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NEWS India-South Africa Series 2006>Ntini bowls South Africa to victory 30th Dec 2006 22.11 IST By Manish Kumar Makhaya Ntini wrecked India to bowl South Africa to a magnificent 174-run victory as the Indian batsmen caved in to register a spineless batting display on the fifth day at Kingsmead in Durban on December 30. Ntini took five wickets as the Indian top-order batsmen had no clue whatsoever how to play him.
On the fifth ball of the day, Ntini trapped Sachin Tendulkar plumb in front of the wicket for a duck off a slightly short of length delivery that landed outside the off-stump, came in, Tendulkar initially kept his left foot out, then went back and was hit on the knee roll – clearly beaten for pace as the ball was going on to strike the top of the middle stump. In his next over, Wasim Jaffer (28) fell to Ntini while playing a horrible shot. Ntini banged in a bouncer outside off-stump, Jaffer tried to pull it from there but ended popping it up to Andrel Nel, who moved to his left from mid-on to take a simple catch. After a while, bad light stopped play and an early Lunch was taken. Sourav Ganguly hit four edgy fours in his knock of 26 before becoming Ntini’s fifth victim by edging a simple catch to Herschelle Gibbs at gully. This was Ntini’s fifteenth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Nel struck next by shattering the stumps of VVS Laxman (15) who played across the line, his bat coming down in an angle and gave him no chance as the ball flew through the huge bat and pad gap to crash into the top of the off-stump. Graeme Smith then introduced Andrew Hall in the attack who struck first ball by dismissing Anil Kumble (11) off a bouncer caught at forward short leg by Hashim Amla. Mahendra Dhoni top scored for India in the second innings with a gritty knock of 47 but Nel dismissed him on the penultimate ball before Tea by inducing an edge off his willow and caught by Mark Verdon Boucher behind the stumps. India had two wickets in hand when they went to Tea. Nel and Hall took care of that. Nel dismissed Zaheer Khan (21) by having him caught at third slip by Hall who in the next over had S Sreesanth caught by Boucher – a wrong decision as the ball hit Sreesanth’s shoulder, not the bat as India were bowled out for 179 runs in just 55.1 overs. Ntini was adjudged the Man of the Match for taking 8/89 in the match as South Africa won the Test by 174 runs, levelled the series 1-1 with one Test to go in Cape Town starting Tuesday. This is the third time this year that India have lost a match when they just had to survive two sessions to save the Test. If only the Indian top order had played the way Dhoni, Zaheer, Kumble and Sreesanth gritted it out in the middle. Full marks to South Africa who always looked the better side except when they were 28/3 on the first morning. How they have bounced back in style as India ended 2006 on a sour note. Also View In-Depth Coverage: India-South Africa Series 2006 Team Page: India Team Page: South Africa | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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