Dale Steyn b Praveen Kumar 35, Charl Langeveldt n.o. 4.
Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-8) 13
Total (in 50 overs) 297/10
FoW: 1-58, 2-64, 3-109, 4-134, 5-142, 6-161, 7-180, 8-225, 9-290, 10-297.
Bowling: Praveen Kumar 8-0-46-2, Ashish Nehra 10-0-67-1, Sreesanth 9-1-74-2, Ravindra Jadeja 10-2-29-2, Yusuf Pathan 10-0-51-1, S. Raina 3-0-25-0.
Mahi’s men stump SA in thriller Cricket Match
Mahi’s men stump SA in thriller Cricket Match
source deccanchronicle.com/sports
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