India, South Africa, Three Test Series

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India South Africa Three Test Series


First test in Chennai March 26-30
Second in Ahmedabad from April 3 to 7.
3rd Test v India at Kanpur - Apr 11-15, 2008

INDIAN SQUAD:

ANIL KUMBLE
VASIM JAFAR
SACHIN TENDULKAR
SOURAV GANGULY
RAHUL DRAVID
VERANDER SEVANG
V V S LAXMAN
MS DHONI
YOUVARAJ
SREESANTH
HARBHAJAN
IRFAN
RP SING
Piyush Chawla
Murali Kartik
Dinesh Karthik


South Africa squad:

Graeme Smith (capt),
Ashwell Prince,
Hashim Amla,
Mark Boucher (wk),
AB de Villiers,
JP Duminy,
Paul Harris,
Jacques Kallis,
Charl Langeveldt,
Neil McKenzie,
Morne Morkel,
Makhaya Ntini,
Robin Peterson,
Dale Steyn.

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South Africa in India Test Series - 1st Test
India v South Africa
Played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, on 26,27,28,29,30 March 2008 (5-day match)

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first.

India:
1 Virender Sehwag
2 Wasim Jaffer
3 Rahul Dravid
4 Sachin Tendulkar
5 Sourav Ganguly
6 VVS Laxman
7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk)
8 Anil Kumble (capt)
9 Harbhajan Singh
10 RP Singh
11 Sreesanth.

South Africa:
1 Neil McKenzie
2 Graeme Smith (capt)
3 Hashim Amla
4 Jacques Kallis
5 Ashwell Prince
6 AB de Villiers
7 Mark Boucher (wk)
8 Morne Morkel
9 Paul Harris
10 Dale Steyn
11 Makhaya Ntini.

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India repond well to South Africa's run mountain

Chennai (PTI): Virender Sehwag led India's riposte with a feisty unbeaten fifty as the hosts refused to be buried under South Africa's run mountain and promised a runfeast in the first cricket Test here on Thursday.

After the visitors capitalised on the M A Chidambaram Stadium's lifeless track and India's listless attack to amass 540, Sehwag (52) and Jaffer (25) responded well to take India to 82 for no loss at stumps on the second day.

Sehwag's unbeaten 52 came off 61 balls and included six boundaries and a six.

Even though the hosts got off to a good start, they still trail by 458 runs and just cannot afford to get carried away, especially when they need another 259 runs to escape the ignominy of a follow-on.

Not to be bogged down by South Africa's mammoth score, Sehwag and Jaffer began with a flurry with the Delhi opener deciding to set the tone and Makhaya Ntini bearing the brunt of his belligerence.

In Ntini's first over, Sehwag first drove him for four and followed it up with an upper cut that cleared the vacant third man boundary for a six.

Sehwag's daredevilry proved contagious as an otherwise sedate Jaffer repeated the trick in the sixth over with Ntini again at the receiving end. Both the openers will return on Friday to continue the good work and reduce the gap.

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Sehwag triple century leads India run spree


CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - Indian opener Virender Sehwag smashed his second career triple century and the fastest recorded to spearhead India's reply against South Africa on the third day of the first test on Friday.

Sehwag bludgeoned an unbeaten 309 to match his previous best made against Pakistan in Multan in 2004.

The 29-year-old steered the hosts to 468 for one at stumps in reply to South Africa's first innings 540 all out, destroying the South African bowling on a good batting pitch.

Sehwag matched the feat of Australian Don Bradman and West Indies batsman Brian Lara, who have also surpassed 300 twice. Lara holds the record for the highest test score (400 not out).

"I have no words to describe this knock," Sehwag told reporters. "This innings is even better than the one in Multan.

"I showed lot of concentration and patience, I had a point to prove myself (after his test comeback)," he said. "I want to dedicate this innings to my family, and my late father."

He achieved his triple hundred from an astonishing 278 balls, which surpassed the 362 balls faced by Australian Matthew Hayden when he scored a then world record 380 against Zimbabwe at Perth in 2003-4.

Scorers began recording the deliveries faced only in the modern era, with some of the triple hundreds including those scored by Bradman and England's Walter Hammond only recorded in terms of minutes taken.

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India-South Africa first Test ends in draw

Chennai, March 30 : The first cricket Test between India and South Africa ended in a draw here Sunday after the captains of the two teams decided to call stumps an hour before the scheduled close on the fifth day with no result in sight.

South Africa were 331 for five in their second innings and were leading by 244 runs with Neil Mckenzie (155) Mark Boucher (11) at the crease when the match was declared a draw.

Both teams will now head to Ahmedabad for the second Test starting April 3.

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India v South Africa, 2nd Test, Ahmedabad, 1st day

In a country where the most lucrative and least-skilled form of the game is now being seen as the best thing since loaves came sliced, there was almost delicious irony in a much-vaunted Indian line-up being skittled in exactly 20 overs. A fine 12-over spell from Harbhajan Singh then offered India the chance of redemption, triggering a South African slide from 100 for 1 to 117 for 4, only for Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers to play spoilsports and bat with the concentration and obduracy one usually associates with a Test match.

After Anil Kumble had won the toss on a pitch that had a smattering of grass, Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn scythed through the batting order as India slumped to their second-lowest total on home soil, surpassing the 75 in New Delhi in 1987 only because South Africa were generous with the extras. Only Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni managed double-digit scores, and it took South Africa just 14.4 overs to ease into the lead. By stumps, that advantage had swelled to 147 runs, with Kallis and de Villiers adding an unbroken 106.

The story of the day, though, was the stunning batting collapse before lunch. Had the surrender taken place on a truly spiteful pitch, India's finest could at least have unveiled the excuses. As it was, only Rahul Dravid fell to a peach of a delivery. The rest were either victims of their misjudgment or their inability to get into line against fiery pace bowling on a surface that had a little moisture. The tail could be absolved of blame after being swept away by the whirlwind, but there could be no excuses for a top order that has perhaps grown accustomed to batting on substandard batsman-friendly pitches in home Tests.

The Indian openers had added 213 on a wretched surface at Chepauk last week, but here the partnership lasted less than four overs as Ntini slanted one in at good pace. Jaffer was caught on the crease, and the timid poke was superbly taken by Smith diving to his left at slip.

Sehwag was then guilty of reaching for a ball that was well outside his off stump. The inside edge did the rest, and South Africa were in wonderland. Wonderland soon became dreamland as VVS Laxman shouldered arms to one that darted back to clip the top of the stumps, and Sourav Ganguly was then torn between playing or leaving. All that happened was an inside edge on to middle stump, and as Ganguly trudged off, the scoreboard read 30 for 4.

Morne Morkel came on for Steyn at that stage, with Smith looking to exploit his height, but two square-drives from Dhoni hinted at a mini-revival. The next time the tide turned though, it was decisive, with no way back for India. Steyn returned in place of Ntini, and his second ball was perfection, darting away to clip Dravid's off stump.

Dhoni had already been reprieved once by then, fending one just out of reach of Amla at short leg, but he didn't learn his lesson. A wild flail at Morkel only resulted in an edge through to Mark Boucher, and when Kumble played on two balls later, it was doubtful whether India would even surpass the 66 they had made at Durban in 1996.

A couple of carves through gully from Pathan helped them avoid that ignominy, but there was no stopping the rampant Steyn, who wrapped things up with the perfect three-ball trick - Harbhajan leg before, RP Singh caught fending off a short ball, and Sreesanth bowled with raw pace. The innings had lasted all of 109 minutes, with Steyn returning outstanding figures of 5 for 23.


Neil McKenzie's 42 rammed home the South African advantage as they finished the first day in a completely dominant position © AFP

Neil McKenzie was fortunate to survive a vociferous leg-before shout from RP at the start of the innings, and Ganguly then failed to grab a chance at short leg off Sreesanth when Smith had just 2. But by and large, though, the Indian bowlers just didn't make the batsmen play enough, while Smith and McKenzie also showed a much better awareness of which deliveries to leave well alone.

Smith cut and drove with customary élan, while McKenzie joined in with two boundaries off RP and some gorgeous off-drives off Pathan. The Indian total had been surmounted when Sreesanth returned for a second spell, and Smith was slightly unlucky to be given out odd a delivery that struck him outside leg stump. Harbhajan then induced McKenzie to edge one to slip, while Hashim Amla and Ashwell Prince fell in quick succession after tea, one caught at bat-pad and the other clueless against Harbhajan coming round the wicket. By then, however, he and India were already in damage-limitation mode, and Kallis and de Villiers ensured South Africa suffered no further setbacks.

Kallis, who had earlier smacked Harbhajan for an awesome straight six, decided that circumspection was the right method, though a glorious cover-drive off Sreesanth did reveal his determination to put the bad balls away. de Villiers endured some nervous moments against Harbhajan's offspin and Sreesanth's reverse-swing, but was confident enough to step out and loft Kumble to the sightscreen, as Indian shoulders started to droop.

It took Kallis 117 balls, three less than India faced, to get to his half-century, while de Villiers managed it at a slightly faster clip. Both batsmen finished the day with a flourish of fours, leaving India to pick up the pieces. From a flat pitch to flat out cold - such is the beauty of Test cricket.

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de Villiers double leads South African run-fest

South Africa 494 for 7 (de Villiers 217*, Kallis 132, Harris 9*) lead India 76 by 418 runs

[Friendz]

I think india bat well otherwise india will loose this test.sehwag and dravid is the key batsmans in this test series for india.They will show their batting perfomence once more............................

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South Africa beats India in second Test by innings and 90 runs


AHMADABAD, India — South Africa inflicted India's heaviest defeat in eight years Saturday, beating the hosts by an innings and 90 runs in the second Test to take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.

South Africa declared its first innings at the overnight score of 494-7 and then bowled out India - which posted a dismal 76 in its first innings - for 328 in its second to win inside three days.

"It was difficult to bounce back after getting bowled out for 76, that took the game away from us," India captain Anil Kumble said.

It was India's biggest defeat since losing to Australia by an innings and 141 runs in 2000, and its first loss inside three days since a defeat by New Zealand in 2002.

Usually a tough Test opponent on its own turf, this was India's biggest loss at home in 49 years. Australia, led by Richie Benaud, beat India by an innings and 127 runs in 1959.

South Africa staked its claim to being the second-best Test country in the world behind Australia by recording an innings victory for the third time in 2008.

Makhaya Ntini (44) and Dale Steyn (3-91) did the damage for South Africa on a day that extended to 7 1/2 hours play to end a game which had seemed a foregone conclusion after the hosts' first innings collapse.

India had not been beaten by more than an innings since Sri Lanka's win at Colombo in 2001, and not at home since 2000 when South Africa won by innings and 71 runs at Bangalore. That match was the previous biggest win by South Africa against India.

"This was the perfect Test match for us, dominating from the start to end," said South African captain Graeme Smith. "We performed according to our game plan."

A.B. De Villiers, who scored a career-best 217 not out, was man of the match. His record partnership with Jacques Kallis cut out all escape routes for India after its first innings collapse.

De Villiers credited Kallis with helping him through some tense moments.

"Kallis was a calming effect, especially when I was close to my first century against India," De Villiers said.

Smith hailed the pace trio that set up the victory.

"This is a big transition for Ntini to become a team leader. Steyn and Morne Morkel are still young and Ntini has shown good leadership," Smith said.

The third Test starts Friday at Kanpur.

"The series doesn't end here and the boys know we face another Test next week," Smith said.

South Africa's declaration Saturday came after umpires inspected the ground and decided to delay the start of play for half an hour, allowing the ground to dry after heavy rain Friday forced an early finish.

Upon the late resumption, South Africa's pace bowlers continued to torment India's top-order, reducing it to 125-4 as Virender Sehwag (17) hit two sixes in the first over before departing, followed by Rahul Dravid (17), Wasim Jaffer (19) and V.V.S. Laxman (35).

There was some resistance in the fifth-wicket partnership of 110 between Sourav Ganguly (87) and Mahendra Dhoni (52).

Ganguly seemed on course for his 16th Test century when he was adjudged caught behind shaping for a cut against Steyn. Ganguly seemed surprised when umpire Tony Hill ruled him caught behind, with TV replays suggesting the noise came from bat hitting pitch.

The first India batsman to make a half-century in the Test, Ganguly's 149-ball knock contained eight boundaries.

Dhoni (52) went on to complete his fifty before giving Smith a low catch at first slip off Ntini, and the departure of its last recognized batsman condemned India to certain defeat.

All-rounder Irfan Pathan hit an unbeaten 43, but got little support as Steyn removed lower order batsmen Harbhajan Singh (4) and Rudra Pratap Singh (8) before Ntini clean bowled Shantakumaran Sreesanth (17) to seal the victory.

[bolfhyipdoctor]

It is very shocking for us. We should be ashamed that we have lost so badly against South africa in our home. It is hard to believe now that this team has beaten Australia in their soil, any way we can hope that India will show much better performance in Kanpur.