India - SA Cricket Series 2004-2005
A series win for India
South Africa's collapse from 183-5 to 222 all out enabled the Indians to record a comfortable eight-wicket victory and claim a 1-0 series win on the final day of second test in Kolkata on Dec 02, 2004. Man-of-the-match Harbhajan Singh struck three vital blows, including the crucial wicket of Jacques Kallis, to finish with figures of seven for 87 and a match analysis of 51-9-141-9.Shaun Pollock, with a single off Harbhajan, got the run that took him to the 3 000 mark, having already taken 300 wickets. He joins the august company of Sir Richard Hadlee, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Imran Khan as the fifth all-rounder to have achieved the feat.
In the second Innings, Anil Kumble dismissed Ntini to equal Kapil Dev's Indian record of 434 wickets The first Test between India and South Africa had ended in a predictable draw after South Africa batted through most of the final day. For SA, Hall made 163 in the first innings and in return Sehwag (164) and Gambhir (96) achieved the second highest opening stand in a Test for India, recording 218. At the start of the tour, South Africa narrowly averted an embarrassing defeat to the Indian Board President's XI on the final day of their only warm-up match in India. This was South Africa's first Test series on Indian soil since winning both Tests in 2000 under the late Hansie Cronje. When the series started, South Africa had a good record against India, having won seven of 14 Tests, two loses and five draws. Indian captain Sourav Ganguly who was earlier banned for the Test series against South Africa was allowed to play by the International Cricket Council. It was only the second Test series win for India over South Africa after the 1996-97 series at home which India took 2-1. The series victory reversed the result from South Africa's last tour and was some consolation after the defeat at home to Australia in November.
In Picture: Top: Ganguly lifts the Videocon Cup after victory over South Africa. The Cup, 16 inches in height and seven inches wide, is designed by Swarovski, the world's leading manufacturer of cut crystal.
Above: Indian cricket team members with the Videocon trophy after winning the test series against South Africa on the fifth and final day of the second cricket test match in Calcutta (Kolkata), Thursday, December 2, 2004. India won by 8 wickets.
Left: Sehwag was declared man of the series for his innings of 164, dnb, 88 and 10. Hall was the man of the match in the first test at Kanpur after hitting a marathon 163 in a score of 459-7.
Harbhajan who ended up with seven wickets for 87 runs in the second innings, the best ever bowling figures by an Indian bowler against South Africa, earned man of the match title for the second test at Calcutta.
India - SA Cricket Series 2004-05 Starts
Two test series winners will take home the Videocon trophy
South Africa will play a two test series and a 3 day match against Indian XI starting Nov 14th 2004. The New South African coach Ray Jennings said his team will start as underdogs in their two-Test series against India.South Africa play their first Test series on Indian soil since winning both Tests in 2000 under the late Hansie Cronje. South Africa have a good record against India, having won seven of 14 Tests, lost two and drawn five.
India captain Sourav Ganguly who was earlier banned for the Test series against South Africa was allowed to play by the International Cricket Council pending an appeal against his two-match ban for his team's slow over-rate in a One Day International.
In Picture: Top: Ganguly and Smith jointly held aloft the glittering trophy and posed for photographs in a brief ceremony at the Green Park stadium, in Kanpur, the venue of the first Test. The Cup, 16 inches in height and seven inches wide, is designed by Swarovski, the world's leading manufacturer of cut crystal.
Left: Shahrukh Khan, the ambassador of Videocon, earlier unveiled the India-South Africa Cricket Trophy for the forthcoming test series between India and South Africa, Nov-Dec 2004.
India South Africa First Test Match
Kanpur, November 20-24, 2004
India South Africa Cricket Series 2004 - First Test Drawn
DAY ONE: South Africa captain Graeme Smith won the toss and chose to bat in the first test against India on Saturday. The tourists included two uncapped players, all rounder Zander de Bruyn, 29, and wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile, 24, in their team.Andrew Hall, opening in a Test for the first time, defied India's three-pronged spin attack to steer South Africa to 230-4 in Kanpur. Hall's efforts ensured the first day of the first Test went the tourists' way despite four wickets for Anil Kumble.
DAY TWO: Opener Andrew Hall scored his maiden Test century as South Africa reached 459-7 at stumps on day two of the first Test against India in Kanpur. Hall took 433 minutes to complete his century, which is the second slowest Test century by a South African.
Hall was finally bowled around his legs by Anil Kumble for 163 after a 144-run partnership with debutant all-rounder Zander de Bruyn, who hit 83.
Kumble had figures of 5-116 while the other spinners Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik really struggled.
DAY THREE: India openers in impressive reply: India are 185-0 after day three of the first Test in reply to South Africa's 510-9 declared in Kanpur. Meanwhile South Africa's total is their highest total against India in India surpassing the 479 at Bangalore in 1999-00. Anil Kumble (6-131) claimed six wickets in an innings for the 16th time in his career and now shares the world record of most 6-wicket innings hauls with New Zealand's Richard Hadlee.
Sehwag and Gambhir, both unbeaten on 85, put on the highest ever opening partnership for India against South Africa.
DAY FOUR: Opener Virender Sehwag hit a sparkling century as India kept on course for a big score in the first Test against South Africa at the Green Park Stadium. The home side reached 401-4 at stumps on the fourth day on Tuesday after the big-hitting batsman slammed 164 and starred in an opening stand of 218 with Gautam Gambhir (96). Sehwag became the seventh Indian, on the 13th occasion, to perform the feat of aggregating 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year.
DAY FIVE: The Indians suffered a shocking batting collapse in the morning session to concede a lead of 44 runs but did manage to expose South African batsmen's vulnerability to spin to some extent in the second innings on the fifth day track before play was called off. South Africa ended with 169/4 in 64 overs. Smith made 47. Test Drawn.
Brief Scores First Test, Kanpur (day five): South Africa 510-9d & 169-4 drew with India 466
In Pictures: Indian captain Sourav Ganguly making an unsuccesful appeal against the South Africans on day one.
India South Africa Second Test Match
Calcutta, November 28 - December 2, 2004
India South Africa Cricket Series 2004 - Second Test India Won
DAY ONE: South African captain Graeme Smith won the toss in Calcutta and decided to bat first in the second Test against India. Smith passed a late fitness test on Sunday after a car ran over his foot in a freak accident. India made one change at Eden Gardens bringing in seamer Irfan Pathan for left-arm spinner Murali Kartik. Meanwhile, spinner Anil Kumble is set to become India's leading wicket-taker, currently boasting 430 victims from 89 matches, four short of Kapil Dev's record, taken in 131 Tests.Jacques Kallis hit his first century against India as South Africa reached 227-5 on day one of the second Test. Jaques Rudolph (61) joined Kallis in a third-wicket stand of 109 to lift the tourists from a difficult start.
DAY TWO: Virender Sehwag nears a ninth Test ton as India reach 129-1 in reply to South Africa's 305. India reached 129-1 at stumps to trail the visitors by 176, with Sehwag 82 not out and Rahul Dravid unbeaten on 33. The hosts lost Gautam Gambhir, lbw to Shaun Pollock, before the second-wicket pair added 112 unbroken runs together.
Harbhajan Singh (2-54) earlier polished off the tail as South Africa were dismissed for 305 from 227-5 overnight. South Africa added just 62 runs for the loss of three wickets in the morning session, with India captain Sourav Ganguly grabbing the vital wicket of Jacques Kallis (bowled) for 121.
DAY THREE: India were establishing a handy lead over South Africa when bad light brought an early end to the third day's play of the second Test in Calcutta. Resuming the day on 129-1, India added only 15 runs before Sehwag was caught in gully off a brutish short ball from Ntini. Sachin Tendulkar 's indifferent run of form continued when he misjudged an off-drive and played Zander de Bruyn (2-32) onto his stumps for 20, leaving India 198-3 at lunch. The hosts led by 54 runs on 359-6 at stumps, with Dinesh Karthik (35) and Irfan Pathan (21) putting on 51 unbroken runs for the seventh wicket.
On day 4, India will be looking to go ahead by at least 150 runs before allowing Kumble and company to have a go at the Proteas.
DAY FOUR: Harbhajan Singh took four wickets on day four of the deciding second Test to dramatically revive India's hopes of beating South Africa in Calcutta. The match looked set for a draw after the tourists put on 77 for their first wicket, Graeme Smith making 71. But Harbhajan struck either side of tea to leave South Africa 172-5 - just 66 ahead - with Jacques Kallis 52 not out. Earlier, Dinesh Karthik hit 46 as India reached 411 all out in their first innings, Makhaya Ntini taking 4-112.
DAY FIVE: The Spinners lead India to a series win as Anil Kumble equaled Kapil Dev's wicket record. India beat South Africa by eight wickets in the second test of the two match series. The tourists were bowled out for 222 on the fifth morning, with Kumble's spin partner Harbhajan Singh taking 7-87. With 117 needed for victory, Rahul Dravid (47) and Sachin Tendulkar (32) shared an unbroken stand of 60. Earlier Jacques Kallis added just three to his overnight 52, while Zander de Bruyn made an unbeaten 32.
The series victory reversed the result from South Africa's last tour and was some consolation after the defeat at home to Australia earlier this month. Brief Scores Second Test, Calcutta: India 411 & 120-2 beat South Africa 305 & 222 by eight wickets
In Picture: India celebrate their early success against South Africa on Day One.
India tops stats chart
Test Series Statistics
Dravid and Harbhajan tops averages
Virender Sehwag emerged as the highest run-getter as India dominated the statistical charts, sweeping the batting and bowling honours in the two-Test cricket series against South Africa. Sehwag, who turned out to be the main tormentor for the visitors, amassed 262 runs at an average of 87.33 though it was vice-captain Rahul Dravid who topped the batting averages with 90.50 compiling 181 runs.Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who played a key role in India's eight-wicket series winning victory in Kolkata, stood out among the bowlers with an impressive haul of 13 wickets taken at an average of 23.61.
The other Indian top order batsmen, who had fared dismally against Australia, once again failed to get the big scores. Though Sourav Ganguly did marginally better (48.50), Sachin Tendulkar (27.50) and VVS Laxman (23.50) continued to disappoint.
For the South Africans, Jacques Kallis scored the maximum runs at 241 and also had the best batting average (80.33). Their bowlers were largely unimpressive, the experienced Shuan Pollock taking just four wickets at an average of 55.75.
Their other frontline bowler Makhaya Ntini emerged as the highest wicket-taker with eight scalps from two matches at an average of 32.25.
In Picture: Captain Ganguly and Vice Captain Rahul Dravid . Dravid topped the batting averages with 90.50 Live Cricket
