Different stage,same script

Batting with ethereal skill on a lightning-quick green belt,Laxman had pulled a short ball off Dale Steyn with a ferocious stroke,and the leather responded with a scream leaving his blade. Positioned at mid-on,Tsotsobe fell gently to his right before gravity pulled his beefy torso towards the earth. Tsotsobe stuck his hand out to break the fall,but the ball marvelously stuck in his palm,barely an inch off the ground.

A puzzled Tsotsobe looked at it with awe,before running around the frenzy ground to celebrate his finest hour,in which he also claimed the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar.

Surfing elegantly if the word can be used for the left-arm seamer on his new-found touch,Tsotsobe came back into the attack a few overs before tea,only to put an end to a fighting knock by Cheteshwar Pujara. India lost their sixth batsman for 156 two of them to Tsotsobe,three to Dale Steyn,and one to a combination of both. Bad light put an early end to Indias Day One misery on 183/6,just three overs after tea a break where Steyn limped off due to over-hydration he doesnt believe it either with figures of 4/36. But Sunday belonged to only one man someone who claimed his best ever Test figures of 2/40,and his first ever Test catch,lest we forget.

Until not too long ago,Tsotsobe was considered the weak link in the South African Test side. Many felt the left-arm seamer did not pull his weight in the team as the first-change bowler to Steyn and Morne Morkel. Often found lazing around the field,Tsotsobes lethargic demeanour didnt help his cause either. But,like many before him,Tsotsobe was provided with an opportunity to make a reputation for himself,and he latched onto it with dear life. But all that had to wait until after lunch rain-shortened with Steyn thundering down upon the Indians right from ball one.

MS Dhoni lost another toss,before a chuckling Graeme Smith put India in on the Green Mamba the all-revealing nickname of the Durban wicket. The first ball by Steyn smacked Virender Sehwag on his right thumb,and the last ball of the over nearly took with it the middle-stump.

While Steyn made it swing in the air and dart off the pitch away from the right-handers,Morkel got the ball to bounce off the grass like it does in Wimbledon. Sehwag and Murali Vijay injured Gautam Gambhirs replacement nearly saw off the dreaded first hour after the late 11 am start,but Steyn was rewarded for his extended spell,finally pegging India back with a double strike.

Driving on the up,the late swinging ball caught Sehwags edge before second slip Jacques Kallis did the same in front of his face to end 25 blistering runs. While Vijay left the ball beautifully until then,he poked outside the off-stump line which keeper Mark Boucher pouched with gratitude. Tendulkar played the shot of the morning,bending low to execute the upper-cut with poise,which flew well over slips for a graceful boundary. He unleashed the hook from the locked closet,and the thudding ball on the hoardings signaled lunch.

But it all went wrong for India after that. In the first over after resumption,Tsotsobe induced Tendulkar,batting on 13,to drive through the wide-angle. Tendulkar chased it,and Kallis completed the formalities in the cordon to give Tsotsobe his most significant wicket yet.

Rahul Dravid dropped anchor,refusing to acknowledge anything short and wide for a while. But his taste buds cherished a delicious half-volley that jagged away late,and was gobbled up by Boucher. Laxman looked like he was batting on a different wicket,one where his spring-like wrists found no trouble turning balls into vacant areas or boundary ropes. He smacked Steyn for only his fifth-ever six in Test cricket,flat and over square-leg. But just when Laxman was looking in imperious touch for at least a fifty,Steyn had the last laugh. One that will be forever remembered as Tsotsobes near-religious moment.