10 January,2011 09:30 AM IST | | Sai Mohan
Dhoni says familiarity with conditions helped seal T20 international againstu00a0SA last night India's Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli (centre) and Rohit Sharma celebrate with the trophy after winning the Twenty20 international against SA yesterday. PIC/AFP
Welcome to the future. An overpowering atmosphere, topped with the most state-of-the-art stadium that has graced the sport in 120 years of its existence, with the impending stars of two top cricket nations doing battle in the sport's newest format. If cricketers were to be transformed to the future, this is would be the ideal point in time.
Carnival
Fears that the excessive publicity in the build-up to the Twenty20 international here between South Africa and India at the spectacular Moses Mabhida Stadium would play spoilsport were quickly tarnished when Makhaya Ntini ran in with the new ball to an ovation to savour for a lifetime. It felt like the Indian Premier League had return to these shores all over again, with the highly-flying Indian team made to feel at home with overshadowing support, loud Bollywood music in the background, with spectators dancing to the tunes of a DJ.
Ultimately, in this scripted affair, the result of 'the cricket game' didn't matter. There have been event management working on this extravaganza for over a month. Cricket South Africa (CSA) were incessant on giving their favourite son Ntini a spectacular farewell, it was a party, not just for the 50,000 plus spectators, but the cricketers.
As far as the cricket was concerned, India's most successful T20 batsmen since the onset of the revolutionary IPL, Rohit Sharma (53) and Suresh Raina (41 not out), lived up to their maximum billing, taking advantage of the short square boundaries, powering the visitors to 168-6. Incidentally, most seamers from both sides leaked runs, while spinners held back the scoring-rate. Removing the pace of the ball seamed the way forward for both skippers.
Ro-hit!
"Rohit gave us a great start, once the ball got old, it was difficult to get it away, and our hitters got out. But the total we got was a solid one on this slowish surface. We have known these conditions because of the IPL. The spinners took advantage of the low bounce in the pitch. It all worked in our favour," Dhoni said after India's victory.
The Indian skipper was at his honest best, conceding that the ground was better equipped for football: "Playing football here would have been better, the dimensions of the stadium, and the outfield are designed for soccer.
It was a great atmosphere though, good evening to play cricket. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves," he added.
India collapsed from a healthy 109-2 to 136-5, but Raina's three plundering sixes, two through the mid-wicket region, and one through deep mid-wicket, sealed a blazing finish. For South Africa, left-armers Robin Peterson (0-20) and Wayne Parnell (1-25) proved most economical. Ntini, playing his last game, seemed rusty, conceding 12 runs per over.
In reply, Morne van Wyk, who last played an international game in 2007, plundered 67 off just 39 balls, a knock that included five sixes, but never received the support to chase down a steep target. India's opening duo of Praveen Kumar (1-17) and Ashish Nehra (2-22) conceded less than six per over, a telling factor in the final outcome. The spin trio of R Ashwin (1-33), Yusuf Pathan (2-22) and Yuvraj Singh (1-20) held South Africa back to 147-9, as India clinched a convincing 21-run victory.u00a0
"They (India) bowled much better than us, better lengths. We were ahead of the required run-rate at one stage, but once we started falling behind, we could not expect the tail enders to do the job," South Africa captain Johan Botha said.
"Ntini has been inspirational not only to us cricketers, but for everyone in South Africa," he concluded.
