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South Africa's Hashim Amla, left, looks on as India's Harbhajan Singh celebrates victory over South Africa during the second test cricket match in Calcutta, India, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010.Singh, who finished with five wickets, claimed the final scalp in South Africa's innings Thursday when he had Morne Morkel out lbw with only 13 minutes of play remaining.Amla remained unbeaten on a dogged 127.(AP Photo/Bikas Das)
India defeated South Africa by an innings and 57 runs in the exciting Kolkata Test on Thursday to retain her No.1 Test ranking. What turned the Test into a cliff-hanger was the last wicket stand between Man of the Series Hashim Amla and no. 11 batsman Morne Morkel.
They stood between India and victory as a draw would have given the visitors No. 1 ranking.
Morkel joined the indefatigable Amla at 9 for 264. The odd couple stayed together for 21.4 overs (130 balls) scoring only 26 runs but each of those 130 deliveries was potentially the last for them. Indian skipper MS Dhoni threw everything at them including the proverbial kitchen sink but could not remove the last wicket pair until in the final five minutes.
With only nine balls remaining, Harbhajan Singh had Morkel lbw and India won as the vociferous Kolkata crowd erupted in delight.
Recently South Africa was at the receiving end of last wicket heroics in the home series against England in the last few months.
In the first Test at Centurion last December, England stared at certain defeat. Set 364 to win, they were 9-218 and needed to survive 19 balls to draw the Test when their number11 batsman Graham Onions joined Paul Collingwood. They survived the South African onslaught to draw the match.
Incredibly, three weeks later England again faced certain humiliation in the third Test in Cape Town when Onions joined no. 10 bat Graeme Swann with the score at 9-290.
Victory was out of the question as the target was 466 but the tail-enders had to survive 17 deliveries. Amid excruciating tension the two Gs remained unbeaten and the match was again drawn with England leading 1-0.
Saved by the gong, again! The sight of Onions walking in to bat would make many Proteas eyes water.
There must be a feeling of déjà-vu among English tail-enders.
In the first Ashes Test at Cardiff last July, England’s no. 10 James Anderson and no.11 ‘Monty’ Panesar survived the last 69 balls for the unbroken 10th wicket to draw the Test. As England went on to regain the Ashes 2-1, this draw was crucial.
Draws can be cliff-hangers. Pity South Africa could not draw the Kolkata Test, despite the heroic last wicket partnership surviving 130 balls.
After averaging 490.00 in the series and scoring centuries in both innings in Kolkata, Player of the Series Amla was the obvious hero. However, in my opinion, he was somewhat guilty of not protecting tail-ender Morkel. At no stage did Amla try to steal a single to protect him. Was he trying to boost his batting average in the series?
The positive aspect is that Test cricket is not dead in India; certainly not in Kolkata, where the crowd turned up in droves.
The worrying aspect is that India is not likely to play a Test – home or away – for more than a year.
Come on BCCI and ICC, this is not fair for the No. 1 ranked nation.