The importance of a good solid foundation was seen to great effect on the first day of the Chennai Test when South Africa managed to finish in a strong position despite a wobble or two in the middle of the day. Graeme Smith not only won the toss but along with his partner Neil McKenzie gave a brilliant start to the innings. What it did was to straightaway put the hosts on the defensive. On an overseas tour the first session of a Test match pretty much indicates what is going to be the pattern for the rest of the series. Of course cricket being the funny game that it is, that can be overturned by a spirited performance as was seen in the New Zealand — England series that England won after losing the first Test. McKenzie has just made a magnificent comeback to the South African team but he matched Smith stroke for stroke. What was most impressive was the use of the feet to the spinners and whenever Harbhajan flighted the ball McKenzie was quick to go down the pitch to him and either loft it or smother the turn. In recent times most overseas batsmen have adopted a different tactic of playing the Indian spinners. No longer do they jam bat and pad together as they stretch to play the ball. Instead they play with the bat well in front of the pad and that seems to be working.
Jacques Kallis who has been in superb form stuck to the old method of jabbing with bat and pad together and paid the price being caught at forward short-leg. However the method of reaching out to the spinning ball also has it’s dangers as it can lead to a batsman playing with hard hands thereby getting the ball to bounce a lot more if he does get an edge. That’s how McKenzie missed out on a century when his thick outside edge carried to Dravid at slip. Smith too couldn’t go on to a ton but both had eased the nerves in the dressing room with the start that they gave their side.
Hashim Amla also has been in great nick and while there is an awkwardness about his pick-up of the bat, his strength is his temperament. He is cool, unflustered and after a watchful beginning he can play some fine shots. He ensured that the start given by the openers wasn’t wasted and in fact consolidated the position by another good partnership with McKenzie after Smith’s dismissal. Ashwell Prince who batted so well against India when India visited South Africa at the end of 2006 got going but was unable to convert it to a big score. The catch that Kumble took to dismiss him would have done a teenager proud and once again underscores that it is talent and not age that should matter at the highest level.
The lack of match practice for Sreesanth and R. P. Singh was clear from the way that they bowled though it must be said that it is never easy to bowl fast in the sapping heat of Chennai. It was their waywardness that allowed South Africa to get off the blocks and thus play the spinners with more confidence when they came on to bowl. It is going to take something special from the Indians to restrict South Africa to less than 400. Maybe the new ball bowlers will change for the better on the second morning with the second new ball. Therein lies India’s chance of stopping the Proteas from piling up a match winning total.
