The Great Game Called Cricket...

Top class Test cricket can be ruthless like a pack of hungry wild dogs. If you can’t outrun them, be ready to be hunted down and devoured. India’s depleted batting line-up realized that on day-three.

In one of the most devastating exhibitions of swing bowling, Dale Steyn flattened India's deprived batting line-up. After finishing with a figure of 7 for 51 in the first innings, he came back to remove Sehwag in the second. © AFP

Dale Steyn changed the course of the match with devastating swing bowling. He brought alive the same strip where Indian bowlers struggled and collared the host team with a career-best figure of 7 for 51 in just 16.4 overs. World’s top Test team was flattened for a sorry figure of 233 in just 64.4 overs. Steyn finished the day with an incredible haul of eight wickets.

Quite ironically, exactly 58 years ago India had scripted its first Test victory against England in Chennai.

With his wrecker-in-chief Steyn in murderous mood and a lead of 325 runs, skipper Graeme Smith promptly asked India to follow-on. The touring captain, who had marshaled his resources and field brilliantly, threw the challenge once again to the opposition. Made to follow on, the demoralized Team India finished the day at 66 for 2.

With Sachin Tendulkar unbeaten at 15 and Murali Vijay at 27, both have some firewalking to do on day-four if India have to escape to a draw.

In the second innings, shock and despair hung heavily in the air and the two openers Gautam Gambhir (1) and Virender Sehwag (16) were guilty of failing to shut them out and get on with the job. The result was disastrous — both perished in quick succession, leaving India at 24 for 2 after 4.4 overs. The Steyn-Morkel duo had struck again.

Earlier, just 11 overs into the day’s proceedings and South Africans had achieved what they had set out for — Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay and Sachin Tendulkar were packed off by the Dale Steyn-Morne Morkel duo. India were left numb at 56 for 3.

Amidst early ruins, there stood Virender Sehwag (109) — tall as ever. Unconcerned and unaffected by what was happening at the other end, he carried on the only way he’s been engineered to. It’s as much a pleasure as it is a mystery how this 31-year-old opener has kept his batting so simple and unrestrained. And now he has added another deadly ingredient to his batting — application.


For the period it lasted, Virender Sehwag epitomised defiance amidst ruins. He scored a fine century (109) but it wasn't enough on the day. © AFP
When Steyn and Morkel were breathing fire, he stood there like a monk but wielded his willow like a virtuoso composer with a baton in the middle of a concerto. And not surprisingly runs were flowing like music.

Balls that pitched slightly away from the off-stump were seen off with utmost care, and when they pitched in his zone, they disappeared to the fence. No half measures for Sehwag.

Steyn, Morkel and Parnell were compulsively cut and driven and quite often fielders didn’t have time to react. They only fetched it from the boundary.

On one occasion, Parnell was straight driven to the fence before he could finish his follow through. Some of the cover drives appeared to have been fired from Bofors howitzer gun, such was the power and precision. A few drives even left Steyn, who was on fire, nodding his head in sheer disbelief and admiration.

Second session is meant to be an extension of the first. The Sehwag-Badrinath combine that had bailed India out in the second hour of the first session couldn’t quite carry on the good work through the post-lunch session. After scripting a perfect counter-attack and going on to score a blazing century, Sehwag perished to a loose shot.

A good captain never stops plotting opposition’s fall. Graeme Smith epitomizes this trait. First he made Sehwag struggle to get to his century. With fielders flooding the on side, left-arm spinner Paul Harris bowled a negative line outside the leg stump to keep Sehwag silent on 99 for a couple of overs. And then Smith brought the innocuous looking left-arm pacer Wayne Parnell to have a go at Sehwag. The rookie speedster kept daring the centurion with a line wide outside the off-stump. Sehwag flashed hard twice and picked up two boundaries but soon after played a lofted shot, which was snapped up by JP Duminy at deep extra cover. Sehwag made that long walk back absolutely gutted, as Smith celebrated the dismissal. If only Sehwag had seen off Parnell…

Post tea, Smith yet again came up with a masterstroke and lobbed the ball to his trusted henchman. And Steyn opened the floodgates.

With an old ball, Steyn punched a hole into India’s lower batting order. He first removed the settled batsman Badrinath (56) with a fine reverse swinging delivery that came in sharply. The debutant failed to keep the ball down and was caught at short mid-wicket by Ashwell Prince. Next over, he accounted for another debutant Wriddhiman Saha who had no clue where his off stump was. He shouldered arms to Steyn’s delivery that came back sharply to disturb his timber. The world’s top-ranked bowler was not done yet. He came back to dismiss Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra in quick succession and in the process pick up 13th five-for of his 37-Test career.

In one frenzied session, India lost its last six wickets in 42 deliveries, with Steyn picking up five of them. The fast bowler finished with an awe-inspiring figure of 7 for 51 in just 16.4 overs. The only other wicket was claimed by left-arm spinner Paul Harris, who had Dhoni caught behind. Indian innings folded at 233.