Morkel fear

Home boy picks fifth wicket as Indias pace trauma continues.

Down on his knees with his bucket-like hands covering his contorted face,Morne Morkel fell to the ground on Thursday evening,wiping his tears along the way. With his head on the batting crease,Morkel settled in the dust kicked up with his fall,and those settling particles left behind by Rahul Dravids disgusted mud-slapping willow. The team huddled over his fallen body,before his mammoth right hand shot out of the pack and waved with the ball,saluting his vociferous home crowds at the Supersport Park after reaching his 100th Test wicket.

The tears had dried up by Friday morning,but the celebrations and milestones didnt. Stuck on magical figures of 12.1-5-20-4 overnight,the giant fast bowler took three balls on the second day to scalp his fifth, his fourth in Test cricket and his best figures in this format yet. Indian skipper MS Dhoni raced back to the pavilion trapped leg before for 33 while the 26-year old was more languid,waving the leather ball to the packed stands below the pavilion,as the crowds gave their local boy a standing ovation to remember. We were a bit under pressure to do well after winning the toss and putting them in. Dale and I needed to bowl well and execute what we had planned for so long. It all turned out great,but nobody expected to nearly bowl them out though, Morkel said on Day One.

While he had to work hard relatively to dismiss Gautam Gambhir and Dravid,he got it on a platter with Ishant Sharma,S Sreesanth and of course,Dhoni. After being hit on the shoulder a couple of times by Morkel,a ball flew thick and fast off Gambhirs body to Mark Boucher,which the umpire felt was inconclusive. An angry Morkel peppered Gambhir with bruises,before slipping in a fuller one outside off-stump,which Gambhir edged to Paul Harris at first slip for a painful 62-ball five.

When Gautams edge didnt go in my favour,it really fired me up,I must admit. I had gone wicketless in Dubai and Abu Dhabi against Pakistan and really wanted a wicket against my name. But it was important for me to not get too carried away and I managed to do that well by scalping him with a fuller one, Morkel said. It was simply awesome.

And awesome it was. One doesnt get their 100th wicket everyday,Thursday happened to be Morkels. Just ten balls after packing off Gambhir,Morkel put Dravid out of his misery trapped leg before to a beauty etching the veterans name into his personal record books. The routine was similar to Gambhirs wicket,but the ball was slipped up more gradually,after a lot more bouncers. The most important thing for a fast bowler is not to forget your aggression. We dished out a bit of chin music and got the ball to fly around the Indians ears. It was hostile and fun, says the 26-year old,beaming a demonic smile.

So which was the most crucial wicket of them all? Surprisingly,Morkel doesnt think it was one of his. Virender, he replied in a jiffy. Its a great feeling to watch Sehwag walk back early. He was always going to be the danger man, Morkel says about the opening wicket of the game,scalped by fellow local,Dale Steyn.

Like Sehwags wicket,Steyn got the ball to shape around a bit to cause havoc,while Morkel stuck to his strength bounce. Dale and I are different bowlers,Im six foot five and hes a little shorter. So it was important for me to stick to my strength and use my bounce.

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How tough is it really on the monstrous pitch? The Indian scoreboard doesnt tell the full story. Its important to leave well on this wicket. Then well really put our foot on this test match. Half-way past lunch on Day Two and having already taken a sizeable lead,Morkels size-15 footmark was printed over the Indian side.