Amla, Kallis lead Proteas domination over host

South Africa are in the box seat. As on day-one, the batsmen continued to dominate Indian bowling attack and in the forefront were Hashim Amla (253*) and Jacques Kallis (173). Amla simply put all the bowlers in a blender and made a puree out of them. His marathon unbeaten double century, which lasted for over 11 hours and took 473 balls, made sure South Africa reached a commanding 558 for 6 when skipper Graeme Smith chose to declare with just 15 minutes left for the end of day’s play.

Hashim Amla put the bowlers in a blender and made a puree of them. Besides, he also scored a marathon 253 not out on the second day of Nagpur Test. © AFP

Asked to bat at a difficult time when lengthening shadows had covered half the ground, Indian openers Virender Sehwag (9) and Gautam Gambhir (12) did well to finish the day at 25 for no loss.

On day-three, Proteas pacers will test the characters of Indian batsmen. Time has come to prove the world’s top ranking was no statistical anomaly.

Hashim Amla showed how opposition can be outclassed with sheer doggedness and commitment; the maiden unbeaten double century was only incidental or was it?

AB de Villiers (53) scored a valuable half-century and added 108 runs with Amla for the fourth wicket. In an effort to accelerate the run rate, he charged part-time offie Virender Sehwag but only managed to hole out to Badrinath at point. JP Duminy’s (9) nightmarish run with the bat continued as he perished cheaply to Harbhajan.

Amla exhibited the fine virtues of grafting in Test cricket. He may not be an elegant batsman to watch but has evolved a superbly effective way to build a big score with an array of cuts, jabs and occasional drives to the fence. What matters in the end is runs on the board and Amla ensured he had plenty of it, besides a record 340-run partnership with Kallis for the third wicket.

Like a diligent mason he built his innings brick by brick and exploited the gaps to keep the runs flowing without much fuss or effort. Occasionally, he showcased his stroke-making ability; in one over he hammered Zaheer for two boundaries and then dispatched Ishant for another four in the next over.

The way he handled both Harbhajan and Mishra was admirable. Initially, he batted with soft hands and from within the crease. He watched the ball till the end and played late to smother the spin.

The spinners were getting assistance from the pitch and yet Amla overwhelmed both of them with his extraordinary patience and perseverance. In the later part of his innings, he used his feet impressively and milked them generously on his way to a double century. If his temperament was superlative, his technique wasn’t far behind.

Jacques Kallis scored a majestic 173 and put together a record 340-run partnership with Amla for the third wicket. © AFP

First 10 overs of day-two were important for India for a breakthrough would have shifted the momentum. Kallis and Amla ensured that they won the mental battle by seeing off the seamers without any damage. The fact that the first 7 overs fetched only 13 runs goes to show how watchful the two batsmen were, but the next three brought 18 runs. Clearly, they played to a plan.

Both Zaheer and Ishant bowled well but failed to force the batsmen to make any mistake. Perhaps, the added aggression, which was needed to dislodge both the settled batsmen, was missing.

Runs mostly trickled in singles and twos when the two spinners took over the proceedings after the 10th over. A few overs later, Kallis was lucky to survive an lbw shout off Mishra, as the replay showed it would have hit the middle stump. A case for the Umpire Decisive Review System is getting stronger by the day. Though Kallis didn’t survive long, as Harbhajan had him caught at short-leg with a ball that turned sharply and took an inside edge.

Yet again Kallis (173) missed a double century; he is yet to get one in his 229 innings so far. Was he playing for the double century and in the process subjected himself to added pressure? Ironically, he is the only batsman in the Club 10,000 Test runs, who doesn’t have a double century against his name. But he certainly played a magnificent knock to take his team to a commanding position.

Dhoni continued to disappoint with his field placing. The off side often had a gaping hole between slip and cover and runs flowed easily through the region, dissipating pressure from the batsmen. What was even more baffling was that the field didn’t change when AB de Villiers came in to bat soon after Kallis’s dismissal. With spin operating from both ends, a silly point would have added more pressure on the new batsman, but Dhoni clearly had other plans.