Amla: Pitch a difficult factor

Faf du Plessis watches on disbelievingly as Indian spinner Amit Mishra (centre) celebrates bowling the Proteas batsman for 39 in Nagpur on Friday. Photo: Amit Dave, Reuters

Faf du Plessis watches on disbelievingly as Indian spinner Amit Mishra (centre) celebrates bowling the Proteas batsman for 39 in Nagpur on Friday. Photo: Amit Dave, Reuters

Published Nov 27, 2015

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It was always going to be a long shot, but after an initial fightback, the Proteas’ resistance eventually crumbled in Nagpur.

On a pitch that was extremely difficult to bat on, South Africa succumbed to India by 124 runs in the third Test on Friday to lose the series 2-0 with one Test still to play.

The result ended the Proteas’ nine-year unbeaten run in Test series away from home.

Having begun the day on 32/2 and needing a further 278 runs for victory, the Proteas found a combination that finally managed to keep the deadly Indian spin attack of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra for a lengthy period of time.

Captain Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis put up a resolute rearguard action after Dean Elgar and AB de Villiers both fell LBW to Ashwin, and the Proteas were down and out at 58/4.

But then Amla and Du Plessis dug in, patiently blocking out Ashwin and Co on a pitch offering variable bounce and prodigious turn. The South African pair put together a fifth-wicket partnership of 72, and as long as they were at the crease, the Proteas had an outside chance of pulling off a remarkable win.

The fairytale wasn’t to be, though, as Amla (39 off 167 balls, 2x4) received a terrific delivery from leg-spinner Mishra. The ball jumped off the pitch on a full length, and caught the edge of the bat to loop to Indian captain Virat Kohli at gully.

Du Plessis (39 off 152 balls, 3x4, 1x6) was dismissed in the next Mishra over when he was bowled, and that was the real end of the South African challenge.

Man-of-the-Match Ashwin got rid of the last four Proteas batsmen – JP Duminy, Dane Vilas, Kagiso Rabada and Morné Morkel – for the addition of just 50 runs, and he ended with the superb figures of 7/66 in 29.5 overs, which gave him 12 wickets in the match after his first-innings “fifer”.

But South African cricket fans can feel aggrieved by the fact that yet another dusty Indian track prevented a fair contest from taking place, as there was significant turn and bounce from the first session on day one.

Spin bowlers took 33 out of the 40 wickets to fall, and batsmen from both sides battled to get runs, with the highest score of the match being Indian opener Murali Vijay’s 40 in the first innings.

And Amla gave a glimpse into how frustrated he was with the sub-standard pitch without getting himself into trouble with the authorities.

“I think it was a tough match. We tried our best and the idea is, when you win or lose, you try to do that as honourably as possible. And I think the way the guys fought until the end today, I can only say well done to the guys,” Amla said in a post-match TV interview.

“To be quite honest, we could’ve been bowled out for 100, there were a lot of plays and misses – chances that could’ve gone to hand in the second innings. Sometimes that is just how the game goes. But we tried to dig deep for as long as we could, and for me, the biggest thing was that win or lose, we do it as honourably as possible.

“The pitch was a difficult factor. It was turning and bouncing, with the new ball, the old ball – it didn’t matter when. So that was probably the most difficult (aspect).

“I feel a bit compromised (not) to say too much, being on the losing side. But the three-day Test matches are a bit different, and I will just leave it at that.”

Even a beaming Indian captain Kohli admitted that the Nagpur wicket was difficult to bat on. “I thought it was a challenging wicket, definitely. The batsmen applied themselves much better in Mohali, from our side, and it’s all about application, I guess. You’ve just got to take it in your stride and prepare accordingly, and go out there and play according to the conditions in front of you,” he said.

“There are no sorts of excuses on that, no sort of analysis, too much on that, because these are conditions that you do get in different places in world cricket.

“I thought our batsmen showed character in three innings in the two Test matches (Mohali and Nagpur), and there was just that one odd innings, in the second innings when we didn’t apply (ourselves) too much. If you look throughout the series, you will find five or six good balls (that got batsmen out). Other than that, it’s been mainly bad shots.”

The final Test takes place in Delhi next Thursday, December 3.

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