Beyond the boundary - Wheels within Wheels (30 May 1999)
Much before the rains came India had shot itself in the foot, by getting only a measly 232 on the boards
30-May-1999
30 May 1999
Beyond the boundary - Wheels within Wheels
Shakil Kasem
Much before the rains came India had shot itself in the foot, by
getting only a measly 232 on the boards. Even Zimbabwe, raised
eyebrows and all that, got 233 against South Africa and looked more
than good enough to make a fight of it till the bitter end.
Having been put in by England, India had a fairly decent start,
although Ramesh could have been out many times over, before Mullally
put him out of misery. By then however, India did manage to put up
almost 50 for the opening stand. More importantly, they saw off the
new ball operators as well. Dravid and Ganguly carried on from where
they had left off, putting on a rollicking 44 run stand, before
Ganguly got out to the only way England could have got him out.
Ganguly had looked like he was in his elements all along. The stage
then should have been set for Sachin Tendulkar to set the fireworks
off.
The world was not ready for the anti-climax, but whether anybody
liked it or not, that was what everybody got. Dravid went into his
shell, perhaps pining from the pangs of separation, but Tendulkar
never looked like he was ever going to leave an impact on this match.
Much could be said of the dogged English bowling, but it is hard to
comprehend why average trundlers like Ealham, Hollioake and Flintoff
were able to put the brakes on two of the most free-stroking batsmen
in the world today. Quite surely, the dressing room must have been as
mystified as the rest of the world-wide audience. The upshot of it
all was that India did not get the runs they had wanted, and were
left with the unenviable task of defending 232 runs, if they were to
contemplate any further vertical mobility at all.
Mohanty brought India back into the match with two quick telling
blows. With Stewart and Hick neutralised, India stood to have a
chance. Nasser Hussain struggled and toiled to delay the inevitable,
but predictably fell to Ganguly. After that, as they say, was la
deluge. Both teams had to go off, only to learn that at Chelmsford
all hell had broken loose.
One is hard pressed to find one single rational reason why South
Africa were playing the way they were. The fact that Zimbabwe did not
get 270 plus was a surprise, because that seemed to be the script for
the day. South Africa then losing six wickets within the first
sixteen overs did, I admit, set my overheated imagination into
overdrive. Was it another of Bob Woolmer's innovative ploys of
thinking ahead for the Super Six? Was it because of specific
instructions received from Nelson Mandela himself? Was it just South
Africa purging its collective guilt of the dark and nefarious times?
It did not really matter what I thought. There were two more worried
men back at Edgbaston, who were left contemplating the rain, not
knowing which way the wind was going to blow their World Cup dreams.
Call it Hand of God or uncertainties(?) of cricket, but Azharuddin
and Stewart would spend the night thinking whether they might live to
tell the tale. Wonder what the reaction might have been had Pakistan
or India played the way South Africa did. Just idle curiosity.
Source :: The Daily Star