Zaheer-Bhajji duo flatten Proteas

If it’s Eden Gardens, it has to be Harbhajan Singh. There is something about the venue that brings the best out of the ‘Turbanator’. This time, he triggered a collapse that sent South Africa packing to 266 for 9 at stumps from a confident looking 251 for 3. The 25 overs of the last session produced an incredible 7 wickets for just 38 runs.

Harbhajan triggered an astounding turnaround by scalping three South African wickets in two overs.

With Amla and Kallis at the crease, it was almost revisiting the Nagpur Test. But to India’s relief, Amla was a bit late in gathering back his concentration after the tea interval and Zaheer struck in the first over of the session, as Dhoni picked up a simple catch.
Harbhajan Singh made sure India never looked behind from there. Jacques Kallis tried to sweep a ball from wide outside the off-stump and VVS Laxman, who earlier spilled Hashim Amla, took a well-judged catch at short fine-leg, running from first slip.
This was just the kind of spark a bowler like Harbhajan needed to turn on the heat. And he did turn it on. In his next over, the off-spinner deceived Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy with his ‘doosra’ and trapped them both on their pads off consecutive deliveries.
With Harbhajan on a hat-trick, Dhoni crowded Dale Steyn with fielders all around him and the off-spinner bowled one that pitched slightly outside the off-stump and straightened, missing Steyn’s bat by a whisker before settling into Dhoni’s gloves. Perhaps, it was too good a delivery for the tailender to get a bat on.
It was wonderful to see how a few quick wickets could lift the morale of the entire team. In the very next over, Zaheer Khan produced a fantastic pick up-and-throw routine to catch South Africa’s most agile player out of his crease. Standing at extra-covers, the left-arm bowler rattled the stumps with a direct-hit and AB de Villiers was on his way back, dejected.
Ishant Sharma too joined the party. After persisting with short-stuff right from the mid-second session, the lanky fast bowler finally got rewarded with the wicket of Paul Harris. The ball was short and wide and Harris tried to drive it, only managing to edge it to Dhoni’s gloves.
After the tumultuous half-an-hour of play, South Africa plummeted to find themselves into a hole. They had lost five wickets for four runs in a span of 23 deliveries. The match completely turned on its head thereafter.
Amit Mishra, who was the only bowler without a wicket, didn’t want to be left out. After toiling for 70 overs in the series without a wicket, Mishra finally got a wicket against his name in the form of Dale Steyn.

Hashim Amla (114) and debutant Alviro Petersen (100) got the Proteas off to a solid start with a 209-run partnership.

Before the amazing turnaround, the day was dominated by two South African batsmen – Hashim Amla (114) and Alviro Petersen (100). Amla and Petersen put on a 209-run partnership and took the tourists to a commanding position of 218 for 2 when Petersen finally perished. The duo went about their business without any fuss and eased their way to their respective centuries.
Amla had his share of good luck as after being dropped by VVS Laxman at first slip on 61, he chipped one Harbhajan delivery in the air that raced to the fence just beating the man at mid-off. And as he showed in the first Test, he surely knows how to make his good luck count. Amla carried on with his run-scoring spree, driving and flicking his way to his ninth Test hundred. Despite a string of close calls, Amla fought on without losing patience.
Petersen, on the other hand, was not probed by any of the Indian bowlers. The debutant milked the bowling with utmost ease. He made sure the pacers paid heavy price every time they over-pitched the ball or strayed on to the pads. To spinners, he was not afraid to charge down the ground and clobber them to boundaries.
But the young man was not all about aggression. He displayed immense maturity in the way he paced his innings. While he clubbed the bowlers for 10 boundaries during the first half of his ton, the next 50 runs were more about singles and couples.
Earlier, after Dhoni lost the toss, Zaheer once again provided India with an early breakthrough, dismissing Graeme Smith in his second over.
The left-arm pacer was the only bowler for the first half of the day, who looked like taking a wicket. He exploited the early morning conditions and was the most consistent of the Indian bowlers. It was Zaheer who did all the hard work by dismissing both centurions, Amla and Petersen to set the stage nicely for Harbhajan to get into the act.