As the Newlands decider laboured to a tame draw in Cape Town yesterday, the scribes on duty made much of the fact that India’s MS Dhoni had been too ultra-defensive on the fourth day against South Africa.
As Jacques Kallis set about putting up his stall, in between taking the attack to the Indians in their second innings after a top-order collapse, the South Africans, thanks to Kallis in the main, edged ahead in the face of adversity.
After Harbhajan Singh had snared the first four wickets to have the Proteas reeling, Dhoni tried to stop the flow of runs, spreading his men towards the boundary, when stamping his authority on his opponents would possibly have been a better option.
South Africa were on the rack at 130/6 (a lead of 128) after Ashwell Prince’s departure. India at that stage seemed to be on the brink of bowling out SA cheaply, to have an excellent shot of winning the series 2-1. Unfortunately they did not reckon with Mark Boucher, who together with his good mate, Kallis, eked out a 103 priceless partnership to take the game away from the Indians once and for all.
Then came cameos from the likes of Steyn (32) and Morne Morkel as well, to exert the pressure on the no. 1 Test team on the ICC rankings.
But surely the ultra-conservative South Africans had displayed the negativity they are so famous for, after deciding not to declare on the fourth evening when they had secured a lead of 310 to 320? Though Kallis had single-handedly, well almost, taken the Proteas to relative safety into the near-twilight hours, captain Graeme Smith decided to plug on up to the close of play.
Word on the fifth morning, before India came into bat, was that the South Africans were too wary of the “Sehwag factor”; therefore the decision not to have five or eight overs at the Indian openers towards the close. A quick 50 or 60 from Sehwag the previous evening could have put India in the driving seat, reckoned the South Africans.
Sehwag never really featured anyway. He was dismissed early on on the fifth morning (caught at slip); the trend throughout the series.
So on the fifth day it was the Indians who needed 340 to win the Test and claim the series – and the Proteas 10 wickets.
The records show that the Indians would finish the day quite comfortably on 166/3 with VVS and Tendulkar at the crease to draw the match and the three-match series 1-1.
So what was Smith thinking? Putting safety first I reckon, before even thinking of going for a possible victory to remind the Indians that they sit quite uncomfortably atop the Test rankings.
Sehwag had gotten so into the South Africans’ heads that they quiver in their cricket boots at the mere mention of his name. And why, when they appeared to be adept at exploiting his weakness and getting him out early on throughout the series?
If anything, Dhoni’s approach was ultra-defensive on the fourth day. But South Africa’s ultra-conservatism tag which is becoming difficult to shake off, ultimately helped this exciting Test series peter out into a tame stalemate!
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