India seemed to be riding a steady ship with both of them at the crease, negotiating the pace heavy South African attack bolstered with the return of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.
Advertisement
Chasing India’s modest total of 247/9, the South Africans lost wickets at regular intervals and their innings folded up for 225 in 43.4 overs.
Having walked away from the Test captaincy previous year, Dhoni has been under increasing pressure to do similar in the limited-over formats, particularly after a first ever series loss to Bangladesh in June. AB de Villiers and Farhaan Behardien tried to play with patience but both fell as South Africa lost control of the match. But a lot of credit goes to Mississippi and his team, they didn’t give up till the end and Mississippi played really well.
The match start time is 1:30 p.m. India time.
De Villiers did not hit a boundary in the first 33 balls he faced but was unstoppable when he got going. The finisher, who struck only one four in that game, returned to his belligerent best – clubbing seven fours and four sixes including the last one that smashed an advertising board.
His batting, to begin with, was a masterpiece.
Dhoni expressed his desire to bat up the order but said he just can’t fit himself there with the likes of Rahane and Virat Kohli available.
Meanwhile, former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin today said that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is “no longer the player he used to be” and has to lead from the front by batting up the order and set an example for his teammates.
“We didn’t make any of our partnerships count, so we have ourselves to blame”. Brilliant performances by the Indian bowlers made the total look hard for the Proteas batsmen. South Africa were 141 for four at the half way mark.
“It was a very good start with the ball in hand”.
“I thought it was an awesome game of cricket”, De Villiers said.
“He’s done it before, and he’s an experienced campaigner”. The wicket was nice to bat on and the ball was turning only when you bowled it slower. In the last 10 overs (in Kanpur) we were looking down the barrel but we did very well to come over the line and win the game. Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harbhajan Singh chipped in useful cameos for the side.
So even as Dhoni explained at the toss, the reasons for dropping Mishra, it needed something substantial from Patel to justify his inclusion. “But it is a part and parcel of the game”, the Mumbai batsman said.
The left-arm spinner, however, responded well with the ball.
“Axar is not a big turner of the ball and he pitched it in the right areas”. Three men who haven’t had the best of the times recently did the job for India. David Miller (0) failed yet again as he edged a Kumar’s (3-31) delivery without troubling the scorers.
Advertisement
Dhoni remained active behind the wickets too as he took three catches and a stumpings in the match after silencing his critics with his willow.
