India Deny South Africa & Cling On For One-Run Win

India Deny South Africa to Cling On For One-Run Win

Jacques Kallis' innings of 89 is ended by Shanthakumaran Sreesanth but South Africa still managed to push India all the way in Jaipur.

©REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe (INDIA - Tags: SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

India 298-9 (Raina 58, Kallis 3-29) beat
South Africa 297 (Kallis 89, Parnell 49) by one run
First One-Day International, Jaipur
Scorecard

South African captain Jacques Kallis produced a superb all-round personal display but the rest of his team offered him insufficient support, with the result that they lost the opening One-Day International against India by one run in Jaipur.

After taking three for 29 during India's innings of 298 for nine, Kallis top scored 89 before South Africa were bowled out for 297, Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn providing an astonishing comeback which saw the game go to the last ball.

Suresh Raina was the only player to reach a half-century in India's innings, scoring his runs from 63 balls with six fours and one six, putting on 66 for the fifth wicket with Virat Kohli (31).

Virender Sehwag crashed 46 in 37 balls and Dinesh Karthik made a fluent 44 after Sachin Tendulkar departed early, run out by Herschelle Gibbs and Wayne Parnell.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni also got a start, reaching 26 before becoming the first of South African captain's Jacques Kallis' three wickets. He would later dismiss Raina and Ravi Jadeja (22) while Yusuf Pathan marked his recall by thumping 18 in 13 balls.

Some late hitting from Praveen Kumar (13) and Ashish Nehra (16) almost pupshed India up to 300 although Nehra rode his luck on occasion, notably when a Charl Langeveldt inswinger clipped the off stump and having failed to dislodge the bails, the ball raced away for four to fine leg.

Gibbs (27) and Loots Bosman (29) then made a fine start to South Africa's run chase before their dismissals prompted a string of batsmen, Kallis excluded, getting in and then getting themselves out.

GIbbs was caught in the deep, Bosman and AB de Villiers (25) were bowled trying to cut balls, Alviro Petersen (9) failed to ground his bat and was run out while Albie Morkel (2) and Johan Botha (10) were trapped in front playing across the line.

Left-arm spinner Ravi Jadeja bowled a superb spell to return two for 29 from ten overs, dismissing Bosman and de Viliers while Mark Boucher, back after missing the second Test with a back injury, was well caught by Mahendra Singh Dhoni after under-edging Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, who came back strongly having been hit for 17 in his opening over.

Kallis played a wonderful innings, staying calm despite the wickets tumbling at the other end, hitting six fours and a six before he was finally bowled, going for a big shot when he was left with Parnell for company, Sreesanth the grateful bowler.

The game was meandering along, a comfortable Indian victory seemingly inevitable but a last-ditch assault from Parnell and Steyn took the game down to the wire. Parnell hit four fours and a huge six on his way to 49 in 47 balls and Steyn thumped 35 in 18 balls and with ten to win from the last over, Steyn was bowled by an excellently executed Praveen Kumar slower ball.

That left Parnell and Charl Langeveldt at the crease, and three runs, courtesy of a superb boundary save by Tendulkar, from the penultimate ball by Langeveldt left the match hanging in the balance with four runs required for South Africa to pull off the win.

A wide from Kumar prolonged the suspense and when he bowled a legal delivery, Parnell could only manage to squeeze the ball to third man and was run out attempting a second run to tie the scores.

© Cricket World 2010

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