Whodunnit: Graeme Smith says it was tail’s call to not push for win

At one point AB de Villiers walked out onto the balcony with his arms outstretched with a sense of disbelief,to which a haggard Faf du Plessis,who was run out with 19 balls left,replied with a shake of the head.

Eventually South Africa fell just eight runs short off chasing down 458 with three wickets still left,and Philander unbeaten on an aggressive 25. Not surprisingly,the tailender’s approach was something that Graeme Smith had to explain after the match. What was surprising was Smith’s revelation that the call to shut shop had been taken by the two tailenders in the middle.

Team supports call

“I think we as a team have to support the decision Dale and Vernon made in the middle. In a two-Test series,with one match to go,there is an opportunity to go and win the series in Durban. We have to believe in the decision that Dale and Vernon made,” he said,answering a query about whether the No.1 team in the world had surrendered to a fear of failure.

But that wasn’t just it. Smith was then asked whether he or the team management had sent any message down to Philander and Steyn while they were at the crease. “The message was to set it up for the last over. Then there were a couple of maidens bowled,which made it difficult. I think ultimately we needed to give Vernon an opportunity to win us the game. I think he was the guy that probably would have done that. It never happened. At that stage you can’t send out messages between overs. That is not allowed,” he explained.

At one point,Smith even snapped at the Indian media contingent insisting that he would not be coaxed into saying that he disagreed with the decision taken by his two fast bowlers.

“Ultimately the strength of this team is that there are good decision makers. Each guy is mature. So I think that’s how we have got to No. 1,trusting each other,trust each other’s decision making. Dale and Vernon have 100% support from me,” he said.

Salt into wounds

Virat Kohli also made the most of the opportunity to rub salt into the South African wounds,twice insisting that the Indian team had been shocked and surprised by the opposition backing away from the target and playing for a draw. Smith wasn’t to be outdone. And the back and forth continued.

“They certainly didn’t have four slips,a short leg and a gully. I can throw the thing back at you if you want. I think certainly they didn’t play like a team that had been wanting to win the game,” he said.