India defeated South Africa by 17 runs in the first ODI in Ranchi. (PHOTO: AP)On the eve of the game, South Africa’s batting coach Ashwell Prince was asked about the dew factor in Ranchi and how bowling first on winning the toss would be most prudent. He admitted dew is likely to play a big role. The contention was that the dew would make gripping the ball difficult under lights during the chase, and both pacers and spinners might struggle to operate at peak capacity.
It did start leaving its impact from the halfway mark of the chase of 350, but by then, with half the team back in the hut, it seemed the dew had entered the picture rather late. But firstly, an astonishing assault by the wondrous Marco Jansen, who has done everything possible on this Indian tour to label him a feared allrounder, kept Indians on their toes. But since he had to keep hitting every ball, after a 39-ball 70, ransacking eight fours and three towering sixes, he eventually holed out, pulling a short but slower ball from Kuldeep Yadav to deep midwicket in the 34th over. But the visitors fought on, as dew increased; Corbin Bosch and Nandre Burger creamed 42 runs in six overs. Then Bosch, with a feisty six over long-on in the 48th over off Harshit, and a stupendous six, lapping Arshdeep on a bent knee over backward square leg in the next over, dragged the game to the final over. But he fell with 18 runs needed, miscuing Prasidh Krishna in the second ball to Rohit at covers.
The dew had actually helped the Indians at the start of the chase. Harshit Rana shocked South Africa with his new-ball burst, where the light veneer of moisture under lights helped the ball to skid and harass the batsmen. He took out Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickleton, and when Arshdeep removed Aiden Markram, South Africa were under serious pressure.
Prince had also addressed a question on the pressure of the team batting first to put up a gargantuan total so that they can absorb some of the damage that awaits them by the dew when they bowl. It too didn’t work that way. Virat Kohli’s statement-making 52nd ODI ton, a middle-finger to the critics, helped along by Rohit Sharma’s fifty, where he became the batsman with the most sixes (342) in this format, and a half-century by KL Rahul enabled India to reach 349. India did slow down after Kohli’s dismissal, and that run deficit was targeted by Jansen.
Virat Kohli registered his 52nd ODI century against South Africa during the first ODI in Ranchi. (PHOTO: BCCI)
The general reading before the game was that the team winning the toss should bowl first, and that could be half the job done. In the match, South Africa won the toss and had no hesitation in deciding to field first. There were phases in play where India slowed down. First was sensible. In the 15 overs after Rohit Sharma fell at 161 for 2, India made 64 runs and were on 225 for 2 at the end of 36 overs. Once Kohli reached his hundred, and went on a destructive streak that thrilled the crowd, the hopes of a bigger target loomed. But once he fell, India never found the next gear.
It did, however, leave a window open for South Africans to hit their stride in the chase, especially with dew supposedly hovering.
Here is when irony hit. The game that started at 1.30 pm local time hadn’t quite reached twilight when the chase started. The dew, if anything, sprinkled moisture on the surface that aided India. The ball began to skid, something it never did in the afternoon when the South Africans bowled.
The biggest beneficiary was Harshit Rana. The skidding ball got through the defences of a stunned Rickleton, who had a lame poke at a lovely nipbacker from round the stumps that pegged back the stumps. In the same over, he got the ball to sort of straighten – this one didn’t come in as much as the Rickleton delivery, just shaped in a touch- and that was enough to induce the nick from a loose drive from Quinton de Kock.
What stood out in Harshit’s bowling were the lengths of both those deliveries. It wasn’t the typical short or short of length, but was on length, skidding on with pace – 139kph and thereabouts, to hustle the South Africans.
Arshdeep, too, profited from the dew that was supposed to work against the Indians. His wobble-seam delivery that he had no trouble dropping kicked up a touch outside off, even as it vroomed off the surface, and South Africa’s biggest hope, Aiden Markram, nicked his intended forcing shot through to KL Rahul, the wicketkeeper.
South Africa were reeling at 11 for 3 in the fourth over, and it got worse as Kuldeep Yadav also began to make his presence felt. He ripped a leg-break on the leg stump that spun past the attempted flick by Zorzi, and the DRS sided with India’s call that it would have hit the stumps. With that wicket, South Africa were 77 for 4.
Harshit returned to take out the enterprising Dewald Brevis with a full delivery that shaped away, and the resultant slice was caught at sweeper cover. Again, crucially, Harshit’s length was full, which did the trick. The Indian bowlers weren’t towelling the ball dry at every opportunity nor grimacing that they couldn’t grip.
The first real signs of dew appeared in the 17th over – nothing egregious as yet, but a few spots were visible. It did escalate from the 25th over mark, and Jansen did everything in his capacity to raise alarms, but once he fell, Kuldeep stepped up with a couple more strikes. Though Cornyn Bosch kept the fight on till the very end, the dew had come a touch late in the proceedings to foil South Africa’s plans.
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