Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Rain came in India8217;s way as the visitors lost to South Africa by 11 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method in the one-off Twenty20 match here today.
Chasing South Africa8217;s 219 for four,India were fairly well placed at 71 for no loss in 7.5 overs,11 runs behind the par score under the D/L method,when the heavens opened up.
The match was called off at 8.35pm local time after an hour-long interruption.
Earlier India8217;s bowlers were taken to the cleaners by Colin Ingram 78 and Jacques Kallis 61 as South Africa piled up an imposing total.
But Gautam Gambhir led India8217;s riposte with a quickfire 49 off 28 balls.
The left-hander along with Robin Uthappa 18 off 19 added 71 runs runs for the first wicket in no time,keeping India in the hunt for a stunning win at the New Wanderers.
After a rather quiet first over in which India could manage just seven runs,Gambhir slammed Albie Morkel for two boundaries and a six to put them on track.
There were a couple of quite overs after that but Gambhir8217;s aggressive approach at the crease kept the South African bowlers at bay.
However,as it turned out,it was not the most appropriate end to a match whose proceeds will be going to charity,for the Jacques Kallis Foundation.
Apart from charity,the match was organised to celebrate 150 years of settlement of Indians in South Africa.
Earlier,electing to bowl,Mahendra Singh Dhoni8217;s men found themselves at the receiving end of the Proteas8217; onslaught as Ingram and Kallis added 119 runs for the second wicket in just 13.2 overs.
Albie Morkel led with a three-ball 16 to provide the late flourish while Justin Ontong slammed 22 off seven balls. So harsh was the onslaught that South Africa were past the 100 by the 12th over,with the 200 coming in the last over of the innings bowled by Suresh Raina,thanks to some prolonged power hitting.
Richard Levi got South Africa off to a brisk start,hitting seamers Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan for two boundaries each in the first two overs.
Pathan fought back with the wicket of Levi,getting the batsman to offer an outside edge to first slip.
The setback,though,had no effect on the South Africans who rode on Kallis and Ingram8217;s big hitting to put the Indians on the backfoot.
While the big shots came in a barrage,the one that stood out early on was Kallis8217; towering six off Yusuf Pathan.
The off-spinner who was preferred over Ravindra Jadega,tossed one up for Kallis who took a few paces forward to loft it over long-on.
Ingram was not far behind,matching his senior partner stroke for stroke.
The left-hander swung Ashwin over deep midwicket for a huge six after the bowler dropped it a fraction short.
It was then Rohit Sharma8217;s turn to taste the music as Kallis rocked back to hit the part-time spinner delivery back over deep midwicket for the maximum.
South Africa have handed debuts to Farhaan Behardian and Dane Vilas while Uthappa returned to side for India.
