Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s young turks were humbled by a charged-up South Africa, determined to arrest a three-match losing streak, in a largely inconsequential final one-dayer at the Sardar Patel Gujarat stadium here.
A powerful display with the bat and a professional performance with the ball cut out all escape routes for the depleted Indians as South Africa exacted revenge for the Gwalior drubbing of three days back.
Skipper Jacques Kallis (104 n.o., 94b, 5x4, 3x6) and the flamboyant AB de Villiers (102 n.o., 59b, 11x4, 3x6) scored contrasting hundreds to build on a frenetic start provided by Loots Bosman and Hashim Amla against a vastly inexperienced Indian attack as South Africa piled up a massive 365 for two on opting to bat.
To scale down those many runs was always going to be a tall order for a line-up missing Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh. India tried gamely and aggressively from start to end, but the finish line was always a mile too far as they were bowled out for 275 and went down by 90 runs, thus forced to settle for a 2-1 scoreline.
On an absolute batting beauty, South Africa came hard at India’s greenhorn pace attack. With 48 one-dayers under his belt, S Sreesanth was expected to lead Sudeep Tyagi, playing his fourth game, and debutant Abhimanyu Mithun, but sensing an opening, Bosman lay into them with tremendous gusto.
His bruising knock was merely a foretaste of things to follow. Amla was all class and fluid elegance, continuing his wonderful run of the Test series, Kallis methodically clinical and de Villiers ruthlessly destructive as India came under sustained fire.
Bosman carries with him the reputation of being a fierce striker of the cricket ball, and he did justice to that reputation with a brilliant flourish. Even as he kept finding the boundary boards with remarkable consistency, Amla chugged along, happy to play second fiddle during an opening stand of 113 (96b).
Upon Bosman’s departure, Amla stepped up a gear with Kallis taking over the nip-and-tuck routine, but it wasn’t until de Villiers entered in a blaze of strokeplay that the Proteas positively exploded. Coming off a hundred in the last game and returning to a venue of which he has happy memories – his Test best 217 came here two years back – the stylish right-hander blazed away to the seventh fastest one-day hundred, in 58 deliveries, reaching his sixth one-day ton in the final over of the innings.
Kallis had kept his tryst with three-figures the previous over, accelerating dramatically from 50 in 68 deliveries to reach his second 50 off just 24 balls as India completely wilted. Once again, Ravindra Jadeja held his own, but the pacers came apart in the final period with 78 coming off the last five overs, Sreesanth, Tyagi and Mithun all going for plenty as Kallis and de Villiers added 173 off a mere 103 deliveries.
India came hard at the Proteas through the all-Tamil Nadu pair of Dinesh Kaarthick and debutant Murali Vijay. The first 5.1 overs yielded six delectable fours, the pick being Vijay’s punch down the ground against Lonwabo Tsotsobe, but it was a pace too hard to maintain over a length of time.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were engaged in the most fruitful association of the innings, adding 91 (118b) for the third wicket, but at a rate never designed to threaten the visitors. Not for the first time, Dhoni arrived to a rapturous reception from a 40,000-strong audience with so much resting on his shoulders, but when he was spectacularly caught by Mark Boucher off Dale Steyn in the 28th over, India needed a further 210.
Steyn cleaned up Kohli in the same over for a neat half-century to all but signal the end. And to think that Steyn only played because Albie Morkel did his ankle shortly before the toss!
Suresh Raina, Jadeja and the spunky Mithun entertained the crowd with late beefy hitting to reduce the margin and soften the blow, but no more.
Score Board
SOUTH AFRICA
Bosman c Jadeja b Pathan 68
(46b, 7x4, 4x6)
Amla c Vijay b Jadeja 87
(103b, 8x4)
Kallis (not out) 104
(94b, 5x4, 3x6)
De Villiers (not out) 102
(59b, 11x4, 3x6)
Extras (LB-2, NB-2) 4
Total (for 2 wkts, 50 overs) 365
Fall of wickets: 1-113 (Bosman), 2-192 (Amla).
Bowling: Sreesanth 9-0-83-0 (nb-1), Tyagi 8-0-59-0 (nb-1), Mithun 8-0-63-0, Jadeja 10-0-53-1, Pathan 10-0-66-1, Kohli 2-0-11-0, Rohit 3-0-28-0.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 22/0; 10: 70/0; 20: 128/1; 30: 178/1; 40: 243/2; end of innings: 365/2 in 50 overs. Runs during: Power Play 1: 1-10 overs: 70/0; Power Play 2: 11-15 overs: 35/0; Power Play 3 (batting): 41-45 overs: 44/0.
INDIA
Kaarthick c Amla b Steyn 11
(11b, 2x4)
Vijay c Boucher b Tsotsobe 25
(16b, 5x4)
Kohli c Boucher b Steyn 57
(71b, 4x4, 1x6)
Rohit c Tsotsobe b Botha 48
(61b, 3x4)
Dhoni c Boucher b Steyn 9
(7b, 1x6)
Raina c (sub) Parnell b Botha 49
(30b, 5x4, 1x6)
Pathan c Steyn b Tsotsobe 5
(8b)
Jadeja c Boucher b Tsotsobe 36
(35b, 2x4, 1x6)
Sreesanth lbw Merwe 1
(3b)
Mithun st Boucher b Merwe 24
(23b, 2x6)
Tyagi (not out) 1
(2b)
Extras (LB-5, W-4) 9
Total (all out, 44.3 overs) 275
Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Kaarthick), 2-40 (Vijay), 3-135 (Rohit), 4-156 (Dhoni), 5-157 (Kohli), 6-179 (Pathan), 7-233 (Raina), 8-237 (Sreesanth), 9-273 (Mithun).
Bowling: Dale Steyn 8-1-37-3, Tsotsobe 9.3-0-58-3, M Morkel 7-0-48-0 (w-2), Van der Merwe 10-0-47-2 (w-2), Botha 10-0-80-2.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 36/1; 10: 60/2; 20: 105/2; 30: 168/5; 40: 248/8; end of innings: 275 all out in 44.3 overs. Runs during: Power Play 1: 1-10 overs: 60/2; Power Play 2: 11-15 overs: 20/0; Power Play 3 (batting): 55/1.
