http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757: the second innings - Part 1 – ICC World Cup 2011 Recap
India after getting off to a dream start were ground to a halt, managing only 296 runs after being 278/1 at one stage. Though not any easy target by any stretch of the imagination, the South Africans knew they were still in with a chance. Captain Graeme
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Smith-c90598 and Hashim Amla took to the pitch to open for the Proteas.
Zaheer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 was charged with the responsibility of opening the bowling attack for the team with the home advantage. Amla did not wait too long, as on the second ball his shot found the cover boundary for the only runs off the over. Smith then added another
seven runs against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashish-Nehra-c46293 including a boundary of his own, as the Proteas got their innings underway.
Nehra and Khan seemed to be back in control barely giving any runs away in the next few overs. Yet it seemed that Smith and Amla were just biding their time, as they found the boundary five times in the next four overs. Just as the South African openers
got into their rhythm, Khan struck, as Smith drove the ball straight into Tendulkar’s hands and India celebrated a crucial early wicket.
Jacques Kallis was the next man in for the Proteas, as Patel replaced Nehra in the bowling attack. The bowlers managed to keep the batsmen under check and restricted them to a run rate of 4.47 runs per over until the 16th over, as Nehra was replaced
by Yousaf Pathan.
Amla was still batting strong as he reached his half century on the last ball of the 22nd over and was slowly becoming a major concern for the Indian side.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453 took over the bowling attack, but nothing much changed as South Africa kept a consistent run rate of around 4.6 runs an over. Harbhajan thought he had Amla on 57 runs, but Yuvraj Singh could not keep hold of the ball.
Harbhajan did not have to wait long though, as the spin bowler got his man after Amla’s attempted cut shot ended up in a thick edge that went straight into Dhoni’s gloves. India had their danger man as Amla departed for 61 runs off 72 balls.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 took to the crease knowing that at 126 for 1 after 27 overs it was still a game to play for, even though the required run rate had reached 7.33 runs per over.
The South Africans maintained their steady run rate of 4.7 runs an over with Kallis completing his half century on the last ball of the 28th over.
To be continued in Part 2.
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