Player of the Match
Player of the Match
  • BATSMEN
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    6s
    SR
    10.4 Steyn gets reward from some terrific bowling, the sucker ball inviting the drive, Sehwag took the bait and went for it, but the ball moved away mischievously and took the outside edge on its way to Kallis at second slip about chest-high, Sehwag has again thrown it away 43/1
    12.5 gets his man this time! Vijay was tiring of all that leaving, and went for a poke at this one around off stump, it straightened to take a faint outside edge and Boucher gobbled the edge, South Africa are delighted, the openers are gone, similar to the one that got Dravid in the second innings at Centurion 48/2
    36.6 edged and gone! A dismissal not unlike the one in Durban in the second innings when Dravid was facing up to Morkel. Except that this delivery was slightly wider and he poked at it, was around a good length, moved away to catch the glove just as he was taking the bottom hand off and Boucher made no mistake reaching forward, it's been Steyn's day 117/4
    19.5 edged and gone! Lured him into the drive, widish delivery which was moving away further, Tendulkar sensed a chance, chased it, got a thick edge and it went straight to second slip. What a blow 79/3
    40.6 Outstanding catch by Tsotsobe! It seemed like four the moment he hit it, not very much unlike Mark Waugh in that Chennai Test of 2001 when Laxman played that pull off Colin Miller. Short outside off and Laxman shaped up for the pull and connected superbly but Tsotsobe, at midwicket, stretched full length to his right and plucked it out with one hand, Laxman was left stunned, so were we. Steyn takes four and India are in trouble now 130/5
    49.4 Pujara's thrown it away! Tsotso gets another one, short on the off and he gears up for the pull, tried to dispatch him over square leg, got the top edge and Boucher waited patiently for it come down and snapped it comfortably, almost tripped over the helmet behind him but no damage done in the end 156/6
    64.5 caught at deep point! Dhoni stands in his crease and flays his bat at a length delivery outside off, he was aiming over cover but sliced it high in the air and straight to Petersen, who took the catch several yards inside the boundary 205/9
    60.2 caught, and it's a terrific catch! Harbhajan prods from his crease at a full ball from Steyn and the thick edge flies low and fast towards third slip where AB de Villiers dives to his right to take it with two hands. The way this morning's gone, it was only a matter of time before Steyn took his fifth. de Villiers dived full length like a goalkeeper to take that. 190/7
    61.6 and he doesn't survive it! The length is far too full to be playing back to but Zaheer does. He tries to block it from his crease and nicks it to Boucher. That's Morkel's first wicket of the Test. 193/8
    not out
    1
    9
    18
    0
    0
    11.11
    65.1 It's all over. Sreesanth backs away from his stumps to make room and swings wildly at a short of a length delivery. Don't really know which part of the ground he was aiming for but one of his hands came off the bat and he skied it high in the air towards the slip cordon. Boucher called for it and took it easily. 205/10
    Extras
    9 (b 1, lb 2, nb 2, w 4)
    TOTAL
    205 all out (65.1 Overs, RR: 3.14)
    Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Virender Sehwag, 10.4 ov), 2-48 (Murali Vijay, 12.5 ov), 3-79 (Sachin Tendulkar, 19.5 ov), 4-117 (Rahul Dravid, 36.6 ov), 5-130 (VVS Laxman, 40.6 ov), 6-156 (Cheteshwar Pujara, 49.4 ov), 7-190 (Harbhajan Singh, 60.2 ov), 8-193 (Zaheer Khan, 61.6 ov), 9-205 (MS Dhoni, 64.5 ov), 10-205 (Sreesanth, 65.1 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    DW Steyn1965062.6300
    M Morkel19.136823.5402
    LL Tsotsobe1134023.6310
    JH Kallis821802.2510
    PL Harris812603.2500
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    24
    39
    54
    3
    0
    61.53
    10.3 Zaheer has got Petersen now. He's doing it all by himself, and SA have lose their openers. Petersen shuffles across towards middle and off and it touches the pad flap on the way to clipping leg stump. Petersen will consider himself unlucky. 46/2
    4.6 caught behind! This one does angle into Smith who brings his bat down across his pad in an attempt to defend from the crease, the outside edge is snapped up by Dhoni. Smith falls to his bogey bowler once again 23/1
    25.1 Harbhajan bowls his first straighter one in ages. And it picks up a wicket. It landed on a length on middle. Amla had seen a lot of these in the first Test, turning harmlessly down the leg side, and went for the sweep out of habit. However, this time, it held the line. Amla missed the sweep and was hit in front. He was well forward, but that was crashing into the furniture. Game on in Kingsmead. 96/5
    15.2 Kallis is gone. And what a way to get out. Over-pitched on off stump, Amla gets forward and smokes it back down the track. Ishant does well on his follow through to get a finger on it as it goes on to thud into the non-striker's stumps. Ishant knew it immediately. The third umpire confirmed it. Kallis was a few inches out as he tried to get back into the crease after backing up too far. Huge wicket. 67/3
    16.4 probability, the law of averages and some compelling, if somewhat fleeting, talent enables Sreesanth to bowl an absolute ripper, and what's more - he hasn't over-stepped. Whoddathunk! Sree lands in line with off stump - that's the perfect line. He landed it a few inches short of the driving area - that's the perfect length. And then, he gets it to move away. And bounce extra. I don't know if he intended to bowl the legcutter, but the result was a peach of a legcutter. de Villiers came forward and prodded. Mistake. The movement took it away from the meat of the bat. The bounce meant it hit his glove. It was dying on Dhoni as he crouched forward to snaffle it. Sree looks up to the heavens and smiles. India will enjoy their lunch. 74/4
    13
    46
    48
    2
    0
    28.26
    26.4 Zaheer's nailed Prince with his bag of tricks. You don't need pace to do well as a seamer. Zaheer shows how it is done. He has planted seeds of doubt all over Prince's mind with his variety, by getting the ball to angle in and deviate either way so many times. In the end, he got him with one that landed on that neither forward nor backward length and held its line. Prince was playing at it in hope more than anything else, without moving his feet anywhere. Big inside edge and he played something that had a semblance of a drive. It crashes into the stumps. India all over SA now. 100/6
    not out
    16
    24
    60
    2
    0
    66.66
    29.1 Rahul Dravid takes his 200th catch in Tests. And I doubt if I've seen him celebrate any of the previous 199 as much as this one. Harbhajan strikes with another straighter one. Steyn was playing for the offbreak as he pressed into the forward defensive. It, however, held its line and took a very thin outside edge that was flying away well to Dravid's left. He dived away in a flash and landed almost behind Dhoni as he held it in the outstretched left hand. He then got up and started running away in glee. The celebration ended with Bhajji hoisting Dravid up in the air. What drama. 103/7
    29.6 another one bites the dust! Boy, the action rolls on in manic speed. Harris pokes one to the leg side as it turns into his pads. It was going quickly and well away from Pujara at short leg, but he showed tremendous anticipation, diving away to his right and plucking it with one hand and then steadying it between chest and hands as he went down. Two supreme catches in one over. 103/8
    36.4 Harbhajan take a bow! What a catch! Another bouncer from Ishant. This time Morne decides to have a go at it. The extra bounce meant it took the top edge. It swirled up towards fine leg. Bhajji was standing much squarer and had a lot of ground to cover. But he got there. He then put his hands up to his left, jumped off the turf, ensured he fell inside the ropes despite the ball's momentum threatening to take him over. He landed around a metre in. Anyone remember Adam Bacher's legendary catch in 1996-97? Well, this was not as good as that one. But it gets closer than the others. 127/9
    37.2 Harbhajan finishes it off. India lead by 74 - a mammoth advantage considering the conditions. Tossed up offie on off stump, Tsotsobe looks to smear it without getting his feet to the pitch. He scoops it straight to midwicket. Harbhajan is delighted. India are on top. 131/10
    Extras
    15 (lb 2, nb 12, w 1)
    TOTAL
    131 all out (37.2 Overs, RR: 3.5, 192 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Graeme Smith, 4.6 ov), 2-46 (Alviro Petersen, 10.3 ov), 3-67 (Jacques Kallis, 15.2 ov), 4-74 (AB de Villiers, 16.4 ov), 5-96 (Hashim Amla, 25.1 ov), 6-100 (Ashwell Prince, 26.4 ov), 7-103 (Dale Steyn, 29.1 ov), 8-103 (Paul Harris, 29.6 ov), 9-127 (Morne Morkel, 36.4 ov), 10-131 (Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 37.2 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    Z Khan1323632.7600
    S Sreesanth804115.1215
    I Sharma924214.6607
    Harbhajan Singh7.221041.3600
  • BATSMEN
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    4s
    6s
    SR
    9.1 Tsotso has spiked the biggest gun of Navarone. Sehwag flails at a tempter, landed on a length but well wide outside off and took the outside edge through to Boucher. South Africa will breathe a huge sigh of relief. Sehwag tends to take matches away from the opposition in no times and seemed on his way here. 42/1
    10.3 and that's exactly what I meant. Vijay gets a monster delivery from Morne. That was short of a length and coming into Vijay's body, before it took off and homed in on his head like a guided missile. He fended at it in a hurry and looked completely non-plussed as it took the splice and popped up to Amla at short leg. Morne gives Vijay a send-off for good measure. The wickets continue to tumble in Kingsmead. 44/2
    11.2 Tsotso has taken another huge wicket here! This match continues to swing from side to side. Dravid's poor record in South Africa continues. His travails against left-arm seamers outside the off stump continue. This was a poor shot. It was at least a foot outside off and not very full either. Dravid went for the off-drive without getting well forward, but could not get close enough to middle it. It took the outside edge on the way to Boucher. 48/3
    14.1 and they have changed even more drastically after his first ball! Sachin is gone. He's not edged this, as much as steered it off the face of the bat. Fast and furious stuff from Steyn, on the driving length outside off, so it was there for the shot, but he was a touch late on the it. It flew straight to third slip where AB pouches it. Steyn is ecstatic 56/4
    70.5 that's it! it's all over for India and Laxman in the second innings! Steyn has been in and around that corridor throughout this over, the field had come in, and Laxman looked to find the boundary with the attempted cut, it moved away and bounced from back of a length, the edge flew to first slip, but Boucher was already moving quickly to his right and getting behind it, and gleefully snapped up the catch. Laxman goes for a valiant 96, having taken the lead past 300. Just how important will this innings be? We'll find out. South Africa need 303. 228/10
    10
    56
    81
    1
    0
    17.85
    31.5 he's bowled 'em! Morne with that generous bounce around off stump that he gets from just short of a length, Pujara looked to ride it and keep it down, but it bounced higher than he expected, hit his bat close to the handle, and trickled onto the stumps, just the start South Africa needed, India lose one early 93/5
    41.6 he gets his third wicket! and a big one too, he has taken out Dhoni, who looked to push the delivery going across him from back of a length, it moved away slightly and got an edge that was dying on Boucher, who dives forward to snaffle it, South Africa have ended the biggest stand of the game 141/6
    44.1 end of Harbhajan, stays stuck on the crease and prods at the ball, which was a back of a length, slight movement away gets the outside edge to second slip, South Africa's bowlers doing the job on the third morning, Laxman, as usual, has the tail to shepherd 148/7
    63.4 Zaheer falls, Harris gets one, not much turn but sharp bounce around off stump, Zak stayed back in the crease and brought down his bat late on it at an angle, the edge went straight into the hands of AB at second slip, eight down now 218/8
    68.5 Kallis gets his man this time, it was banged in into the body, and Ishant again looked to ride the bounce, the ball took the high part of the bat, and lobbed up in the air for Amla to take a dolly at forward short leg, Ishant hangs around for a moment as umpire Davis checks whether it was a no-ball, it wasn't, and he sends Ishant on his way 223/9
    not out
    0
    2
    10
    0
    0
    0.00
    Extras
    21 (b 8, lb 4, w 9)
    TOTAL
    228 all out (70.5 Overs, RR: 3.21, 342 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-42 (Virender Sehwag, 9.1 ov), 2-44 (Murali Vijay, 10.3 ov), 3-48 (Rahul Dravid, 11.2 ov), 4-56 (Sachin Tendulkar, 14.1 ov), 5-93 (Cheteshwar Pujara, 31.5 ov), 6-141 (MS Dhoni, 41.6 ov), 7-148 (Harbhajan Singh, 44.1 ov), 8-218 (Zaheer Khan, 63.4 ov), 9-223 (Ishant Sharma, 68.5 ov), 10-228 (VVS Laxman, 70.5 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    DW Steyn15.516023.7820
    M Morkel1514733.1340
    LL Tsotsobe1334333.3010
    JH Kallis1323012.3010
    PL Harris1423612.5700
  • BATSMEN
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    12.1 Sree gets his man, it was short and Smith went for the pull, it was too close for the shot, the steepler went miles in the air, and Sree and Dhoni both ran towards the ball as it came down near square leg, Dhoni settled under it, and took the catch cleanly, Sree has struck before tea, Smith departs 63/1
    15.4 Harbhajan has struck. And as is often the case with him, its the bounce more than the spin. India are right back into it now. That one bounced extra from a length on middle and off as it turned down the leg. Alviro stayed back and tried to turn it behind square, but the bounce did him in. He got the inside edge onto the thigh and it was an easy take for Pujara. Harbhajan keeps appealing, Alviro keeps watching and eventually umpire Rauf raises the finger. Under the circumstances, a poor shot considering leg slip was in place for the shot. 82/2
    16.2 India are on top now. Sreesanth has sent Amla back, and this is the poorest shot he has played in this series. Probably one of his poorest shots all year. Sree got it to move away, but it was too short and a touch too wide outside off to trouble Amla. Or so we thought. Amla wanted to have a cut at it. The away movement and they slight lack of bounce meant it missed the middle and took the outside edge. It was dying on Dhoni who did well to fall forward and scoop it before it landed. HUGE wicket. 82/3
    34.2 what a ripper from Sreesanth, that leapt, pounced at Kallis from a short of a length, just reared up so sharply and jagged into him. Kallis had no chance, and fended at it. He really couldn't do much else. The ball smacked into his glove and lobbed up to gully where the fielder took an easy catch. But wait, there's more drama, umpire Davis wants to check if Sreesanth over-stepped. Replys show his foot was OK. Massive breakthrough for India. And what a brute of a delivery. Kallis had to arch his back to unbelievable proportions to fend that. 123/4
    39.6 Harbhajan has struck the second big blow of the morning and AB de Villiers has been adjudged lbw. Controversial as they come. Harbhajan tossed this up on off and middle and got it to bite and straighten. AB was forward, but struck around the knee in front of the stumps. Replays suggests that was going over the stumps. The way AB played at that made him look plumber than he should have been - he reached forward and sort of wafted at it outside the line; it wasn't a convincing defensive shot. It was a tentative prod; And as the ball was about to hit the pad he yanked his bat away to avoid any bat and pad catch but the ball straightened enough to hit him on the knee-roll in front of the middle on the bent knee. That must have prompted the umpire to think it would have hit the middle and not bounced over. Hawk eye, of course, shows that it would have gone over the middle stump. AB is not pleased at all. India are on top here. 136/5
    not out
    39
    108
    181
    3
    0
    36.11
    42.4 oh my, that's a poor decision from Umpire Davis. Things are not going SA's way this morning. Zaheer lands one back of a length on middle and though that straightened a fraction, it was still going to miss off stump. Easily. Boucher was in the crease as he tried to angle it square and it thudded into his pad a smidgen outside off stump. And it was heading further away from the line of the furniture. Umpire Davis did not think so. India's insistence to not have the UDRS might have earned them a wicket here. 143/6
    48.5 Zaheer has toyed with Steyn, worked him over with variations in length and once he felt he had enough of him, he's sent him on his way. Lovely, lovely bowling. Zaheer got this to land on a length from slightly side of the crease and move away from Steyn. The length was perfect for the outside edge in case Steyn was going to fall for the bait. He did. Loose drive outside off and Pujara at third slip takes it nicely. The entire Steyn v Zaheer contest has been riveting to watch. Zaheer gets the bragging rights here. 155/7
    7
    28
    58
    0
    0
    25.00
    60.2 bowled 'em! Zak produces a cracker, on off stump and coming in with the angle from back of a length, forcing Harris to play at it, and then gets it to move away off the seam to clip the off stump, perfect delivery, Zaheer roars and roars, he is pumped up, two more to go 182/8
    72.1 Ishant gets Morne this time! it was back of a length delivery around off from round the stumps, and it straightened just a shade, Morne threw his bat at it, and got an edge that Dhoni gobbled up, and threw the ball in the air in celebration, India need one more wicket now, even Ishant can't keep bowling no balls consistently 215/9
    72.3 it's all over for South Africa, Pujara has pulled off a beauty at forward short leg, it was full and on the leg stump, Lonwabo flicked it straight to Pujara, and the momentum took him well outside the crease, Pujara was alert and threw down the stumps in a flash, replays show Tsotsobe was just short of making his ground, India have levelled the series 215/10
    Extras
    9 (lb 1, nb 8)
    TOTAL
    215 all out (72.3 Overs, RR: 2.96, 338 minutes)
    Fall of wickets: 1-63 (Graeme Smith, 12.1 ov), 2-82 (Alviro Petersen, 15.4 ov), 3-82 (Hashim Amla, 16.2 ov), 4-123 (Jacques Kallis, 34.2 ov), 5-136 (AB de Villiers, 39.6 ov), 6-143 (Mark Boucher, 42.4 ov), 7-155 (Dale Steyn, 48.5 ov), 8-182 (Paul Harris, 60.2 ov), 9-215 (Morne Morkel, 72.1 ov), 10-215 (Lonwabo Tsotsobe, 72.3 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEconWDNB
    Z Khan1735733.3500
    I Sharma11.303613.1306
    S Sreesanth1424533.2102
    Harbhajan Singh2957022.4100
    SR Tendulkar10606.0000

Close of Play

  • Sun, 26 Dec - day 1 - India 1st innings 183/6 (MS Dhoni 20*, Harbhajan Singh 15*, 56 ov)
  • Mon, 27 Dec - day 2 - India 2nd innings 92/4 (VVS Laxman 23*, CA Pujara 10*, 30.5 ov)
  • Tue, 28 Dec - day 3 - South Africa 2nd innings 111/3 (JH Kallis 12*, AB de Villiers 17*, 27 ov)
  • Wed, 29 Dec - day 4 - South Africa 2nd innings 215 (72.3 ov) - end of match

Match Notes

South Africa 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st63GC SmithAN Petersen
2nd19HM AmlaAN Petersen
3rd0JH KallisHM Amla
4th41JH KallisAB de Villiers
5th13AG PrinceAB de Villiers
6th7MV BoucherAG Prince
7th12AG PrinceDW Steyn
8th27AG PrincePL Harris
9th33AG PrinceM Morkel
10th0AG PrinceLL Tsotsobe