All posts by csb10.top

With talent in abundance, Pakistan cricket team which is perhaps the best on paper in the world looks demoralised because of the total mess in the management.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is being run simply on personal whims of the establishment totally ignoring the potential of the players and selection or appointment of team officials who are simply either incompetent or have no say whatsoever in its functioning or policy making decisions. Whatever may be the reason, in nutshell the team’s performance is proof enough of all-round deterioration.The team’s performance at Tangiers (Morocco) and Nairobi in the just concluded tri-nation competition exposed the intentions and calibre of all those who are associated with the team and those who are at the helm of affairs. The responsibility cannot be put only on the team management or the establishment. If one cares to do postmortem of the recent events, which is a must and if someone cares to improve the things, it is evident that there is unnecessary interference from some quarters which is adversely affecting the team’s performance.The role in the overall performance of the team shows that personal likes and dislikes is governing the policy of the PCB. If national interest is dear to anyone, this factor should never be allowed to creep in. The problem is that it has become the governing factor. Those who talk of merit are living in a fool’s paradise at least in the present PCB setup.Every move of the establishment is manoeuvred which has plagued the board. Nobody in the PCB seems to be sincere or loyal to the game. If there would have been sincere people, they would not have allowed sports vultures to hang around. What is the contribution of individuals like Zakir Hussain Syed to cricket. He was offered a lucrative job of secretary, Asian Cricket Council and unconfirmed reports suggest that a situation is being created to adjust him somewhere in the PCB hierarchy.Presence of a few shady characters in Morocco has given new dimensions to rumours that Pakistan lost some of the matches in Tangiers under suspicious circumstances. May be someone sensing rift in the team and being present on the scene made full use of the situation.The Kenya episode, which resulted in Yousuf Youhana being sent home was the overflow of happening in Morocco which was covered up under the guise of fitness problem of the batsman. Can the PCB explain how come Youhana went for an MRI test without the consent of the team doctor. It was all doctored and nothing else.The present PCB setup has a set plan to have only ‘yes’ men or paid employees who dare not raise their finger on any issue. It adopted the policy of having paid selectors and perhaps the PCB chief himself was the worst sufferer when his yes men dare not pinpoint the fault of Junaid Zia’s bowling action. The result was that Junaid was called for chucking on four occasions. Team coach Haroon Rasheed failed to show any wisdom by not pointing out the problem with Junaid’s action after the first call. But, Haroon was more interested in his bread and butter than anything else.The present chairman of the selection committee, Wasim Bari, a gentleman cricketer, just cannot afford to put his foot down and at times he is not even aware of team selection. The PCB is in dire need of men of the stature of Haseeb Ahsan who despite having best relations with the then BCCP chief, Air Marshal (Retd) Nur Khan refused to select, player of the calibre of former Pakistan captain, Imran Khan, purely on medical grounds and stepped down, totally ignoring his relationship with Nur Khan.When Haseeb toured England with the Pakistan team as manager, the British press which is always out to run down visiting teams was perhaps most respectful. Then we have a man in Naushad Ali, who is a clean man and has managed the Pakistan team, is a former Chairman of the Selection Committee and a former ICC match referee with good reputation.But such people cannot be inducted in the board as they are men of principle and would work with full freedom without any interference. Nobody can doubt their credibility and credentials. There are some other people but they do not suit the present management who want to meddle in everything and are responsible for the present mess up.The latest action of the PCB in retaining Shoaib Malik and sending back Azhar Mahmood is simply disgusting. Shoaib Malik is being rated as a better off-spinner than Saqlain Mushtaq and a better batsman than Saeed Anwar. So much so that the PCB toyed with the idea of promoting him as an opener. Shoaib Malik scored two hundreds in one-dayer which gave boost to the manipulators to promote him in the batting order.The whole effort fired back as whenever he went to open the innings he played dot balls, resulting in increased pressure on the team. He only wanted to secure his place in the team caring hoots for the team interest. He failed as a bowler when in three matches he just bowled one over for 15 runs. In the last match against Australia he scored 37 from 94 balls which totally belied the PCB hierarchy’s doctrine.If anyone from Nairobi had to be sent home, it should have been Shoaib Malik, the worst performer on the present form and not Azhar Mahmood who has been declared unfit, a reasoning which is hard to challenge as neither the player nor the team doctor will support for obvious reasons.Those who follow the game must be surprised with the way the present management is handling Shahid Afridi, who holds the world record of scoring fastest century in one-day. The team management is toying with his batting position. He has batted at No. 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and last time he was sent to open the innings. Can anybody in his senses ever make such decision unless there is some motive behind it.Misbah-ul-Haq, who has been unlucky in the past at last got a chance when the team management was left with no option and he slapped in the face of the establishment by scoring 50, 39 and 50. What was the team of so many experts travelling with the squad doing all along. All the team officials should be kicked out and fresh team of management should be inducted. But nothing will change as long there is interference from the top. Unless everyone who is given a particular assignment has a free hand which at the moment seems impossible. What has been the benefit of specialist, trainers imported from Australia for batting, bowling and fielding.Pakistan sports in general and cricket in particular is on decline and one cannot expect any improvement unless we do away with the politics of regionalism, nepotism and ‘sifarish’ and work with the sole aim of promoting national interest, keeping personal interest at a distance. No doubt it is easy to preach than practice but nothing is impossible if there is sincerity and loyalty to the nation which should not be compromised.

Pakistan raced to an easy ten-wicket victory over Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo soon after lunch on the fourth day of the match. Left 57 to win, they took only 8.3 overs to get there without losing a wicket.Zimbabwe got off to the worst possible start to the fourth day, losing Andy Flower to the fourth ball of the morning without addition to their overnight score of 171 for five. A ball from Waqar Younis jagged back viciously from the pitch to trap him plumb lbw inside the crease. Flower was out for 13 to complete what for him was a disappointing series, with only one fifty to his credit. All hopes of setting Pakistan any sort of belated challenge or achieving a draw, with no rain at all likely, were crushed.Andy Blignaut began confidently, but had an escape when on 7 as slip Inzamam was slow to react to an edge that flew to his left. He continued to live dangerously, but the impression was that his approach was more `let’s have a bash’ rather than `let’s make a fight of it’. Waqar tried to trap him with a few bouncers, and Blignaut pulled him for two fine sixes, and was then dropped near the boundary attempting a third. Waqar may still bowl with tremendous skill, but his once feared pace has gone, especially on this slow pitch.Tatenda Taibu did his part well, and the fifty partnership came up off only 59 balls – of which Blignaut scored 37. Shortly afterwards Zimbabwe saved the innings defeat and went into credit with four wickets remaining. Blignaut immediately threw his wicket away, leaping extravagantly down the pitch, head in the air, to Saqlain and was easily stumped. His 41 came off 32 balls and included two sixes and four fours.Mluleki Nkala continued the fight with Taibu, but was surprised to be given out by umpire Venkat, caught at the wicket for 14, trying to hit Saqlain out of the ground, possibly the first really dubious dismissal of the match. Raymond Price, usually dour in Tests, experimented with the long handle and reached double figures for the first time in Tests before being bowled for 12 by a superb leg-cutter from Mohammad Sami.Henry Olonga held out with Taibu until lunch, after which Pakistan took the second new ball. The last pair did not survive long, as Taibu chipped an easy catch to mid-on for 57, leaving Olonga unbeaten with 3 and Pakistan with 57 to win.A wide and two fours by Taufeeq Umar off the first over, bowled by Olonga, suggested a canter. Price opened from the other end and was hit for four and six by Saleem Elahi, following which Olonga dropped a return catch from Taufeeq. The batsmen dealt mainly in boundaries; the batsmen did not need to run until they scored the 39th run of the innings.When Saleem turned Olonga to leg for the winning run, he had 30 (four fours, two sixes) and Taufeeq 21 (five fours). Pakistan thus deservedly completed a two-nil victory in the series.

MELBOURNE – Having lived the boyhood dream in 35 Tests and 92 one-day internationals for Australia, Paul Reiffel may have found a way to extend his international cricketing career for decades to come.Reiffel and Rod Tucker, a veteran of 103 first-class games for New South Wales and Tasmania, will umpire matches next season as part of an initiative to attract former players.They have been fast-tracked into the system by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and will spend 2002-03 mostly officiating in first-grade district matches.”The main thing was getting my head around being an umpire which is not something that you grow up really wanting to be, you want to play,” Reiffel said today.”… but once my playing days were finished I always thought that I wanted to stay involved with cricket and the umpiring avenue is good timing for me.”The 36-year-old Reiffel retired midway through last season as Victoria’s all-time leading wicket-taker.He then dipped his toe in the umpiring pool by officiating in a fourth grade match and found he enjoyed it.”I wasn’t going to start now if I didn’t see myself doing it in 25 years, I didn’t see it as a short term thing,” said Reiffel.”There’s a little carrot dangling there to get back to international cricket and to get out there in front of the crowds again and be involved in the atmosphere that I loved as player.”(But) the main thing is I’ve got to become a good umpire or I won’t go anywhere.”Daryl Harper is the only Australian on the International Cricket Council’s elite umpiring list.Below him the ACB has 26 contracted umpires, from the six men on the national panel down to Reiffel and Tucker on the project panel.The only other with first-class playing experience is Queenslander Bruce Oxenford, a wrist-spinner who played eight games for Queensland in the early ’90s.England is widely believed to produce the best cricket umpires and it is also the country which attracts the most former players such as Peter Willey and David Shepherd.India’s Srinivas Venkataraghavan is another former Test player who has successfully made the transition.”I think having first-class experience will help that relationship, I’ll certainly know what the players are going through,” said Reiffel.”Hopefully once I get experienced in umpiring I might be just one step ahead of the players because I know what’s about to happen.”Reiffel said his time as Victorian captain taught him when to step aside from his teammates and when to be one of the boys.And when it comes time to report a player for misconduct, Reiffel will have experience in that area as well.He was fined $200 after disputing the umpire’s decision to give Queensland captain Stuart Law the benefit of the doubt when it appeared he had been caught in the slips in the pivotal moment of the 2000-01 Pura Cup final.”It was a pressure-packed game and things happen,” Reiffel said today, before adding diplomatically, “the umpires are always right.”

Key Ventnor all-rounder Andy Whyte will miss the entire coming cricket season after fracturing his left knee in a freak accident while holidaying in South Africa.Whyte, a middle-order batsman and medium-pace bowler, underwent a three-hour operation in a Cape Town hospital last week after tripping into a drainage gully and fracturing his knee in six places.”It really was bizarre,” said Whyte, who had originally gone to Cape Town to watch the South Africa-Australia Test Match at Newlands.”One moment I was simply walking along, the next my foot gave way and I crashed on to the concrete base of a pretty deep watery gully.”I’m going to be in plaster for six weeks and there’s no chance at all of me playing this season,” he added.Whyte’s injury is a bitter blow for the Southern Electric Premier League new boys, who will be without al least four of last season’s unbeaten Hampshire League championship winning side when the new season begins on May 11.Mark Garaway, Walter Masimula, Lord’s-bound Steven Snell, Ian Hilsum and now Whyte will all be significant absentees.

Hampshire’s inability to remove tail end batsmen surfaced for a second time in the space of a fortnight as Yorkshire batted for two sessions on the fourth day to prevent any other result but a tame draw.Steadfastly defying any attempts to make a positive result possible, Yorkshire, the reigning County Champions who have lost all three of their previous Frizzell Division One games this season, settled for a morale-boosting draw.The only day of the four to start on time saw Richard Dawson and Chris Silverwood lose their wickets to Shaun Udal to send the hosts to 275-8 and some way adrift of Hampshire’s first innings total of 354.But, with veteran wicket-keeper/batsman Richard Blakey still in and playing a controlled innings, he was joined by Steve Kirby in a tenth wicket stand of 91 to frustrate the visitors and gain an unlikely first innings lead for their side.Blakey (83), who smashed Udal straight over his head for six, fell when he edged Chris Tremlett to Neil Johnson in the sole slip.Hampshire were left to rue Nic Pothas’ drop off Neil Johnson when Kirby was on only 3 as the England Academy quickie surpassed his miserly previous highest score of 15* to record a maiden first-class half century.He found an allay in Matthew Hoggard with whom he added a further 57 for the tenth wicket, with the fiery redhead smiting two huge sixes over the members pavilion before he became Dimi Mascarenhas’ fifth scalp for a fine 57, leaving Hoggard on 21.Mascarenhas closed with 5-87 from one ball short of 30 overs, his best figures of the season so far in Yorkshire’ 423 all out, their surprisingly highest score against Hampshire at Headingley in the 148-match history.It left Hampshire 18 overs to bat out with the draw declared at 5.30pm. Will Kendall was trapped leg before in the only blemish of the Hampshire second innings, as Derek Kenway (30) and John Crawley (19) ensured no further loss at 62-1.Crawley now departs for Edgbaston to join the England party while the rest of the squad take the long journey on Tuesday to deepest Kent for the first round of the C&G Trophy against Kent Cricket Board at Folkestone.

Fast bowler Javagal Srinath was not included in a list, announced on Friday, of 20 probables for the ICC Knockout Championship scheduled for September in Sri Lanka.After a meeting of the selectors at Mumbai, the complete list was announced to the press. Although there are no other notable exceptions, left-arm spinner Murali Kartik and seamer L Balaji have, with consistent performances for the India ‘A’ side, forced their way into the list.The final squad of 14 is to be announced on August 12.Probables: Sourav Ganguly, Ajit Agarkar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Tinu Yohannan, Sanjay Bangar, Parthiv Patel, Ajay Ratra, L Balaji, Murali Kartik, JP Yadav, Dinesh Mongia, Virender Sehwag

A pair of Otago attackers, Warren McSkimming and Andrew Hore, have proved to be the difference between the potentially top and almost certainly bottom team going into round seven of the Shell Trophy.Remarkably, all six Canterbury men out today failed to score. McSkimming removed five of them.The delighted all-rounder took a career best 6-39 with his right arm fast medium attacking bowling to dismiss Canterbury for 207 all out this morning. They added just nine runs losing four wickets, three to the Ranfurly-born 21-year-old, at the cost of just one run.He added the wickets of Canterbury’s Gary Stead and Jarrod Englefield before the close to complete a great day for him, but a miserable one for Canterbury.Otago had declared earlier shortly after tea at 255/6, 377 ahead.Hore batted just as his captain, Matt Horne, who got a golden duck, would have liked, smacking 77 in 89 balls, with 15 fours, before being bowled by a big turner from Aaron Redmond.Chris Gaffaney also did the job for Otago, scoring 63 before retiring hurt with a pinched nerve in his hip. He added 135 off 210 balls for the fourth wicket with the dominating Hore to put Otago out of sight.McSkimming, a second season Otago player, looked a class prospect. He leads Otago’s wicket taking charts with 19, and at one stage had 5-2 off 43 balls in the day. He finished with 2-15 off six overs, or, more impressively, 5-16 off 11.5 overall.”Wozza”, is fluent in what coach Dennis Aberhart calls “farmer talk,” and indeed comes from a close farming family. His father has played for Otago ‘B’. McSkimming may be unavailable for Otago’s potentially crucial match against Northern Districts starting on February 17th as he is due to be best man at his brother’s wedding.Now Dunedin based, but from the coldest place in New Zealand, Oturehua near Ranfurly, McSkimming told CricInfo, “I was rapped to get a five for. I wouldn’t say my pace has increased, but I’ve been working on a couple of things in the last couple of games and they’re coming right for me now.””The pitch is pretty flat, but a couple of them have popped and kept low. Tomorrow we’ve just got to bowl them out. We’re going to bowl our guts out.””It’s really dry and Paul (Wiseman’s) a pretty good bowler as you know and it probably will turn into a turner.”He bowls off a long run, with a slight stutter near the end, but has a fast arm action and has got quicker as the season has gone on.Coach Aberhart felt Canterbury batted too negatively yesterday, but believes Otago are in position for a win, although “we’ve got a bit of work to do.”The Auckland team popped by to the 1974 Commonwealth Games QEII Stadium, for a swim and to watch their next opponents, Otago, who they meet at Carisbrook on Tuesday.Former New Zealand captain, Lee Germon, was also in attendance, talking to Otago coach Dennis Aberhart, possibly about next season’s Shell Cup campaign.However, it is the new strike bowler (McSkimming) and ‘new’ leading batsman (Hore) that will be congratulated most warmly by new Otago coach Aberhart, as his team head for the victory tomorrow that will take them to the top of the Shell Trophy table.A pair of Otago attackers, Warren McSkimming and Andrew Hore, have proved to be the difference between the potentially top and almost certainly bottom team going into round seven of the Shell Trophy.Remarkably, all six Canterbury men out today failed to score. McSkimming removed five of them.The delighted all-rounder took a career best 6-39 with his right arm fast medium attacking bowling to dismiss Canterbury for 207 all out this morning. They added just nine runs losing four wickets, three to the Ranfurly-born 21-year-old, at the cost of just one run.He added the wickets of Canterbury’s Gary Stead and Jarrod Englefield before the close to complete a great day for him, but a miserable one for Canterbury.Otago had declared earlier shortly after tea at 255/6, 377 ahead.Hore batted just as his captain, Matt Horne, who got a golden duck, would have liked, smacking 77 in 89 balls, with 15 fours, before being bowled by a big turner from Aaron Redmond.Chris Gaffaney also did the job for Otago, scoring 63 before retiring hurt with a pinched nerve in his hip. He added 135 off 210 balls for the fourth wicket with the dominating Hore to put Otago out of sight.McSkimming, a second season Otago player, looked a class prospect. He leads Otago’s wicket taking charts with 19, and at one stage had 5-2 off 43 balls in the day. He finished with 2-15 off six overs, or, more impressively, 5-16 off 11.5 overall.”Wozza”, is fluent in what coach Dennis Aberhart calls “farmer talk,” and indeed comes from a close farming family. His father has played for Otago ‘B’. McSkimming may be unavailable for Otago’s potentially crucial match against Northern Districts starting on February 17th as he is due to be best man at his brother’s wedding.Now Dunedin based, but from the coldest place in New Zealand, Oturehua near Ranfurly, McSkimming told CricInfo, “I was wrapped to get a five for. I wouldn’t say my pace has increased, but I’ve been working on a couple of things in the last couple of games and they’re coming right for me now.””The pitch is pretty flat, but a couple of them have popped and kept low. Tomorrow we’ve just got to bowl them out. We’re going to bowl our guts out.””It’s really dry and Paul (Wiseman’s) a pretty good bowler as you know and it probably will turn into a turner.”He bowls off a long run, with a slight stutter near the end, but has a fast arm action and has got quicker as the season has gone on.Coach Aberhart felt Canterbury batted too negatively yesterday, but believes Otago are in position for a win, although “we’ve got a bit of work to do.”The Auckland team popped by to the 1974 Commonwealth Games QEII Stadium, for a swim and to watch their next opponents, Otago, who they meet at Carisbrook on Tuesday.Former New Zealand captain, Lee Germon, was also in attendance, talking to Otago coach Dennis Aberhart, possibly about next season’s Shell Cup campaign.However, it is the new strike bowler (McSkimming) and ‘new’ leading batsman (Hore) that will be congratulated most warmly by new Otago coach Aberhart, as his team head for the victory tomorrow that will take them to the top of the Shell Trophy table.

Former Zimbabwean Test batsman Murray Goodwin has been recalled to boost the West Australian top order for its vital Pura Cup match against South Australia starting Wednesday.The 29-year-old takes the place of youngster Scott Meuleman while left-arm spinner Brad Oldroyd is expected to carry the drinks instead of Kade Harvey against the new-look Redbacks.The Warriors and Redbacks are just two of the four teams still in the mix for final berths heading into the final round of matches.And while Queensland is still in the driving spot to make the final on 30 points, it needs two points against Victoria this week to ensure its third home final in a row.Meanwhile Western Australia and Tasmania are locked on 24 points and need large outright victories to give themselves their best shot at making the final.The Redbacks (20) though have an outside chance of playing next week but need an outright victory over the Warriors and for results to fall their way.”There’s a few combinations, I think everyone will be pulling out their calculators on Saturday to work out the quotients,” said Warriors coach Mike Veletta.Veletta hoped that the Redbacks’ desire for a result would help the Warriors gain the valuable six points.”They will have to be aggressive, there is no point finishing mid-table when you can make the final,” Veletta said.”And with Greg Blewett as captain, he’s a pretty aggressive player.”The South Australian selectors have made four changes to the Redbacks team which has been on the slide since Darren Lehmann’s recall to the national team thissummer.The team has lost its last two four-day matches at home in the left-hander’s absence.Selectors have brought in batsmen Shane Deitz and Daniel Harris, all-rounder Ryan Harris and fast bowler Paul Wilson for the match.But it will be the Warriors who will have the chance to bring back Test opener Justin Langer into their line-up if they make the final.Langer’s national duties on the South African tour finish next Tuesday giving him ample time to return to Australia for the match.The Warriors also enter Wednesday’s clash full of confidence coming off their remarkable come-from-behind victory against Victoria in Melbourne this month.”We have got some momentum going our way, we did not play well against Victoria, but we fought back and showed some character,” Veletta said.Western Australia: Simon Katich (c), Jo Angel, Ryan Campbell, Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Matthew Nicholson, MarcusNorth, Brad Oldroyd, Chris Rogers, Brad Williams.South Australia: Greg Blewett (c), Nathan Adcock, Chris Davies, Shane Deitz, David Fitzgerald, Daniel Harris, Ryan Harris, Ben Johnson, Paul Rofe, Mike Smith, Paul Wilson, Bradley Young.

38.1 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball-details
Gautam Gambhir had the hardest time against the South African fast bowlers•AFP

It lasted three deliveries. After weeks of anticipation, and a four-and-a-half-hour rain delay, the duel between Dale Steyn and Virender Sehwag ended the moment the batsman touched the ball at SuperSport Park. Anti-climatic it may have been, but the South Africans were in raptures. With Sehwag gone, Steyn and Morne Morkel gave India a hostile welcome – one that involved tenderising gloves, bruising bodies and the smell of lacquer and leather. India were hustled and hurried by bouncers, but it was the fuller follow-up delivery that brought South Africa the wickets.The Indians had spent a week at Gary Kirsten’s academy in Cape Town customising their preparation for today but no simulation could match the reality of Steyn and Morkel. The batsmen were unable to score – even if only to get off strike, to deny the bowler consecutive deliveries at a particular player and the time to execute plans. Of 122 deliveries bowled in the first session, 101 were dots and India’s accomplished line-up continued to underperform in their bogey country.Overnight and early-morning downpours had dampened conditions, prompting Graeme Smith, with an attack far classier than India’s previous opponents New Zealand, to put India in. The first delivery set the tone: Steyn hit Gautam Gambhir’s back pad and a close lbw appeal was denied. Sehwag shouldered arms twice in Steyn’s opening over, and in the bowler’s second, he attempted to flay the ball through cover point. It moved away a fraction and flew off the edge to Hashim Amla, placed at third man for precisely that. Steyn 1, Sehwag 0, India 1 for 1 and stunned.Gambhir was perhaps lucky on 1, when a ripsnorter from Morkel rose from a length and sped towards his face. Gambhir began to sway and then fended helplessly. The ball appeared to kiss the glove and was pouched by Mark Boucher, but umpire Steve Davis shook his head. Morkel had touched speeds of 150kph during his first spell and was perhaps just too quick.The reprieve cost South Africa only four runs, perhaps the hardest runs Gambhir has made. Morkel pounded in from round the wicket, pitched the ball short of a length, angled it into the left-hander, targeting the body and sometimes the head. Pinned to the crease without room outside off, Gambhir ducked and defended in discomfort.There was no respite against Steyn either. Following a brief exchange of words, Steyn let rip. Gambhir took his eyes off the bouncer and took the ball on his back. The next ball was fuller, moved away from the left-hander, and beat the tentative poke outside off stump. Gambhir was soon put out of his misery, though, and it was the follow-up ball to the bouncer that got him. Having been cornered by the short-pitched attack from Morkel, he drove at a fuller one with poor footwork, and edged to first slip.Dravid had appeared the most comfortable, relatively speaking, taking his bottom hand off the bat to fend off rising deliveries, careful to leave anything outside off, and compact while playing deliveries aimed at his body. Morkel then got one to jag sharply into him from outside off. Dravid was caught on the crease, hit on the pad and Morkel was celebrating his 100th Test wicket, having reduced India to 27 for 3.The smattering of rain-resistant spectators gave Sachin Tendulkar a warm reception and he responded to adversity by taking on the less-threatening Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Tendulkar pulled him twice for fours from outside off stump, drove fluently through cover and guided to third man. Neither Tendulkar nor VVS Laxman was tested much by South Africa’s support act, but their respite was fleeting and ended soon after the break for tea.Tendulkar continued to attack Steyn, edging past his stumps before driving through extra cover and cutting past point – all for boundaries. Steyn responded with two similar deliveries, on a good length, straight and fast. The first beat Laxman’s flick from the crease and uprooted middle stump. The second beat Tendulkar’s flick from the crease and hit the pad, otherwise it too would have uprooted middle stump. Between those dismissals Suresh Raina, who appeared brittle as a leaf in a thunderstorm, had edged Jacques Kallis to third slip. India, at 71 for 6, were being cooked on a .Harbhajan Singh fought, as he usually does, but a trigger movement towards leg as the fast bowlers attacked him betrayed nervousness. He hit the day’s first six, clouting Tsotsobe over long-on, before losing his grip on the bat while attempting a third to be run out. The tailenders had no chance against the barrage, and only Dhoni, with his awkward movements, threw a few counterpunches.Rain had threatened to ruin the opening day of the series, the terrific efforts of the groundstaff had ensured it wasn’t washed out, and similar efforts from South Africa’s fearsome new-ball attack ensured that lost time was made up.