8230;And they all fall down

When VVS Laxman failed to hold on to a chest-high edge off Hashim Amlas bat at slip off the first ball of Harbhajan Singhs seventh over....

When VVS Laxman failed to hold on to a chest-high edge off Hashim Amlas bat at slip off the first ball of Harbhajan Singhs seventh over most of the people at Eden Gardens stopped chewing on their fish fry long enough to let out a collective groan. As for Harbhajan,he turned his back to the mishap,clutched his head in despair and looked at the giant screen that replayed Laxmans clumsy juggling act. Considering his ineffectiveness so far in the series,he might have been eyeing one of the exits through which he could escape.

After a few overs it was Ishant Sharma,in the middle of an inspired spell,looking at replays in horror as a leading edge from Alviro Petersen fell just short of S Badrinath at covers. At the time,it seemed like Nagpur revisited as South Africa powered towards another tall score after winning the toss.

But as 218/1 magically turned to 266/9 in the final session that got over prematurely because of fading light after 81 overs,Eden Gardens theatre of dreams legend got yet another endorsement. For an easier understanding of this intriguing game of fluctuating fortunes,the days events can be conveniently divided into two unequal parts.

South Africas period of domination that lasted for the first two sessions had started with Graeme Smith and Amla taking guard at the start of the day. But an over after tea,the game was set to take a dramatic Fosbury flip in Indias favour with the score reading 229/3. In a way,it was a tailormade situation for India to spark a new beginning as Jacques Kallis 0 and AB de Villiers 0 found themselves in the centre. Thats exactly what they did.

Zaheers bunny

The first two sessions had a familiar script from the last Test. Zaheer Khan was playing Rambo,fighting a losing cause against the all-attacking South African batsmen. Zaheer,as if by habit,set up Smith before shattering his stumps. A series of balls on the play or leave length was followed by a killer incoming ball that jagged back late a manoeuver that is popular among the local bus drivers. To say Smith is Zaheers bunny isnt a hasty inference merely drawn from the Nagpur game,where the South African skipper was out in similar fashion. With todays wicket Zaheer,has dismissed Smith four times in the last four Tests and four times in ODIs too.

Like against Smith,Zaheer attempted to sneak a ball through the bat-pad gap against Alviro Petersen and Amla by coming round the wicket,but he failed. Peterson 100 was more solid as compared to Amla 114,who survived several close calls,but both seemed set for big hundreds.

Change of tide

An inspired spell by Sharma before tea softened them and Zaheer returned to send them back to pavilion on both sides of the break. Thats when the tide changed. Unlike previously in the series,Zaheer wasnt the only threat in the bowling line-up and the South African batsmen werent dominating.

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Old-timers at Eden Gardens speak about a late afternoon breeze that blows from the Howrah bridge towards the stadium and how it brings along with it a pleasant feeling for the bowling side. Harbhajan will vouch for that. Finally,getting his line right and not drifting towards the legs,a heavily tweaked ball by the offie landed on middle-off that saw Jacques Kallis miscue a slog sweep. Laxman ran from slip to short fine leg to take a fine catch. The two men,who had seen their biggest high at Eden,hugged each other amid the roar of the crowd.

More déjà vu was in store as Harbhajan switched to round the wicket and the two left-handers Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy were out on consecutive balls,both failing to read the ball that came in slightly after pitching to be lbw. Though a hat-trick was missed,the earlier sight of a smiling Harbhajan running on the field with his team mates in pursuit was in contrast to his grim face in the morning. Sharma and Amit Mishra too chipped in with a wicket each and South Africa were in much more trouble than they wouldve anticipated at tea.

After the intriguing final session,as Eden empited with several smiling faces reluctant to leave and gazing at the stars cooling down,the attendance in the coming days is expected to be high. But for interest to remain,every day will have to be Sunday for the Indians on the field too.