Debutant comes to SAs rescue

Making an international debut is a nervy affair,but to walk into the middle when the team score reads 90/4 is to give those butterflies a field day. As du Plessis a much spoken about all-rounder in the South African and English circles crossed Graeme Smith on his way from the dressing room,the departing skipper (out for 43) gave him a thumbs up to kick-start his career. A few minutes later,he nearly showed the thumbs down to Duminys innings. But the moment turned out to be just the buoy needed to stop du Plessis from drowning in the occasion. For about an hour and a half after the scare,du Plessis became a household name.

Top-scoring in the South African innings with a gritty 60,the 26-year old debutant who played in place of David Miller led his teams revival in his very first brush with international cricket. A shade before the halfway stage when he first arrived,South Africa were struggling to stay afloat. But stitching up a brilliant 110-run fifth wicket stand with the man he nearly ran out,the Proteas innings surfaced with a decent score of 200/4 in the 45th over. The dependence showed,as the moment he slipped literally to his dismissal,SA lost their crutch. And the last six wickets crumbled for just 20 runs.

To England and back

Its been a long and arduous journey for the 26-year old,but it couldnt have ended in a more poetic way. Following in the footsteps of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott,the lack of opportunity for the Pretoria-born all-rounder forced him to abandon his mother nation for a Kolpak deal with Lancashire in 2008. But before he could fully develop a stiff upper lip or sponge up the Englishness,he returned to SA earlier this year.

The Dolphins contract in Durban did him good,as his leg-spinners earned him a bid by Chennai Super Kings during the IPL auction,and du Plessis showed his future captain,crouching behind the stumps in awe,on Tuesday that he isnt a mug with the bat either.

It didnt take long for South Africa to plant themselves on the backfoot after Smith won the toss and elected to bat first on the dry grass track of Newlands. Zaheer Khan made a royal mess of Hashim Amlas stumps off and middle cartwheeled in different directions to begin the countdown,while Virat Kohli took two outstanding catches to give Harbhajan Singh two wickets. The first one put an end to Colin Ingrams misery,and the second dismissed the leader without too much on the board.

Impressive fielding

Indias level of fielding rose by a few notches at Cape Town. With just their body language and constant diving,India saved close to 60 runs. Such was the energy on field that Zaheer dived full length at the long-on boundary to end AB de Villierss stay in the middle for 16.

But thats when Duminy and du Plessis,separated by 22 yards,combined to pull SA out of its hole. With a punch to square leg off Harbhajan,du Plessis brought up his first international run. While Duminy was the aggressor,du Plessis preferred to keep the scoreboard ticking in singles. The debutant took 56 balls to scratch 38 runs around the Newlands park,before cutting Yuvraj Singh powerfully through backward point to bring up his first boundary.

After both batsmen had scored their respective half-tons Duminys second of the series SA decided to take the batting powerplay in the 44th over. No team has really cracked the correct formula in the series,and Tuesday afternoon followed the trend 25 runs,four wickets.

During the first over of the fielding restrictions,du Plessis cracked his second boundary off Munaf Patel to bring up the team 200,but slipped next ball while dealing with a slower one. The edge flew to point,and Kohli leapt high to earn his third catch of the day.

Having already proved his ability with the bat,SA once again conspired a collapse to set the stage for du Plessis to dazzle this time with the ball.