 India respond well to South Africa's run mountain
27th Mar 2008 21:00 IST
Agencies
Mark Boucher (70) replaced de Villiers in the middle and ensured the run flow continued unabated. He milked the Indian attack with consummate ease, while Amla crossed the 150-mark at the other end.
The bearded South African of Indian descent, however, could not go far from there and though India's fielding remained sloppy throughout the day, Amla fell victim of an almighty mix-up with Boucher.
Boucher pushed a Kumble delivery to cover and set for a run before changing his mind. Sreesanth threw the ball at the wrong end where Boucher had made his ground. However, Dhoni, in possession of the throw, had ample time to throw it back to Kumble who whipped the bails off with Amla short of ground.
After dominating the Indian bowlers, it was possibly the only way Amla could have been out and his dismissal dropped curtains on his 406-minute vigil during which he faced 262 balls and hit 20 boundaries.
Boucher, however, went about his job as if nothing had happened and he used his feet well against the spinners to reach his fifty.
Sehwag intervened to break the partnership and it came when Boucher's looping top edge had Rahul Dravid beneath it. But by then, Boucher had posted his highest score against India and took the team tally past the 500-mark. His 70 came off 146 balls and included nine boundaries.
Even Morne Morkel (35) had some fun with the bat before Harbhajan caught him off his own bowling and then scalped Paul Harris (5) and Dale Steyn (15) to finish with 5/164. |
