SA vs India - First Test Match
November 20-24, 2004Toss: South Africa elected to bat
Green Parks, Kanpur
Umpires: D J Harper and S J A Taufel
Result: Draw
First Test First Day
November 20, 2004
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 [78*(274)] ensured the first day of the first Test went the tourists' way despite four wickets for Anil Kumble.
Jacques Kallis,on 33 (37 off 108), completed his 6,000 runs in Test cricket in his 81st Test and 134th innings. He became second South African after Gary Kirsten to do so for South Africa. In Picture: Graeme Smith: South Africa captain Graeme Smith was happy to see the gamble of playing Andrew Hall as an opener paying off so well against India in Kanpur. Hall hit 78 not out in a South African score of 230-4, putting on 61 for the first wicket with Smith.
First Test Second Day
November 21, 2004
South Africa all-rounder Andrew Hall warned India they should be under no illusions that the tourists are fully focused on a positive result in Kanpur. He said: "Nobody plays for a draw and we are here to win," after hitting a marathon 163 in a score of 459-7. South Africa began the second day on 230-4 and India had an early success as Boeta Dippenaar (48) edged a Sourav Ganguly leg-cutter to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik.
At the close, Pollock was 31 not out with the other debutant Thami Tsolekile five. In Picture: 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.
First Test Third Day
November 22, 2004
The visitors resumed the third day on 459-7 and went for quick runs, losing Tsolekile to Anil Kumble for nine and Robin Peterson, who was bowled by Harbhajan Singh after smashing 34 from just 24 balls. Shaun Pollock finished unbeaten on 44. Kumble (6-131, 430 wkts total) is now only five short of surpassing Kapil Dev's wicket-aggregate of 434 wickets to become the highest wicket-taker for India.
Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir shared an unbeaten 185-run stand to lead a spirited fightback by India in the first test against South Africa on Monday.
Left-hander Gambhir, playing in only his second test, was dropped on five and Sehwag should have been stumped when he was on 29, but after those let-offs the pair smashed South Africa's pace attack all around the field. In Picture: Gautam Gambhir congratulates Virender Sehwag on his 50.
First Test Fourth Day
November 23, 2004
Sehwag (164) and Gambhir (96) achieved only the sixth opening stand of 200 or more (218) for India. It was the second highest opening stand in a Test for India, beaten only by the 413 by Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad against New Zealand in 1955-56. The Delhi pair, 85 apiece overnight, began briskly after a delayed start due to fog, but slowed down as Gambhir approached what could have been his first Test century in only his second match.Captain Sourav Ganguly (57) and Rahul Dravid (52 not out) built on the fine start as India posted a fitting reply to South Africa's first innings total of 510-9 declared. Ganguly hit seven boundaries during his half-century and added 96 runs for the fourth wicket with Dravid, who hit five fours in a cautious knock of 169 balls.
The only failure in the Indian innings came from Sachin Tendulkar , bowled off his pads for just three. In Picture: Virender Sehwag on his 100. Sehwag's century was his eighth in 28 Test cricket matches.
First Test Fifth Day
November 24, 2004
The first Test between India and South Africa ended in a predictable draw after South Africa batted through most of the final day. Unlike Mumbai where the Test match against Australia ended in just over two days earlier this month, the Green Park track turned out to be a batsman's paradise with just 13 wickets falling on the first four days and as many as 10 wickets tumbling on the last day alone.
The slow pace of scoring by the tourists on the first two days after opting to bat first meant that a draw would be the only outcome of the match.
For the record, South Africa scored 169 for four in their second innings in a dreary contest which would be remembered for Virender Sehwag 's blistering 164.
Earlier, the Indians lost their last six wickets for just 65 runs to be bowled out for 466 in their first innings barely half an hour before the lunch break.
The two teams will now travel to Kolkata for the second match of the two-Test series beginning at the historic Eden Gardens on November 27. In Picture: Andrew Hall poses with the man of the match trophy.
India vs South Africa 1st Test Match Scoreboard
November 24, 2004
South Africa 510-9d & 169-4 drew with India 466
In Picture: Anil Kumble using a mix of patience and attack, picked up all four wickets to fall on the first day and, in so doing, exploded the myth that he cant take wickets on a pitch lacking bounce or bite. According to a report in India Times about the curator of the pitch, "Shiv Kumar Yadav joined the stadium staff as an electrician about two years ago, and a few months ago, thanks to some internal politics, was elevated to the post of curator. He reportedly had a hand in preparing the pitch for the Test match."
First South Africa innings
Batsman |
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s | ||
G C Smith | b A Kumble |
37 |
66 | 5 | 0 | |
A J Hall | b A Kumble |
163 |
454 | 17 | 0 | |
M van Jaarsveld | lbw | b A Kumble |
2 |
7 | 0 | 0 |
J H Kallis | lbw | b A Kumble |
37 |
108 | 3 | 0 |
J A Rudolph | b A Kumble |
0 |
1 | 0 | 0 | |
H H Dippenaar | c K K D Karthik | b S C Ganguly |
48 |
127 | 5 | 0 |
Z de Bruyn | c R Dravid | b Harbhajan Singh |
83 |
206 | 6 | 3 |
S M Pollock | not out |
|
44 |
140 | 4 | 0 |
T L Tsolekile | lbw | b A Kumble |
9 |
27 | 1 | 0 |
R J Peterson | b Harbhajan Singh |
34 |
24 | 3 | 1 | |
Extras |
|
16nb 1w 9b 22lb | 53 |
| ||
Total | for 9 | 510 |
|
|
Live Cricket
Batsman |
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s | ||
V Sehwag | lbw | b A J Hall |
164 |
228 | 24 | 2 |
G Gambhir | c T L Tsolekile | b S M Pollock |
96 |
151 | 11 | 1 |
R Dravid | c T L Tsolekile | b M Ntini |
54 |
179 | 5 | 0 |
S R Tendulkar | b A J Hall |
3 |
18 | 0 | 0 | |
S C Ganguly | c R J Peterson | b Z de Bruyn |
57 |
111 | 7 | 0 |
V V S Laxman | b M Ntini |
9 |
26 | 1 | 0 | |
K K D Karthik | lbw | b S M Pollock |
1 |
4 | 0 | 0 |
A Kumble | c T L Tsolekile | b M Ntini |
9 |
13 | 2 | 0 |
Harbhajan Singh | c H H Dippenaar | b R J Peterson |
17 |
50 | 1 | 1 |
Z Khan | b A J Hall |
30 |
34 | 3 | 1 | |
M Kartik | not out |
|
0 |
0 | 0 | 0 |
Extras |
|
7nb 10b 9lb | 26 |
| ||
Total | all out | 466 |
|
|
Live Cricket
Batsman |
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s | ||
G C Smith | c G Gambhir | b M Kartik |
47 |
100 | 7 | 0 |
A J Hall | c K K D Karthik | b Harbhajan Singh |
26 |
53 | 5 | 0 |
M van Jaarsveld | lbw | b M Kartik |
13 |
32 | 2 | 0 |
J H Kallis | not out |
|
28 |
112 | 1 | 0 |
J A Rudolph | c K K D Karthik | b Harbhajan Singh |
2 |
12 | 0 | 0 |
H H Dippenaar | not out |
|
31 |
80 | 4 | 0 |
Extras |
|
5nb 12b 5lb | 22 |
| ||
Total | for 4 | 169 |
|
|
Live Cricket
Result: India drew with South Africa
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Indian Team
November 18, 2004
Sourav Ganguly (Captain), Virender Sehwag , Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar , Vangipurappu Laxman, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan.
In Picture: Indian Spinner after grabbing one of his four wickets on day 1. Kumble went into tea on a hat-trick.
South African Team
November 19, 2004
Graeme Smith (Captain), Jacques Rudolph, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Zander de Bruyn, Thami Tsolekile (wicket-keeper), Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini,Andrew Hall, Robin Peterson, Martin van Jaarsveld. In Picture: Kallis, regarded as the best All Rounder in the World.
The Venue
November 17, 2004
A big ground in the heart of the city of Kanpur, Green Park (Modi stadium) was in the very early days of pre and post-mutiny (1857) used as a parade ground. The first Test to be played at Green Park was in 1951-52, when England beat India by eight wickets in three days. A total of 18 Tests have been played there since, with as many as 11 ending in dull draw thanks to dead pitches.