Kanpur Curator Thanked by Dhoni with Cash!

A grateful Mahendra Singh Dhoni sent a note of thanks and Rs 10,000 to Green Park stadium's pitch curator for preparing the turning track that helped the hosts clinch the series-levelling win over South Africa in the third Test here.

Curator Shiv Kumar said he was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal note of thanks and the cash reward from the stand-in Test skipper after the hosts beat the Proteas inside three days on a crumbling pitch to level the series 1-1.

He also mentioned that though he received appreciation and cash award, the pitch was not prepared for spinners. It was a competitive wicket and it did help pace bowlers as well.

India wins 3rd Test! Equals Series!

India win the 3rd and final test against the touring South African team and equalled the series 1-1. Trailing the series 0-1, the Kanpur wicket, which was termed as spinner frienly, actually proved it.

Though the pitch helped spinners, the pacers also got some help from the wicket, with uneven bounce.

India started the day 3 with a lead of 23 runs and the last pair batting, Sreesanth and Ishanth Sharma survivied the first 10 overs and helped India gain an overall lead of 60 crucial runs. They both added 46 runs for the last wicket, which really put India on the driver seat. Everyone knew that the 2nd innings of India is going to be much tougher because of the heavy crack and footmark of the bowlers.

As expected, the crack in the pitch produced uneven bounce--especially the wicket of Rahul Dravind in the Indian first innings was expected. The ball bounced and hit him in the wrist and flew to gully. It was really an unplayable delivery.

The last Indian wicket fell in the 100th over the innings. Sreesanth scored 29 valueable runs and Ishanth Sharama was not out on 14. Harris took the last wicket.

South Africa trailing by 60 runs, had to score more than 250, so that they can set a target of 190+ runs which would very difficult to chase in the uneven wicket.

The first wicket was taken by Sreesanth when McKenzie tried to pull the short ball and was judged leg before.

Next to go was Amla, the inform batsman, but he was dismissed just before lunch. He was caught at short leg for a duck. Then, Kallis was caught at short leg again by Jaffer for 15. The break-through was given by Shewag this time, when Smith and Kallis were building the innings and provided 5 runs lead.

Smith was bowled behind his leg. That was a beautiful delivery by Shewag pitched outside the leg stump of Smith and hit the leg stump. Smith was not able to do anything except look at what has happened and return to pavilion.

de Villiers, also didn't last long. He was caught by Laxman off Harbhajan for 7 leaving SA struggle at 90 for 5.

The last dangerous batsman was Boucher. He was caught by Dhoni off Ishanth Sharma. The ball kicked and kissed the glove on the way to Dhoni. After this, everyone knew that it is just a matter of time to dismiss the rest of the batsmen.

From 90 for 5, to 101, SA lost 3 quick wickets including Boucher, Morkel for 0, and Harris for 0. Morkel was bowled by a beauty from Ishanth and Harris was caught by Dravid in slips off Harbhajan.

Styen and Nitni were dismissed for 7 and 0. Steyn was bowled when he tried slog Harbhajan and Nitni was caught by Ganguly off Shewag. South Africa were dismissed for 121, the third lowest score.

Dhoni's surpise of having Harbhajan open the bowling, though didn't pay fruits immediately, he surprised and sent SA backfoot.

Harbhajan finished with 4 wickets, Ishanth with 2 and Shewag with 3.

Chasing an easy target of 62, Shewag hit two sixes of Harris. When he tried to make one more, the ball took the edge and flew to point. In the next over, Jaffer was trapped leg before for 10. With 30 more runs to win, Ganguly and Dravid finished the formalities.

Man of the Match was given to Ganguly for his wonderful 87 in the first innings, which helped India to gain a lead. He mentioned that this is one of the best knock which helped India to win.

Man of the Series was given to Harabhan for picking 19 wickets in 5 innings.

Full score:

Match: 3rd Test
Venue: Green Park, Kanpur
Date: April 11 to 15, 2008
Toss: South Africa and decided to bat
Match Result: India won by 8 wickets
Series Result: India and South Africa won 1 each; 1 test drawn
Captain: Dhoni (India) and Smith (South Africa)
Score:
South Africa 1st Innings 265 all out in 87.3 overs (McKenzie 36, Smith 69, Amla 51, de Villiers 25, Boucher 29, Ishanth 3 for 55, Harbhajan 3 for 52, Chawla 2 for 66)
India 1st Innings 325 all out in 99.4 overs (Dravid 29, Laxman 50, Ganguly 87, Yuvaraj 32, Dhoni 32, Sreesanth 29, Steyn 3 for 71, Morkel 3 for 63, Harris 3 for 101)
South Africa 2nd Innings (trail by 60 runs) 121 all out 55.5 overs (Smith 35, Harbhajan 4 for 44, Ishanth 2 for 18, Shewag 3 for 12)
India 2nd Innings (62 to win) 62 for 2 in 13.1 overs (Shewag 22)

Kumble Not Playing; Dhoni to Captain!

As a last minute surprise, Kumble did not play in the eleven due to fitness issues. With everyone expecting the pitch to favor the spinners, skipper not leading from the front has definitely put a break in the Indian camp.

Trailing the series 0-1, Sachin not fit, Kumble's omission will be a big worry for the Indian team.

Dhoni has been asked to lead the country one more time. He has already proved his skills in short version of the game--the one-day and the 20-20. If he accepts the challenge and proves himself, it is good for India.

He is the first wicket keeper to captain India, which means, this is his first test as captain. We have to wait and see whether his captainship form continues in Kanpur!

Day 1 Belongs to India!

What looked like a good toss to win like the previous test, it ended up sort of nightmare for South African captain Smith. His team still has a chance to come back, nothing is lost, but at the current moment, end of day 1, India are in top of the game.

South Africa was dismissed for 265 at the end of day 1. What looked like a promising start after winning the toss, the combination of spin and pace attack created a chaos in South African batting line up.

McKenzie was playing well and threw his wicket unnecessarily. He hit Piyush Chawla for a straight four and with the same confidence, he came down the track, got beaten by the flighted leg spin and was well short of his crease. McKenzie and Smith added 4th consecutive 50 run partnership for the first wicket in this series.

As I mentioned in my column yesterday, Yuvaraj was used in the bowling attack. he broke the partnership between Smith and Amla, both are in good form. The quick flat delivery, bounced a little bit than anticipated by Smith, touched the glove and went to short leg fielder Jaffer.

Good bowling change by Dhoni gave the break through one more time. Amla was bowled by Ishanth Sharma of a beautiful delivery that came back and hit the back pad of Amla before dislodging the bail. One run later, Kallis, the centurian in the previous test, was bowled by Harbhajan. While trying to play back-foot and defend the ball, Kallis, misjudged it, and the ball pitched around off stump and turned nicely to hit the thigh, bounced and hit the back of the glove before hitting the stump. He was shocked and did not know what was happening. South Africa was struggling at 161 for 4.

Prince and de Villiers, the double century maker added 38 runs for the 5th wicket. The rash short by de Villiers against the leg spin of Piyush Chawla sent him back to the pavilion. The ball took the bottom of the bat and went to midwicket where Ganguly took it with thanks. One more time, Piyush has given the break-through.

Prince, who was alreday struggling in this series, was trapped leg before off Shewag. Though Shewag bowled round-the-wicket, the ball would have hit the off stump. Prince trying to play back-foot, was trapped in front of the wicket. He was out for 16, with South Africa at 215 for 6.

Next to go was Morkel. He tried to cut the ball from Harbhajan, but the turn and bounce took the edge and went straight to Dravid in slips. With this catch, he has equalled the record of Fleming, who is in 2nd position as far as catching in test cricket is concerned. He has to take 10 more to become the highest catch taker in test cricket history.

Boucher who has to manage with the tail enders, could not do much. He was bowled by Ishanth Sharma for 29. The ball kept low, but he could have played it. The pace and the swing did the magic for Ishanth. South Africa were 264 for 8.

Harbhajan dismissed Steyn for a duck. He tried to play reverse sweep, but it took the edge and went to substitute fielder Kaif in slip.

Last man to go was Harris. He tried to give huge slog over long on, but the ball uprooted his leg stump and ended the first innings of South Africa.

India has a very good chance of equalling the series if they put on a good score on the board. The first session tomorrow will be crucial for India. At one stage, South Africa were 151 for 2 and they lost 8 wickets for 104 runs. So, if India can put on around 400 plus, it will be able to see a winning chance and retain it's 2nd position in the test ranking.

The entire innings witnessed two sixes from Smith--one off Piyush Chawla and the other one off Yuvaraj.

Short Score:

South Africa 265 all out in 87.3 overs (McKenzie 36, Smith 69, Amla 51, de Villiers 25, Boucher 29, Ishanth Sharma 3 for 55, Harbhajan Singh 3 for 52, Piyush Chawla 2 for 66)

Pitch Grabbing Attention ahead of Kanput Test!

With the big flop in the 2nd test, several people complained about the pitch in Ahemedabad. With the recent rumour about the pitch being preparing favoring the home team, everyone's eye is on it.

South Africa is ready to go and demolish India one more time and clinch the series. Though the coach has praised the Indian captain Kumble's for his commendable job in Australia, he said, he is facing defeat for the first time in the home.

If India lose this series, they would also lose the opportunity to become the 2nd best Test team in the ICC ranking.

The curator has said that the pitch will help both the pace bowlers and the spinners. It will not be like Chepauk in Chennai or Ahemedabad. The Kanpur pitch will help pace bowlers for first two days and then the spinners.

With Sachin is not fit and the batting already failed and trailing the series 0-1, India should have the balanced side with enough batting and bowling.

I expect Harbhajan and Kumble to continue in the side, RP Singh to out and replaced by Ishanth Sharma. Sreesanth should be shown the gate and bring Yuvaraj into the team. This will ensure that we have Yuravaj and Pathan as two all rounders. Yuvaraj can rotate his arm for break through.

South Africa Tour Schedule to India

South Africa to tour India during March and April 2008. They play 3 test matches against India and no one-day international or 20-20 matches scheduled. They have beaten Bangladesh 2-0 this month in Bangladesh and are in full form to take the only team that has beat Australia in Australia during the last 5 years. South Africa will a tough challenge especially in the sub-continent soil.

Schedule:
1st Test: March 26-30, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
2nd Test: April 3-7, Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad
3rd Test: April 11-15, Green Park, Kanput

Good luck to both the teams!