A rejuvenated South Africa dented India’s morale ahead of Sunday’s summit showdown with a comfortable 5-wicket victory in the last TVS Cup triangular series league match here today. Chasing a modest 216 for victory, the South Africans rode on Neil McKenzie’s controlled 84-run knock to reach the target in 48.4 overs with five wickets in hand to halt India’s winning streak in the tournament in a thrilling floodlit contest at the Bangabandhu Stadium.

The Proteas did well to recover from the early jolts which had raised hopes of an Indian fightback as McKenzie turned the tables against the World Cup finalists in a sensible knock which came off 110 balls and contained five hits to the fence. McKenzie put on 107 runs for the fifth wicket with Mark Boucher who remained unbeaten on 44. Jacques Rudolph was the other notable contributor, scoring 37 runs.

McKenzie was dismissed in the 48th over with South Africa needing just four more runs to victory, when he was caught by Avishkar Salvi to become Harbhajan Singh’s 100th one-day victim. Earlier, the Indian batting faltered for the first time in the tournament and could manage only a modest score of 215 before being all out in 49.1 overs. Sourav Ganguly top-scored with 61 but the other batsmen had nothing much to offer.

For South Africa, Allan Dawson claimed four wickets while Makhaya Ntini took three. In what was seen as a dress rehearsal before the two teams’ meet again in the final Sunday, the South Africans outplayed the Indians in all departments of the game to gain a psychological advantage ahead of the title clash. The South Africans received a big jolt early in the innings with captain Graeme Smith, who never really looked comfortable during his brief stay at the crease, falling in the fifth over to Salvi. Wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel held on to the faint inside edge to send Smith back to the pavillion for just two.

The two Indian new ball operators, Salvi and Ajit Agarkar, bowled a tidy spell to keep the South Africans quiet, though opener Herschelle Gibbs did play a few attacking shots off Agarkar. Gibbs struck two consecutive boundaries in Agarkar’s third over and another couple of boundaries in a subsequent over as he tried to rebuild the innings along with Boeta Dippenaar. Ganguly introduced spinner Harbhajan Singh as early as the 12th over and he produced a dramatic first over by getting rid of Dippenaar and dangerman Gibbs within the span of three deliveries. Harbhajan bowled Dippenaar (11) and then trapped Gibbs (25) leg before wicket with a lovely delivery to bring the Indians back into the game, as the South Africans slid to 42 for three.

Left-handed Rudolph, who scored his maiden half-century against Bangladesh yesterday, and McKenzie then tried to perform the salvage job by playing cautiously against the two spinners who bowled in tandem. The two batsmen put on 63 runs for the fourth wicket taking South Africa to 105 before part-timer Virender Sehwag struck for his team by removing Rudolph who was showing signs of playing a big knock. With the track assisting the spinners to some extent, Ganguly deployed Sehwag despite an elbow injury he sustained while batting and the move paid dividends as he accounted for Rudolph with Kaif taking a smart catch. But McKenzie and Boucher poured cold water over India’s plans as they accelerated the pace of scoring which had dropped down considerably at the half-way stage.

Agarkar, who returned for his second spell in the 40th over, gave away 14 runs in that over which tilted the balance in South Africa’s favour at that stage since they had six wickets in hand. Earlier, Ganguly scored a classy 61 off 83 balls but none of the other top order batsmen could consolidate after getting the starts against a disciplined South African bowling attack on a track which was not conducive for strokeplay. The Indians were cruising along comfortably at 96-1 but the innings fell into disarray after Ganguly’s dismissal as the other batsmen failed to rise to the occasion. It was a little cameo from tail-ender Sarandeep Singh which helped India to cross the 200-mark which looked doubtful at one stage.

After a losing opener Gautam Gambhir with just seven runs on the board, Ganguly gave an exhibition of controlled aggression as he notched up his 51st half-century in one-day internationals. Sehwag and captain Ganguly consolidated the position for the team without taking too many risks but never lost the opportunity to despatch the loose balls to the boundary before the dashing opener had to retire hurt after getting a nasty blow on his right elbow off Ntini.

Mohammad Kaif carried on the good work to take the total to 96 before falling as the first victim of Dawson for 30 which came off 49 balls. The departure of Kaif virtually opened up the floodgates as the Indians lost wickets at regular intervals and eventually failed to play out their full quota of 50 overs.

Scorecard

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