Sunday’s match between India and South Africa at Rajkot on Sunday was unusual in many respects. Batting was never easy, catches were dropped with unfailing regularity (especially by South Africa) and both teams made radical changes to their batting order. In many ways, both the two innings were mirror versions of each other – the only difference being Quenton de Kock’s laboured century, which ultimately proved to be the winner.
There has been a 1990’s feel hanging over this series. Pitches have been slow and thanks to the new fielding restrictions where five fielders can be kept on the boundary, batsmen are unable to blaze away to glory at the death, like they had become accustomed to. South Africa’s total of 270 looked sub-par when compared to the trend in One Day Internationals over the last few years, but perhaps, keeping in mind the new fielding restrictions, it’s time we start looking differently at what constitutes a par total now. As India showed in Indore last Wednesday and South Africa on Sunday, ODI cricket seems to be going back to the days when scores above 250 proved to be tricky to chase down.
de Kock continues his Indian love affair
Sticking to the 90’s theme, the running joke around Indian cricket used to be that all top batsmen in world cricket would bolster their averages by batting against Indian bowlers. It increasingly seems like Quentin de Kock, South Africa’s baby-faced gloveman is following the trend – his batting average against India is now a staggering 73 in seven matches with four of his seven international centuries coming against Dhoni’s men. Contrast that with his overall batting average of 38 from 50 matches so far and one gets a sense of how much de Kock likes feasting on the Indian attack.
This time though, de Kock was also fighting against the elements. Born and brought up in Johannesburg where the temperature rarely touches 25 degrees Celsius, Rajkot’s afternoon heat must have been sapping. Nor was the pitch the easiest to bat on – it was slow, timing was difficult and as South Africa’s collapse later in the innings showed, there was always a wicket around the corner. de Kock displayed great maturity and application on a tricky surface, playing mostly a sheet anchor role and restraining himself from his usual array of expansive shots. Towards the end of his vigil, Kock was a tired soul, devoid of all energy, but his was a patient knock and ultimately proved extremely significant.
The squeeze
Something strange happened to India in the middle overs. Things were coming around nicely, despite the loss of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. India had moved to 137 off 27 overs, Kohli was looking good on 37 off 45 balls, joined by Dhoni who had raced to 18 off just 14 balls. The required run rate was a manageable 5.8 and with both batsmen striking at either more than a hundred or close to it, it never seemed like something was going to go wrong.
Like India while they were bowling, South Africa applied a sickening squeeze. Unlike India though, South Africa did not take wickets, they bowled a nagging, disciplined line, just below a good length and peppered the leg-side with fielders. No wicket fell, but the strategy worked – Kohli and Dhoni only scored 44 in the next ten overs. No doubt, the bowling was excellent but two of India’s top batsmen should never have walked into that trap. By the end of the 40th over, the required run was touching close to nine – an extremely difficult proposition on such a tricky surface. Once Dhoni and Kohli both perished in desperate attempts to force the pace against Morne Morkel, the result was a mere formality and South Africa, at the end, easily sealed the game by 18 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the five match series
Questions will be raised about India’s lower batting order. As the captain himself admitted at the post-match presentation ceremony, the team is still uncertain about the players who can perform at those positions. Instead of the constant chopping and changing, perhaps a bit of stability in India’s batting is the need of the hour.
Third ODI: South Africa (270 for 7 in 50 overs) beat India (252 for 6 in 50 overs) by 18 runs.
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There has been a 1990’s feel hanging over this series. Pitches have been slow and thanks to the new fielding restrictions where five fielders can be kept on the boundary, batsmen are unable to blaze away to glory at the death, like they had become accustomed to. South Africa’s total of 270 looked sub-par when compared to the trend in One Day Internationals over the last few years, but perhaps, keeping in mind the new fielding restrictions, it’s time we start looking differently at what constitutes a par total now. As India showed in Indore last Wednesday and South Africa on Sunday, ODI cricket seems to be going back to the days when scores above 250 proved to be tricky to chase down.
de Kock continues his Indian love affair
Sticking to the 90’s theme, the running joke around Indian cricket used to be that all top batsmen in world cricket would bolster their averages by batting against Indian bowlers. It increasingly seems like Quentin de Kock, South Africa’s baby-faced gloveman is following the trend – his batting average against India is now a staggering 73 in seven matches with four of his seven international centuries coming against Dhoni’s men. Contrast that with his overall batting average of 38 from 50 matches so far and one gets a sense of how much de Kock likes feasting on the Indian attack.
This time though, de Kock was also fighting against the elements. Born and brought up in Johannesburg where the temperature rarely touches 25 degrees Celsius, Rajkot’s afternoon heat must have been sapping. Nor was the pitch the easiest to bat on – it was slow, timing was difficult and as South Africa’s collapse later in the innings showed, there was always a wicket around the corner. de Kock displayed great maturity and application on a tricky surface, playing mostly a sheet anchor role and restraining himself from his usual array of expansive shots. Towards the end of his vigil, Kock was a tired soul, devoid of all energy, but his was a patient knock and ultimately proved extremely significant.
The squeeze
Something strange happened to India in the middle overs. Things were coming around nicely, despite the loss of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. India had moved to 137 off 27 overs, Kohli was looking good on 37 off 45 balls, joined by Dhoni who had raced to 18 off just 14 balls. The required run rate was a manageable 5.8 and with both batsmen striking at either more than a hundred or close to it, it never seemed like something was going to go wrong.
Like India while they were bowling, South Africa applied a sickening squeeze. Unlike India though, South Africa did not take wickets, they bowled a nagging, disciplined line, just below a good length and peppered the leg-side with fielders. No wicket fell, but the strategy worked – Kohli and Dhoni only scored 44 in the next ten overs. No doubt, the bowling was excellent but two of India’s top batsmen should never have walked into that trap. By the end of the 40th over, the required run was touching close to nine – an extremely difficult proposition on such a tricky surface. Once Dhoni and Kohli both perished in desperate attempts to force the pace against Morne Morkel, the result was a mere formality and South Africa, at the end, easily sealed the game by 18 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the five match series
Questions will be raised about India’s lower batting order. As the captain himself admitted at the post-match presentation ceremony, the team is still uncertain about the players who can perform at those positions. Instead of the constant chopping and changing, perhaps a bit of stability in India’s batting is the need of the hour.
Third ODI: South Africa (270 for 7 in 50 overs) beat India (252 for 6 in 50 overs) by 18 runs.
