Relentless McKenzie, dead pitch deny India
Posted on Mar 30, 2008 at 09:40 | Updated Mar 31, 2008 at 14:14
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Chennai: The first Test between India and South Africa came to an inglorious end, with the South Africans ending their second innings at 331-5 declared. Neil McKenzie continued in his rich vein of form to remain unbeaten on 155, while Mark Boucher kept him company at the end with 11 runs.
The absolutely unhelpful Chennai pitch had consigned this match to the record books right from the last session of the fourth day, and there was very little the bowlers could have done to change that plot. The South African batsmen took away some precious batting practice, not to mention some big scores, as the action now shifts to Ahmedabad for the second Test, beginning on April 3.
If there were to be any advertisements for Test cricket after this, this pitch would certainly not feature on it. Home advantage is a given, but this track did not provide any advantage to anyone at all. As many as 1498 runs were scored in the match for the loss of 25 wickets, the highest ever here.
One wicket fell in the last session, as Virender Sehwag claimed AB de Villiers, but surely the Delhi batsman’s memories would be restricted to his batting display.
In the post-lunch session, Harbhajan Singh tried his best to breathe some life into the Chennai Test as it slowly but surely meandered towards a quiet death.
The off-spinner, coming in for a spell in the 34th over of the innings, bowled a long 11-over spell from the pavilion end, on a pitch that fell deeper into slumber with every passing over. His perseverance paid off in the shape of two wickets, as he got rid of Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince, but the task was too big, especially with skipper Anil Kumble, absent with a ‘niggle’, not bowling at the other end.
Kallis swept to the square-leg region for RP Singh to make a rare contribution to the match, while Prince offered an easy catch to Wasim Jaffer at bat-pad.
Whether things would have been different with Kumble bowling at the other end we will never know, but Sehwag’s part-time off-spin was never going to be an ideal foil for the probing Harbhajan.
Sachin Tendulkar, who was suffering from a mild groin strain, and an upset tummy, and was also off the field.
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Total Comments: 9
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Posted By hari
HARBHAJAN TRYING TO TAKE SREESANTH\"S AGRESSION BUT SREE WILL USE THE AGRESSION TO TAKE WICKET,BUT BHAJI USING AT HIS TEAM
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Posted By amir lal
Well played south africa.what kind of a dead pitch is that.what is the spin twins did? Bhajji took 5 wicket
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Posted By Vidhushak !!
Oh Bhajji .. You bragged about winning the Test !! What happened man ?? DON\''T PUT YOUR MOUTH INTO YOUR
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Posted By arvin
dravid is the main culprit for denying india the win...
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Posted By senthil
bhaji should be banned.becoz of his f... mouth..
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