India (Azh)are beaten by SA

India made just one change to their playing eleven – Sadagoppan Ramesh made way for Sachin Tendulkar. South Africa, who last played the Indians a couple of years ago, made three changes to the eleven that played that match. The three proud sons of the Rainbow Nation – Andrew Hudson, David Richardson and Rudi Bryson – made way for Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher and Nicky Boje.

On winning the toss, India’s captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, chose to bat. Tendulkar, whose 46-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 28. He was caught by Boucher. Ninety-three balls into the match, Lance Klusener broke the 67-run stand. Rahul Dravid, whose 75-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 54. Klusener broke the 130-run stand, which lasted 157 balls.

India’s third-wicket pair had no reason to be in seventh heaven. A couple of overs later, Sourav Ganguly – who scored 97 – was run out by Jonty Rhodes and Jacques Kallis, the player of the match. His 142-ball innings included 11 boundaries and a six. Ajay Jadeja, whose 14-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 16. Twenty-eight balls later, he was caught by Gary Kirsten. Allan Donald broke the 31-run partnership.

Azharuddin scored 24. His run-a-ball innings included a couple of boundaries. Seven balls later, he was caught by Boje. Klusener broke the fifth-wicket partnership, which was worth a dozen. Robin Singh, who faced three balls, scored four. He was unbeaten, as was Nayan Mongia, who faced a couple of balls, scoring five. His innings included a boundary.

South Africa conceded 25 extras. India scored 253 for the loss of five wickets off 50 overs. Boje and Hansie Cronje, the South African captain, bowled five wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 31, the latter conceded 24. 

Shaun Pollock, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 47. He was wicketless, as was Kallis, whose 10 overs included a maiden. He conceded 43. Donald, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 34. He picked up a wicket. Klusener, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 66. He picked up three scalps.

Sixteen balls into the chase, Gibbs, whose eight-ball innings included a boundary, had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he was trapped leg before wicket by Javagal, who broke the (Srina)thirteen-run stand.

Kirsten, who faced 22 balls, scored three. Twenty-five balls later, Srinath broke the nine-run stand. Boucher, who faced 36 balls, scored 34. His innings included four boundaries and a six. Forty-three balls later, Anil Kumble broke the 46-run partnership.

Daryll Cullinan faced 35 balls, scoring 19. His innings included three boundaries. Seventy balls later, He was caught by Singh. Ganguly broke the 48-run stand. Cronje faced 30 balls, scoring 27. His innings included three boundaries. Seventy-eight balls later, he was caught by Jadeja. Ajit Agarkar broke the 64-run stand. 

The sixth-wicket pair put on 47. Kallis, who faced 128 balls, scored 96. His innings included seven boundaries. Venkatesh Prasad and Srinath were in seventh heaven, because they ran him out. Rhodes, who faced 31 balls, scored 39. His innings included five boundaries. He was unbeaten, as was Klusener, who faced four balls, scoring a dozen. All his runs came by way of fours.

India conceded 17 extras. South Africa scored 254 for the loss of six wickets off 47.2 overs, winning by four wickets with 16 balls to spare. Singh bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceding 10. Tendulkar, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 22. Prasad, who bowled 8.2 wicketless overs, conceded 32.

Ganguly, who bowled four overs, conceded 16. He picked up a wicket. Agarkar, who bowled nine overs, conceded 57. He picked up a wicket. The (Kumb)leggie, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 44. He picked up a wicket. Srinath, who bowled 10 overs, conceded 69. He picked up a couple of scalps.