Friday, February 19, 2010

India Defeats South Africa


India defeats South Africa by an innings and 58 runs to retain the No 1 spot in the ICC Test Ratings. India would have lost the Numero Uno status, if they've lost this match or even played a draw. Though, India does not have any Test match in this year, it would be very interesting to see, how long can they stay at the top.

As far as this match goes, India won emphatically, despite a fighting century by the middle order batsman hashim Amla. Amla remained unbeaten on 127 but South Africa was unable to play the necessary overs today. Had South Africa played those last 9 balls, the efforts of Harbhajan Singh (5 wickets), Amit Mishra (3 wickets) and Ishant Sharma (2 wickets) would have gone in vain.

South African batsmen (apart from Amla) only looked to pass the time in the middle and were interested in sticking to the pitch, whereas Amla attacked the bowling, as and when he got a lose delivery. India had their moments regularly, as both the spinners get wickets at regular intervals. They broke the partnerships when they seemed stubborn and dangerous. Amla was their main target; however they were unable to take his wicket. Other batsmen just played around him.

India would have however, won this game pretty easily, had the rain not made this match such a nail biting finish. Indian supporters looked down when the final overs were going on. Then came the magical over of Harbhajan Singh, who was the real hero for India on Day 5.

The Man of the Match award and the Man of the Series award was given to Hashim Amla for making 490 runs in the series.

Well, this series proves that the real winner is Test Cricket. Who can say after watching such an enthralling Test Series that Test Cricket is boring. What do you think?