There has been a pattern to the two ODIs of the series. India lose the toss, Virat Kohli hits a ton to take the team total to around or over 350, before a bizarre second half unfolds. With the heavy dew making it difficult for the Indian spinners to grip the ball, the game would become more of a battle against the conditions than about foxing the South African batsmen.
At around the 25-overs mark in the chase, the wintry night-time conditions in central India gave the ball the feel of a wet soap, making it impossible for the spinners to work their fingers on the leather to give it a tweak. The pitches in this series, as expected, have been typically flat so the surface too is not a friend for the bowlers. Defanged under lights, they live on a prayer, waiting for the batsman to make a mistake.
In Ranchi, the South Africans played a few false shots and lost the game. Chasing 350, they fell short by 17 runs. In Raipur, they needed 359 to square the series. This time, they made fewer mistakes to record a four-wicket win.
Having a deeper batting line-up helped. Once Aiden Markram had scored a well-paced and disciplined 98-ball 110, others kept chipping in. As batting became increasingly easy, Temba Bavuma (46), Matthew Breetzke (68) and Dewald Brevis (54) kept chipping at India’s tall total. South Africa needed about 100 in the last 12 overs, and after a very mild late-overs drama, the Proteas came home with four balls to spare.
If the Indians feel it was the toss of the coin that decided their fate, they could be excused.
Earlier, there were two contrasting tons in the Indian innings. Ruturaj Gaikwad went from edgy to laboured to finally being authoritative in his first ODI hundred – an 83-ball 105. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, swaggered to his 53rd ton, scoring 102 in 93 balls.
Gaikwad transformed from average to good. As for Kohli, he was consistently excellent. The opportunity to watch the master from close quarters and getting real-time tutorials from him would have made the Chennai Super Kings captain wiser about the nuances of the 50-overs format.
After their Ranchi experience, the South Africans had a plan in place. The top-order batsmen played a waiting game and didn’t lose too many early wickets to the balls that skid. They didn’t take risks, knew the ball would soon get wet and the bowlers would lose their sting.
Arshdeep Singh got Quinton de Kock early but Markram and Bavuma forged a partnership to put South Africa back on track. The skipper’s wrong shot-selection – a pull off Prasidh Krishna’s short ball on off-stump – resulted in a catch at deep square leg.
Markram went on to complete his hundred but he too fell to a short and wide ball. On most days, the opener would have hit the ball into the stands but gave a catch to long-on.
This was cricket in slow motion. Forcing the batsmen to make unforced errors and not beat them with the bowler’s strength and skill was what this game was all about. Bowlers known for their pace – like Harshit Rana – would bowl slow off-cutters. Spinners famous for throwing the ball up, challenging the batsmen with their guile – such as left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav – stuck to a defensive shortish length. The delightful sights of cricket had gone missing.
The first rule for any sporting contest is a level playing field. That hasn’t been the case in Ranchi or Raipur. The par score for the team batting first, under a clear sky when the ball is mostly dry, is about 350. But once the turf gets flooded with dew, even 400 is reachable, if batsmen avoid silly mistakes.
Every decision that skipper KL Rahul took was dictated by the dew. He didn’t give extended first spells to pacers since they were to come in handy in the later part of the game when the ball would get wet and spinners would struggle.
There were further complications. Washington Sundar was bowled before Kuldeep, easily the team’s best bowler. That’s because the finger-spinners struggle to control the ball when it is not dry.
The sights common to the first two ODIs have been the turf being constantly mopped by ropes, players carrying napkins on the field, and umpires constantly getting requests for a ball change. The request was heeded at least three times and this would see a temporary power shift – from batsmen to bowlers.
In the middle of the 43rd over, the umpires changed the wet ball, even as Tony Zorzi protested gently. Now India had about three overs to do their thing before it turned into a soap again. Prasidh used the dryish ball to start slipping in yorkers, the second of which trapped Breetzke in the 44th over.
Next over, Arshdeep Singh too had the confidence in the dry ball to hurl it full and pacy, and Marco Jansen holed out to long-on. The dry ball had pulled India back from the brink.
But the advantage was short-lived. Close to the finish line, South Africa were cruising. Needing three to win in the final over, Corbin Bosch would on-drive a wet ball down the ground for a four.
For the final and series-deciding ODI, the teams move to Vizag, a coastal city. Here’s looking forward to a humid, sweaty and dew-free game.
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