Skipper Ganguly shores up Indian innings to put team 2-0 ahead of South Africa

Ganguly straight drove Shaun Pollock down the ground for four and later found the ropes from another ball off spinner Nicky Boje. He also smashed Derek Crookes for a towering six over long-on and lofted Pieter Strydom for a similar boundary.

Tendulkar (21) was the first man to get out caught by South African skipper Hansie Cronje as Pollock claimed his first victim. Pinch-hitter Sunil Joshi came at the fall of Tendulkar’s wicket and was out for a duck as he was judged leg-before to Crookes. Boje got his first wicket when he had Dravid caught by Herschelle Gibbs and Azharuddin was clean bowled by a slow inswinger from Hansie Cronje.

Earlier, India’s bowlers gave them the upper hand when they reduced the tourists to 199 all out in 47.2 overs. South African skipper Cronje was the only batsman to build a substantial innings, scoring a sprightly 71 before he was caught by Robin Singh off Ajit Agarkar. India’s fielding showed a marked improvement from the first one-dayer, taking some good close-in catches and working hard to keep the run-rate down.

Spinner Sunil Joshi was the pick of the Indian bowlers, grabbing four wickets in his 10 overs at 38 runs. Agarkar, who caught Steve Elworthy off his own bowling to end the South African innings, finished with figures of three for 34.

The next match will be played at Faridabad on Wednesday.

SCOREBOARD :

SOUTH AFRICA

G Kirsten b Agarkar (5b, 4m) 0

HH Gibbs c Dighe b Joshi (28b, 59m, 4×4) 27

JH Kallis c Dighe b Agarkar (27b, 35m, 2×4) 18

L Klusener c Dighe b Tendulkar (33b, 54m, 2×4) 19

WJ Cronje c Singh b Joshi (86b, 113m, 7×4, 1×6) 71

N Boje c Dighe b Kumaran (44b, 57m, 2×4) 28

SM Pollock b Joshi (20b, 25m) 7

MV Boucher not out (21b, 32m) 14

DN Crookes c Ganguly b Joshi (2b, 2m) 0

PC Strydom lbw b Kumble (5b, 5m) 1

S Elworthy c&b Agarkar (14b, 17m) 3

Extras: (lb6, w4, nb1) 11

Total: (all out, 47.2 overs, 208 mins) 199

FoW: 1-0 (Kirsten, 0.5 ov), 2-41 (Kallis, 8.1), 3-59 (Gibbs, 11.6), 4-88 (Klusener, 19.5), 5-158 (Boje, 34.4), 6-178 (Cronje, 39.3), 7-182 (Pollock, 41.1), 8-182 (Crookes, 41.3), 9-185 (Strydom, 42.4), 10-199 (Elworthy, 47.2).

Bowling:Agarkar 9.2-1-34-3 (1nb), Kumaran 8-0-37-1 (2w), Joshi 10-1-38-4, Kumble 10-0-36-1, Tendulkar 9-0-39-1 (2w), Dravid 1-0-9-0

INDIA

SC Ganguly not out (139b, 202m, 10×4, 4×4) 105

SR Tendulkar c Cronje b Pollock (31b, 39m, 3×4) 21

SB Joshi lbw b Crookes (2b, 5m) 0

R Dravid c Gibbs b Boje (59b, 81m, 4×4) 36

M Azharuddin b Cronje (45b, 63m, 2×4) 29

A Jadeja not out (9b, 10m) 2

Extras: (lb3, w5, nb2) 10

Total: (for 4 wickets, 47.1 overs, 202 mins) 203

DNB: SS Dighe, A Kumble, T Kumaran, AB Agarkar, RR Singh.

FoW: 1-33 (Tendulkar, 8.2), 2-33 (Joshi, 9.2), 3-121 (Dravid, 29.1), 4-194 (Azharuddin, 45.1).

Bowling:Pollock 8-0-25-1 (1nb), Elworthy 3-1-17-0 (1nb), Boje 10-2-34-1, Crookes 10-2-44-1, Strydom 10-0-57-0 (2w), Kallis 5-0-19-0 (3w); Cronje 1.1-1-4-1

Result: India won by 6 wickets

Series: India leads the 5-ODI series 2-0

Man of the Match: SC Ganguly

Toss: South AfricaUmpires: Jasbir Singh & CR Mohite. TV Umpire: SK Tarapore. Match Referee: R Subba Row (Eng).