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Ind vs SA: Spin ghosts haunt SA again

At 45/3 and still in the first session, ABD walked in and settled in without any fuss
Bengaluru: The ghosts of Mohali came back to haunt the South Africans as the time-tested Indian spin trick hit pay dirt. For all purposes, the Proteas have conjured up the image of a viciously spinning ball each time they go out to bat and a surface which is slightly brown is enough to magnify the demons in their heads.
While AB de Villiers (85, 105b), showed the way with his customary ease and briskness, the rest of the batsmen contrived to plunge themselves into spin depression to hand Virat Kohli’s men total control of the first Test. And all this, by tea break on the first day of the second game as the visitors succumbed to spin twins Ravindra Jadeja (4/50) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/70) to be skittled for 214 in 59 overs.
If not for de Villiers’ effortless, 38th half-century in his 100th Test appearance in South African colours, only the seventh from their country to do so, the visitors and their few supporters would have endured a miserable day.
The M. Chinnaswamy stadium was delightfully packed on a cool Saturday: school kids numbering 5,000 to go with a goodly turnout upwards of 17,000, and it all made for good viewing as Kohli’s men seized the moment and pushed the South Africans into the deep end. At close, the Indian openers, M. Vijay (28*) and Shikhar Dhawan (45*) drove the nail further racing to 80 without loss in 22 overs.
Winning the toss, Kohli had little hesitation in putting the opposition in and though the team management went in with three seamers — local lad Stuart Binny came in for Amit Mishra while Ishant Sharma replaced, surprisingly, Umesh Yadav — and two spinners, the die was cast. It’s a given that this South African team relies heavily on the top order of Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, de Villiers and JP Duminy and it came as no surprise that the rest of the batsmen’s inexperience was thoroughly exposed as Ashwin and Jadeja took turns to choke them.
Ashwin’s double blow in his first over, getting rid off opener Stiaan van Zyl and du Plessis in the space of three deliveries in the 8th over of the morning set the tone for proceedings. Zyl was trapped leg before playing for the spin while du Plessis was brilliantly taken by Cheteshwar Pujara at short-leg though to be fair to the batsman the ball appeared to be kissing the turf. But for sheer alacrity and reflex, Pujara got his man.
The biggest problem for the visitors was when skipper Hashim Amla, suited for these conditions, fell, to the express pace of Varun Aaron. Eyebrows were raised over fast bowler’s retention at the expense of Yadav but he made up for that with a peach of a delivery that moved and straightened to shatter Amla’s stumps. Strike one for the pacemen and it turned out to be the only one for them.
At 45/3 and still in the first session, de Villiers walked in and settled in without any fuss. Milking the bowlers and swatting them for boundaries, ‘ABD’, the favourite of the Bengaluru public, had the stands in raptures.
Only, his team-mates didn’t believe in enjoying the show. The 42-wicket fifth wicket partnership with Duminy was the highest before de Villiers, nearing a deserving century in his landmark Test, fell to an absolute blinder by Wriddhiman Saha. A faint glove off Jadeja was falling harmlessly but Saha defied belief in sprinting and acrobatically taking a one-handed catch near short-leg, a decision that was given the nod by the third umpire before the tail folded up. With the Indian openers, especially Dhawan, setting off briskly, the visitors are in for a hard toil.
Scoreboard:
South Africa (1st innings): S. Zyl lbw b Ashwin 10, D. Elgar b Jadeja 38, Faf du Plessis c Pujara b Ashwin 0, H. Amla b Aaron 7, AB de Villiers c Saha b Jadeja 85, JP Duminy c Rahane b Ashwin 15, D. Vilas c & b Jadeja 15, K. Abbott (run out) 14, K. Rabada c Pujara b Jadeja 0, M. Morkel c Binny b Ashwin 22, I. Tahir (not out) 0. Extras (lb-2, nb-6) 8. Total (in 59 overs) 214.
FoW: 1-15, 2-15, 3-45, 4-78, 5-120, 6-159, 7-177, 8-177, 9-214.
Bowling: Ishant 13-3-40-0, Binny 3-2-1-0, Ashwin 18-2-70-4, Aaron 9-0-51-1, Jadeja 16-2-50-4.
India (1st innings): M. Vijay (batting) 28, S. Dhawan (batting) 45. Extras (b-4, nb-3) 7. Total (for no loss in 22 overs) 80.
Bowling: Morkel 7-1-23-0, Abbott 6-1-18-0, Rabada 5-1-17-0, Duminy 2-0-9-0, Tahir 2-0-9-0.

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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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