http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 on the defensive in first session, as third Test heads for draw
The third and final Test match between India and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 seems to be headed towards a draw after the first session of play at Newlands. India lost just one wicket and scored 53 runs in 28 overs.
South Africa had given the visitors a 340-run target, and they had one full day of play left to save the game. India didn’t seem too interested in chasing down the total, as their openers started the day very slowly.
Chasing down 340 would have required some fireworks from flamboyant Indian opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-c83321 Dravid
and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623 made sure that India didn't lose any more wickets in the session.
Both batsmen mostly defended the ball and didn’t look keen to score runs. Gambhir was the one with the best batting strike-rate, but unfortunately for India it wasn’t good enough to pose any threat to the home team. He scored 32 runs until lunch at a strike-rate
of 40. Dravid was the other batsman who remained unbeaten until lunch. He scored 8 runs off 49 balls in his innings so far. The body language of the Indian players clearly indicated that they feared a series loss, so they opted to play for a draw.
The South African bowlers were on target this morning and didn’t give anything away to the Indian batsmen. The over defensive play by the Indians allowed the Proteas to attack more. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morne-Morkel-c77722 was the only successful bowler for South Africa. He took the
only wicket of the day. Apart from Morkel, all the bowlers were economical but remained wicket-less.
The first session was very important for both teams. South Africa were looking for wickets but they didn’t have much success. They do still have an opportunity to bowl out the Indians in two more sessions.
However, that will be difficult as the Indian team is on a defensive strategy. A win for India is almost impossible at this stage. India's negative approach will give the home team an opportunity to put extra pressure on the batsmen in the final two sessions.
Tags: