Cape Town, Jan 18: Yusuf Pathan and Harbhajan Singh set up a thrilling win forIndia against South Africa in the third ODI at Newlands, Cape Town. Where Pathan’s blustery innings of 59 set the foundation for the Indian run chase, Harbhajan’s heroics (23*) at the end ensured India crossed the finish line with two wickets to spare.
Set to chase a target of 221 to win, Murali Vijay (1) was the first Indian wicket to fall as he was caught, brilliantly, by Dale Steyn off the pacer’s own bowling with the score at 4. Virat Kohli (28) and Rohit Sharma (23) put on a 50-run partnership but a double strike from Morne Morkel, off consecutive overs, brought South Africa right back in the game. At the fall of Sharma’s wicket India were 61/3.
MS Dhoni (5) and Yuvraj Singh (16) fell without making a substantial contribution and with India stumbling at a score of 93/5 in 24.3 overs the match was very much in the hosts’ control.
Enter Yusuf Pathan. The big hitting all-rounder immediately put the South Africans on the defensive by bludgeoning Johan Botha for three sixes in four deliveries in the 30th over of the Indian run chase. There was a beautiful lofted drive, to long-off, off Lonwabo Tsotsobe as well. Suresh Raina (37), who was happy to play second fiddle to Pathan and was involved in a 75-run partnership with him, then edged a Morkel delivery, while aiming to crash the ball through the off-side, to wicketkeeper AB de Villiers, to leave the game in the balance at 168/6. And when Pathan (59 off 50) fell a few overs later, India, with the score reading 182/7, must have felt the game slipping from their hands.
However, Harbhajan Singh proved yet again that he is the man to deliver in such a pressure situation. With an unbeaten 25-ball knock of 23 runs, that also saw him involved in a crucial 26-run partnership with Zaheer Khan (14), Harbhajan got India home with two wickets and 10 deliveries to spare.
The day began with Graeme Smith winning the toss and opting to bat first. India brought in Yusuf Pathan in Sachin Tendulkar’s absence, while South Africa replaced David Miller with all-rounder Faf du Plessis.
Hashim Amla and Smith began cautiously for South Africa as Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel bowled a controlled line and length. Smith survived a few close appeals off Khan, but the left arm-pacer gave India its first breakthrough by dismissing Amla (16) just 31 runs into the hosts’ innings.
Colin Ingram’s woeful run with the bat continued as he was dismissed by Harbhajan Singh for just 10 runs. A brief 34-run partnership ensued between AB de Villiers and Smith, but with both batsmen falling in the space of 18 deliveries, South Africa were left struggling at 91/4 at the end of 24 overs.
JP Duminy and debutant du Plessis began the job of rebuilding the hosts’ innings. With boundaries hard to come by, the duo kept the scoreboard ticking by nudging the ball into the gaps for ones and twos. Both batsmen brought up their respective half centuries, with the century stand between the two coming in 120 balls.
But the fall of du Plessis (60), who fell to a sharp catch taken by Virat Kohli at cover off Munaf Patel in the 45th over, turned the momentum once again in India’s favour. The hosts lost their remaining five wickets for the addition of a mere 20 runs to set India a modest target of 221.
Brief Scores: India 223/8 in 48.2 overs (Yusuf Pathan 59, Suresh Raina 37, Harbhajan Singh 23*, Morne Morkel 3/28)beat South Africa 220 in 49.2 overs (Faf du Plessis 60, JP Duminy 52, Zaheer Khan 3/43, Harbhajan Singh 2/23) by two-wickets
Man-of-the-Match: Yusuf Pathan for his blustery knock of 59 runs off 50 balls and the all important wicket of AB de Villiers.
