He didn’t say, ‘‘Hey, I love it when a plan comes together’’, as would Colonel Hannibal Smith of the A Team command after a successful operation, but Ray Jennings had reason to smile. And for those who like a good game of chess, the tourists didn’t too bad a job at all in reducing India’s vaunted top six batting order.And the way this particular chess game is turning out, India’s narrow lead may still be decisive but Jennings is looking for positives not negatives out of Day Three.It was how South Africa stifled the Indian batsmen, closing down scoring areas and cutting off scoring chances, as well as bowling to a plan that worked well for the Safs. They went into a team meeting Monday night looking at their options and knowing where to cut off runs and strangle the scoring rate.In a sense, it has made India a trifle jittery that an attack with one world-class bowler in Shaun Pollock, a willing workhorse in Makhaya Nitini with his flashes of brilliance and some very ordinary bowlers made India struggle. It doesn’t make for great confidence but it should force a rethink by the home team on how to combat the smart thinking of the tourists.It was a little like the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale; the giant here was controlled and, to an extent, frustrated. Bowling to a field, tight fielding, shutting down scoring opportunities, and making the batsmen, work for their runs was all part of the plan. It was clever manoeuvres and the pawns did all the work on the massive Eden Gardens chessboard.About the only false note was Sourav Ganguly’s lbw when 40, Simon Taufel again getting it marginally wrong. As it was, Jacques Rudolph put down Ganguly when he was 30 off Justin Ontong’s bowling. It was the second act of kindness from the Rudolph family — wife Elna had decided for the day to become a volunteer Sister of Mercy at the Missions of Charity.Today, though, was all about the Safs’ planning and execution. Such as the dismissal of Sehwag. Jennings agreed that the short ball was not used enough to Sehwag on Monday and now they have tested him, well. Whether this will be the plan in the second innings remains to be seen, it just might be. They had plans for Sachin Tendulkar, knowing that he has been out of the game for a long period, and cut off his touch play with some smart tactics.There was also some quality execution from all-rounder Zander de Bruyn. If you remember, it was suggested that he could create problems with his type of bowling. He is so used to bowling on the Willowmoore Park surface that Eden Gardens was going to be easy. Yet not even in his wildest dreams while on the A Team tour of Zimbabwe back in August would the 29-year-old all-rounder have believed that within four months, two of his haul of Test wickets would include Tendulkar and Ganguly.That is what happens when a plan comes together.
