How India and South Africa served up a surprising first Test

Do you remember walking in to school in a nice, peaceful, happy mood… meeting up with friends, playing some early morning cricket and then settling into class for the first period? Then, the teacher would walk in and calmly announce that she was giving a surprise test. But for the one or two toppers in class, no one else would be prepared for what was to follow. Everyone would panic. If the surprise test wasn’t bad enough, having the teacher announcing everyone’s marks the next day was. However, against all odds, it turns out that you have managed to do pretty decently. You strut around all day… the surprise test had yielded a surprising result. Now, the reason we are talking about surprise tests is because the first test match between India and South Africa was exactly that. To begin with, Test matches as a rule very rarely go into five days in this day and age. They usually end on the third day (if the opponent is the West Indies) or go into the fourth day (if it is England) but the result becomes obvious much before the actual end. [caption id=“attachment_1302111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] When India made their way to Johannesburg — to the Bull Ring at the Wanderers — they were expected to crumble. AP[/caption] When India made their way to Johannesburg — to the Bull Ring at the Wanderers — they were expected to crumble. The expectation was built up because of the manner in which they struggled in the ODI series and also because their only warm-up match before the Test was washed out. They were coming in to the match with only net sessions to fall back on. Then, everyone blinked twice when Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat. A fresh wicket and the new ball in the hands of the world’s best pace bowling attack was a fearsome prospect for everyone but the Indian team management had different ideas; perhaps more importantly, they had faith where we had none. Number Cruncher: All the stats from the thrilling India vs SA draw Images: All the stars of the nail-biting India vs SA draw Shocked and surprised not to see SA go for the win: Kohli Needed an effort from pacers and they delivered: Dhoni India, Dhoni should be disappointed with draw: Smith India were quickly reduced to 24-2 by SA and the thought was that perhaps we would have enough time to start our Christmas celebrations early. But then Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli put their hands up and announced their intentions in two very different styles. Pujara blocked and left plenty of deliveries alone while Kohli began his innings with a beautifully executed pull shot to show that he wouldn’t get bogged down. The duo took the score to 113 before Pujara was run out but they had managed to settle the dressing room. Rohit Sharma didn’t last long but Ajinkya Rahane joined Kohli and together, they took the score to 219 before the latter fell after making a splendid 119. India ended the first day on 255-5 with Rahane and Dhoni looking solid. India looked good for at least 300. But come day two and things went back to “normal” very quickly. Dhoni and Rahane took India to 264-5 but then India lost five wickets for just 16 runs and were all out for 280. SA came in to bat and they were expected to hammer India out of the park — four batsmen in the SA line-up average over 50, and Graeme Smith averages 49. The hosts began well, reaching 130 for the loss of just one wicket before Hashim Amla misjudged a delivery from Ishant Sharma that cut in sharply and hit the top of his off-stump. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere — the wickets fell in a cluster. South Africa lost five wickets for 16 too. Just when things seemed lost for them, Vernon Philander came to the party with a splendid 59 and took SA to 244 — just 36 short of the Indian total. In the second innings, India came out and batted with such composure that you couldn’t help but think that it was game over for South Africa. Particularly impressive was the way Indian batsmen had figured out which deliveries to leave alone. The ball was still moving and the odd ball would beat the bat but the batsmen seemed unruffled. Pujara and Kohli put on 222 runs in 59.2 overs — the run-rate was an abrasive 3.74. It pushed South Africa into a corner before the all-too-familiar collapse saw India go from 315-2 to 421 all out. The collapse was frustrating but it gave India hope that they too would be able to do the same. When SA came out to bat, India, despite the collapse, had set them a daunting target of 458 runs with four-and-a-half sessions left in the match. No one in the history of the game had ever chased down a total as big; fewer still had survived to tell the tale. But SA seemed to approach the task with a rare relish. Lesser teams might have shut shop and attempted to play for a draw but SA played without fear. The openers, Alviro Petersen and Smith, put on 108 in quick time and even though they were 197-4 at one point, the SA batsmen kept their composure — they didn’t betray a hint of frustration or even nervousness. Soon, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers got together and started to turn things around. But no one imagined that they would go on for as long as they did. Right up to the final session of day five, India had no answer to their grit. From 197-4 after 60.4 overs, they had carried the score to 402-5 in 123.1 overs. The Indian bowlers had toiled hard but it was South Africa that held the keys to the match now. It was yet another surprising twist. Duminy, the last regular SA batsman, fell soon after and it meant that Du Plessis would have to bring in victory with the tail. But once again, Philander showed that he is a capable batsman. He stood his ground as the runs required were slowly whittled down to just 16 off 21 balls. However, Du Plessis, at the spur of the moment, set out for a quick single. He hit the ball straight to Ajinkya Rahane, who even at this late stage was alert. He picked up the ball and hit the stumps in one go. A diving Du Plessis fell just short. Suddenly, after playing so hard to win, both teams seemed to settle for a draw. India bowled short and wide; South Africa refused the singles. Like everything else in this match, that too was a surprise It might be argued that more than wanting to win, both teams didn’t want to lose but they served up a riveting Test match — one that may go down in history as one of the finest ever and honestly that was a bit of a surprise too.