India vs South Africa, 1st Test: South Africa spring a timely surprise
For about an hour or so in the morning session, India showed composure when Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara were building a partnership after Shikhar Dhawan chased a wide one from Vernon Philander and went for a duck. South Africa were getting iffy. They lost the toss on a Mohali pitch that has had plenty of cracks. It was a disadvantage. Help arrived from an unexpected quarter.
Before this, Dean Elgar had bowled only 69 overs in Test cricket, taking six wickets at 47.00. So it was a surprise when he preceded Imran Tahir into the attack. Hashim Amla brought him on as a partnership-breaker. The left-arm spinner has an uncanny knack of doing this as Misbah-ul-Haq and Steve Smith will attest. Here, he struck in his first over, deceiving Pujara with an arm ball that held its line. A 63-run partnership was broken.
Elgar was in action again in the next over with a low diving catch at cover to dismiss Virat Kohli. But his real impact would come later.
It was not an easy surface to bat on. The ball was keeping low, but Vijay was batting with monkish concentration. Ajinkya Rahane, restored at No. 5, was slowly getting into the groove as well. The Saffers captain sensed danger and called on Elgar again. Six deliveries into his second spell, he had another wicket against his name. Rahane was induced into an expansive drive but the ball dipped and turned a little to take the outside edge.
Wriddhiman Saha fell to a similar trap, only that the ball turned a little more. The part-timer was on a hat-trick. He was having the time of his life. Elgar then got rid of Amit Mishra to return with 4/22 from eight overs. He was the reason why his team negated the (toss) disadvantage.
It ought to be said, Amla used him very well, giving a clear brief to bowl slow on a tight line and play on the batters’ patience. Field placement, too, was spot on. It helped that the modern-day Indian willowers lacked the temperament to wear down the spinners. They repeated the same old mistakes of imposing themselves and thereby played into the opposition’s hands.
It had happened in England last year, when Moeen Ali took 19 wickets in five Tests at 23.00 with his apparently innocuous off-spin. In Australia a few months later, Nathan Lyon, a more formidable force, accounted for 23 Indian batters in four Tests at 34.82 in conditions that were far from spin-friendly. Three months back in Sri Lanka, Rangana Herath and Tharindu Kaushal shared 28 scalps between them in three Tests. They, however, were outspun by Ravi Ashwin and Amit Mishra as India came back to clinch the series 2-1.
On Thursday, Amla held back Tahir until the 43rd over and unleashed the leggie only after the tail was exposed. Once again, it turned out to be an excellent decision. The lower-order was not allowed to wag. The three South African tweakers, Elgar, Tahir and Simon Harmer, had seven wickets between them. They corroborated the evidence that India’s proficiency against spin was a thing of the past.
