This is not merely about the ICC rankings. A series win in India is a big box any team other than India needs to tick if it wants to be the best in the world. Think Australia in their modern heyday and the frustration and the eventual satisfaction the “Final Frontier” brought them. India, on the other hand, pride themselves on their home record, and their claims to being the best will take a big beating if they lose.
Graeme Smith won his second toss of the series and decided to bat on a pitch that had the grass shaved off, but retained a tinge of green that was expected to keep the surface bound together. That Smith was there for the toss was in itself good news for South Africa. He chose to play through the pain of a fractured finger, but Mark Boucher’s back trouble didn’t go away in time, which made way for a debut for Alviro Petersen.
Petersen – a specialist opener by trade – could give Ashwell Prince, a reluctant opener, a chance to bat in his preferred middle order.
India, needing a win to hang on to their No. 1 ranking, were boosted by the expected return of VVS Laxman, but resisted any changes to the bowling combination that managed six wickets in 176 overs in Nagpur. Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma, wicketless in 81 overs between them, were persisted with. It was almost expected that Sreesanth would come in for the struggling Ishant, but India gave Ishant another go.
South Africa: 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Alviro Petersen, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 JP Duminy, 7 Ashwell Prince, 8 Paul Harris, 9 Wayne Parnell, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne Morkel.
India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 M Vijay, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 S Badrinath, 7 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 8, Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Ishant Sharma.
Super, See Prince has not been dropped. Thought he had he is coming in at 6th.
See Boucher is not playing, he is injured.
Morning Puma,
SA looks like a team with a mission, i did not watch a ball yet , following it on the net. Will steal the remote from my wife or fix my analog TV connection, so by the way does the SABC show the test
On the team sheet above they have JP at 6 and Prince at 7, thats wrong, they must give both a gap. Play JP 7.
South Africa 116/1 (26.0 ov)
India
South Africa won the toss and elected to bat
Lunch – Day 1- That is a good scoring rate.
2 – Super don’t see it on SABC. Will go double check for you.
So far we are doing superb. Petersen when I turned on the tv had 52 off of 56 balls. What you want to see from a opener. Amla too was going really well.
Super, don’t see it on SABC. Prince is coming in at 6th just had another look at SuperSport. Duminy coming in at 7th. Probably far better like that.
Jeepers now we will bat almost all the way down. We really looking good so far.
Look without being greedy , would another Amla double be asking too much?
Good toss for GS to have won.
Smith,s game is influenced by all the outside happenings. His role as semi coach, his injuries, etc. Maybe it would be good to relieve him from the captaincy for a year or so. Let him concentrate on his batting alone. He can also get to 35+ centuries in his career.
Game back on 140/1
Amla 60
Peterson 70
Amla dropped on 60…hehehe. Petersen on 70 at the moment would be great to see these two get a 100.
Super, Petersen is the answer to our open problems. He is playing superb.
Puma thats a quick assessment, remember how we praised JP Duminy. I will say that Peterson is taking his chance and deserve more games, this is a good sign, but calling him the answer so soon. Eeeeish.
South Africa 201/1 (44.5 ov)
India
Sharma to Amla, FOUR, 139.6 kph, There it is. It almost looked inevitable from the moment he came in and started playing his shots. He brought up the hundred with a cover drive. The team-mates stand up in the dressing room and he is hugged by his partner. What a charming innings this has been. One mistake when he tried play Harbhajan against the turn but apart from that it has been a treat to watch
Amla gets his 100 off of 120 balls. Just awesome, going to be one of our greatest.
Now waiting for Petersen to get his in his first test that would be extra special. Go Petersen.
Sharma to Amla, no run, shout for a catch down the leg side but turned down again. It was banged in short again but this one moved down the leg side, past the waist … and the replays show that it clipped the thigh pad. No bat involved.
Puma read this article, and the comments that follow. Tell me how you feel.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/rugby/article305874.ece
Well done Peterson
BRILLIANT PETERSEN GETS HIS CENTURY IN HIS FIRST TEST.
TAKE A BOW SON.
Mishra to Petersen, 1 run, 79.3 kph, 100 on debut. The helmet comes off and the bat is held aloft .All the team-mates are out of the dressing room to applaud. It was a gentle leg break on the leg stump line, Petersen turned it behind square to pick up the single. What a wonderful little moment it must be for him, his family and his fans.
I would rather say “What a wonderful BIG moment it must be for him, his family and his fans”
Hi all. Am back in the land of the living. Great to see we are batting well,lets get 600 and bat them out of the game..
Shame Peterson is out, ag dont worry you follow in the great Sachin Tendulkars footsteps, 100 out
Pity that he just got out,but we have a reasonable batter coming in with 10000 test runs..
Khan to Petersen, OUT, Petersen falls, but only after he secured his special hundred on debut. It was a full-length delivery that landed outside off stump, Petersen went for the drive and got a thick fat edge. He has done his job, though. Enter Jacques Kallis.
AN Petersen c †Dhoni b Khan 100 (164b 16×4 0x6) SR: 60.97
If he was offered a 100 on debut I’m sure he would have taken it 🙂
25
That is putting it mildly, Winston.
Lets hope he is in the mood to grind them out and hurt them..
13 – Super, Yip you right there. I had thought about it but he has played so well in domestic crici too. So really hoping he is our answer to the open problem we had.
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