da betobet： You have to hand it to the South Africans
Krishnamachari Srikkanth07-Oct-2001You have to hand it to the South Africans. They easily overhauled whatwas a record score at the Wanderers. Gary Kirsten, in particular, andHerschelle Gibbs would have to take a lot of credit for theprofessional way in which they went about chasing the Indian target.Jacques Kallis also played his part as the favourites cantered to awin that would have pleased them no end. ©CricInfo This after stellar performances from Sourav Ganguly and SachinTendulkar. Despite the duo’s magnificence, I feel the Indian battinghas to cop a major portion of the blame. On a perfect batting track,that was almost Indian in its nature, the batsmen should have run up a300 plus score. This would surely have given their team a greatpsychological boost. The picture of Ganguly shaking his head at theend of the innings then said it all.The Indian skipper had every right to be disappointed after playingone of his finest knocks. Coming into the series, he was seen as onebatsman who would be a sitting duck to a South African pace artillerygoing to benefit from the new one bouncer per over rule. Agreed thewicket was a batting paradise, but who would have expected the ‘Princeof Kolkata’ to pull the home team bowlers into the stands! Andrepeatedly at that!When Ganguly was at the crease anything seemed possible. The memorableinnings should surely have given him great confidence for the upcomingencounters.Sachin scoring his first fifty and then his first hundred againstSouth Africa in South Africa was also a welcome sight. The littlechampion’s record against his opponents surely did no justice to hisenormous abilities and he seemed committed to set that right. The twodifficult chances that the South Africans dropped, helped him on hisway to his hundred. He has finally rid himself of the albatross thathung around his neck and that might see him playing with greaterfreedom and confidence the next time around. ©CricInfo Before moving further, I would like to strike a note of caution.Ganguly’s merry run saw India step on the accelerator during themiddle overs. But then every day is not a `Wanderers Friday’ andIndians would do well to concentrate on consolidating the starts inthe upcoming matches. What is needed is sensible batting that wouldhelp maintain the run-rate. Going hell for leather might only see themlosing wickets unnecessarily.The batsmen coming lower down also need to have a plan of action. Iwas shocked to see them failing to get the ones and the twos when theywere not going for the big shots. Being perturbed or excited will getthem nowhere. They should rely more on the good old commonsense thatour Indian grannies are so justly famous for.As for the bowling, the less said the better. For what is an Indianattack if they do not spray all over the place!I feel then that it is the batsmen who would have to learn the lessonsand put up a better performance next time. And then probably theyshould all pray to my favourite and ask him toshine kindly on the men who hold the cherry.