http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 clinch series after surviving Yusuf Pathan’s assault
South Africa held nerves to take the five-match series against India by a 3-2 margin. After so many twists and turns in the series, the Proteas finally managed to win the last match played at Centurion on 23rd January.
India were chasing their first series win in South Africa and the start was good for the Indian captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028. He won the toss and elected to field first on a pitch that seemed batting friendly but Dhoni thought that it may have something for the fast
bowlers in the first hour.
The start to the match was good for the Indian bowlers as Zaheer Khan struck early. South African captain Graeme Smith was the firs man to be dismissed after he edged the ball straight to the hands of the fielder in slips.
After the first wicket fell at 16, Morne van Wyk joined the run-machine Hashim Amla at the crease. The pair batted exceptionally and took the total over 100 with a 97-run partnership.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 was yet again disappointing for his team and was dismissed early.
The Proteas had collapsed in the fourth match after a couple of wickets fell but this time Amla wasn’t ready to throw his wicket away. He scored a brilliant century for his team and remained unbeaten until the end. He amassed 116 runs and was involved in
a century stand with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JP-Duminy-c1742.
The match was restricted to 46 overs due to rain but the home team managed a very respectable total at the end by scoring 250 runs.
Munaf Patel was once again in the wickets for India. He took three wickets in the match. The leading pacer of India Zaheer Khan was also amongst the wickets and he grabbed two wickets. Harbhajan Singh was yet again disappointing as he didn’t pick-up any
wickets. However, part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh took two wickets.
The start to the Indian innings was dismal as their top-order collapsed. Apart from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Parthiv-Patel-c2159, none of the top-order batsman was able to score runs freely. Patel was out after scoring an impressive 38 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 had lost 8 wickets for just 119 runs and tings were looking grim for the visitors. The team and the fans would have given-up hope but Yusuf Pathan had other plans. He played in the way he is known to play and smashed the ball to all parts of the park.
Yusuf ended-up with a magnificent 105 off just 70 balls. He struck eight 4s and the same number of 6s in his innings. His innings was eventually ended by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Faf-du-Plessis-c1427 in the deep.
India lost the match by 33 runs by Duckworth-Lewis (D-L) method. Morkel was expensive but he took wickets for his team. He dismissed four Indian batsmen. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dale-c52110 Steyn and Lonwabo Tsotsobe took 2 wickets each.
The man-of-the-match was awarded to Hashim Amla whereas the player-of-the-series was given to Morkel for his fine bowling throughout the series.
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