Jacques Kallis
It was Jacques Kallis’ day, there is no doubt about that fact. He was injured in the previous session when a ball delivered by Sreesanth hit him on his rib cage. From that day on he has been in pain but has also quite literally snatched the match out of India’s hands all the while getting injections for the pain.
At the start of day four the score was 52 for the loss of 2 wickets. As all the commentators and experts said “the first hour will be crucial”, they were all proved wrong. Harbhajan took two more wickets in his 1st and 2nd over of the day dismissing Alviro Petersen who had made 22runs in 47 balls and then Hashim Amla who has been in terrific form but made only 2runs in 11balls. Harbhajan was the one who provided the initial break through but the problem was that none of the pace attack could support him in anyway so he had to do their job as well. Zaheer Khan’s bowling has been accurate and distressing for South Africa but on day 4 he managed to take only 1 wicket that of AB de Villiers whose poor form has been following him from previous series as well, he made only 13runs of 58balls.
Sreesanth who took 5 wickets in the 1st innings either didn’t have enough momentum or the South African’s devised a plan on how to play him, so Sreesanth has taken no wicket in the 2nd innings as of now.
Ishant Sharma was the one who should have stepped up, his performance was always over shadowed because either Bhajji or Zaheer or Sreesanth were involved in the limelight, so his not taking wicket wasn’t scrutinized as much. But day 4 was the day where he should have stepped it up, but all he ended up doing was over stepping the line thereby giving endless no balls. He took one wicket that of Ashwell Prince, he made 22runs of 35 balls.
The Little Master decided to take matters in his own hands; he bowled 2 over’s in which he managed to get the wicket of Mark Boucher who was supporting Kallis magnificently, He made 55runs of 82 balls.
Harbhajan Singh was responsible for clearing out more than half (7 wickets) the South African side with little or no help from the others, he was also his usual self and was entertaining himself as well as the crowd by putting on a large fake moustache that he borrowed from a spectator, Bhajji was doing everything.
At one time when it looked like South Africa weren’t going to be able to get past a lead of 250runs because of our bowlers failing and Kallis being indestructible they ended up with a target of 341 on a pitch were 240-250 is a fighting and even winning total.
Kallis was superb in the 2nd innings in spite of a painful injury and made his 40th test century a 109 of 240 balls, He remained undefeated. He will probably sit out for the ODI’s as South Africa will want to make sure he is fit as a fiddle for the world cup.
The only way India can win the match on Day 5 is if Virender Sehwag doesn’t play his regular selfish game and builds a fast and strong partnership with Gautam Gambhir. The fate of this match lies in this man’s injured shoulder.
Tags: Cape Town, Cricket, Harbhajan Singh, India, Jacques Kallis, Little Master, Proteas, South Africa, Test Match, Test Series, Zaheer Khan
