Date-stamped : 18 May94 - 14:23 Friendship Tour - South Africa vs India 2nd Test 2nd Test played at Wanderer's (Johannesburg, South Africa) from Thursday 26 November 1992 to Monday 30 November. South African captain Wessels won the toss and elected to bat. Match Adjudicator : Clive Lloyd (West Indies) Umpires : 1. Steve Bucknor 2. Cyril Mitchley 3. Barry Lambson MoM: Brian McMillan (RSA) for his 98 in the first innings & 4/90 Test Drawn. Daily summaries: Day 1 : SA 1st innings 226/7 Day 2 : SA 1st innings 292/9 India 1st innings 128/6 India are 164 runs behind. Day 3 : India 1st innings 227 all out SA 2nd innings 75/1 South Africa are 140 runs ahead. Day 4 : SA 2nd innings 252/9 India 2nd innings 15/0 India need 307 runs to win. Day 5 : India 2nd innings 141/4 Match called off 30 minutes before scheduled close. Official Attendance (Note: Capacity of the Wanderes is 30 000.) Days 1-5 : 10 100, 12 200, 23 300, 26 000, 12 000 Conditions Day 1 (Thursday 26 November 1992): It was a fine and hot day, with not much cloud and no prospect of rain. With the wicket not watered since Sunday, there was very lit- tle grass, with the pitch very hard. One or two cracks were present at both the Golf Course end and Corlett Drive ends. There is a little wor- ry that the wicket might not last the 5 days, and if this does happen then the team batting in the 4th innings will find things going very diffi- cult for them. The outfield is hard but there is some grass on it, so in some in- stances it is not as fast as it can be. Day 2 (Friday 27 November 1992): After a day of Dev straying into the illegal area on the Cor- lett Drive there was a small patch. The cracks had also worsened on the Golf Course end on the line of the medium pacer. The patch on the Corlett Drive end would help the spinners as it is about a foot to foot and a half outside the crease stretching for another half a foot. It was another hot summers day here to- day. Day 3 (Saturday 28 November 1992): With another fine day, with no prospect of any rain, the pitch is standing up well. The patch that was developing from the fol- low through of the fast bowlers (both Dev and McMillan) has widen and is on a line of middle and leg stumps, just right on the length for Kumble. Day 4 (Sunday 29 November 1992): Today is another hot day (maximum temperature 28 degrees cel- cius), with no prospect for rain and the big problem on the pitch is the cracks on the Golf Course End and the "illegal" patch developing on the Corlett Drive End. The light roller was used on the pitch, so as not to propagate any more cracks. However the cracks have widen and should start affecting the course of play. The spinners would enjoy the "illegal" patch left behind from the fast bowlers to exploit. Day 5 (Monday 30 November 1992): It was a hot day, but rain looked like it will threaten when it began in the north west. Finally 15 minutes before 17:00, showers fell on one end of the ground. The wicket was not stand- ing up well, with some uneven bounce and also the odd one keep- ing low. The patch and cracks have propagated further. Run Rate Day 1: SA 226 runs in 90 overs at 2.51 runs per over. Day Rate 226 runs in 90 overs at 2.51 runs per over. Day 2: SA 66 runs in 20 overs and 5 balls at 3.17 runs per over. India 128 runs in 64 overs at 2 runs per over. Day Rate 194 runs in 84 overs and 5 balls at 2.29 runs per over. Day 3: India 99 runs in 44 overs at 2.25 runs per over. SA 75 runs in 39 overs at 1.92 runs per over. Day Rate 174 runs in 83 overs at 2.10 runs per over. Day 4: SA 177 runs in 79 overs and 2 balls at 2.24 runs per over. India 15 runs in 5 overs at 3 runs per over. Day Rate 192 runs in 84 overs and 2 balls at 2.26 runs per over. Day 5: India 126 runs in 77 overs at 1.64 runs per over. Day Rate 126 runs in 77 overs at 1.64 runs per over. Match Rate 912 runs in 419 overs and 1 ball at 2.18 runs per over Comments Day 1 : Prabhakar was able to generate a lot of swing in the first 20 overs and this effectively swung the game India's way. However with the hot highveld sun shining on the wicket, the swing was not to be a factor again. With the entire top order gone, Cronje and Rhodes (both 23) came to the rescue of their country and took the score along merrily to 60 before Cronje went. However Rhodes could have been out without scoring if More had held onto his shot, and then the real controversy came when on 28 he called for a run and was run out. But umpire Steve Bucknor was not is a position to call the run out, so he gave the benefit of doubt to Rhodes. The controversy is that since in this series use is being made of the third umpire along with the electronic eye, umpire Bucknor could have asked for a verdict from the third umpire since he was in no "posi- tion" to do so himself. ASIDE: There is nothing in the ICC rules that allow the players to ask for a ruling by the third umpire, only the um- pire in the middle can do so. Perhaps, we will see a change in this direction in the future. With the controversy behind him, Rhodes took the game to the Indians and along with McMillan pulled South Africa out of trouble. Such was Rhodes ability that when he pushed a ball through midwicket, instead of three, he ran four and the commen- tators were moved to say that it is diffucult trying catching your breath the way Rhodes runs between the wickets. Day 1 session 1 to India. Day 1 session 2 and 3 to South Africa. Day 2 : The morning session did not go without incident as Pringle was sent to the hospital for stitches and X-Rays after being hit on above his left eye while trying to play a bouncer from Srinath. The South African camp is worried since they took a gamble in com- ing into the match with four strike bowlers and it looks like Pringle will be out of action for the rest of the test and the South African attack has lost some of its glamour due to non availability of Schultz and Pringle due to injuries. Brian McMillan was unlucky not to get his maiden century being last man out and South Africa recov- ering well from being 26/4 to being 292 all out. With the South African attack deplet- ed, the bowlers made up for their defencies by go- ing through the top order. But Sachin Tendulkar decided that he was not go- ing to be a slouch like the rest of his team mates and give his wicket away easily. With the South African bowlers bowling short and on the off side he mercily took 13 boundaries to take his overnight score to 75*. Of those 13 boundaries only 2 were on the leg side. However all his hard work mattered little as South Africa by dismissing both Amre and Prabhakar in the last hour of the day. A definite star for the South Africans must be Cronje who was employed as a stop gap bowler to rest the fast bowlers and proved his worth with day figures of 11 overs, 7 maidens and 14 runs. Making a test debut Matthews was also economical. The big controversy today is the running onto the line of the stumps of Kapil Dev in his follow through resulting in the patch appearing at one end of the pitch. Jack Bannister was moved to say that he did not see so much blatant running onto the wicket by a bowler in the more than 100 matches that he has commentated in. Day 2 session 1 and 3 to South Africa. Day 2 session 2 to India. Day 3 : The running on the pitch continued today, with the culprit being this time South African Brian McMillan. Unlike the previ- ous day when the South African bowlers were throwing the ball all over the wicket, they maintained the correct line and length and thereby restricting the Indian batsmen in scoring. However Sachin Tendulkar was the only player to shine in reaching his centu- ry. However he did not have it his own way, giving Jonty Rhodes a difficult chance at cover when he was on 84. To demon- strate the ability of the South African bowlers to contain the Indi- an batsmen, Tendulkar had made 75 on day 2, and in the first 2 hours on this day, he made only 9 runs. The big scorer in the morning was Dev who made a fast 24 runs to add to his 1 run made on day 2. Once again the South African batsmen had to really work to get the Indian tail. Tendulkar who had batted with aggression on day 2 finally came out his shell when on 98, he dispatched Matthews to the boundary three times in the same over to bring up his century and India's 200. Tendulkar fi- nally succumbed to Cronje trying to force the pace and reduce India's first innings deficit and gave Hudson a straight for- ward catch. After being 26/4 in the first session on the first day, South African had done well to take the advantage away from India and go on the attack. With South Africa going along merrily and the end of the day, 15 minutes away, Cook played at at a delivery outside the leg stump and was caught behind. The commentator said that he always thought that if a person got caught by the wicketkeeper on the leg side then he was unlucky, but with Jimmy Cook it was habit (he gets out more flashing on the leg side than any other way). The demise of Cook say South African wicketkeeper, Richardson, come out as night watchman. Day 3 to South Africa Day 4 : With South Africa in a commanding position at the end of the third day, night watchman, Richardson and Hudson kept the score board ticking away merrily. However after Hudson went, the In- dian bowlers turned the screws and the runs stopped flow- ing. A surprising decision was the bowling of Kumble from the Corlett Drive end as everyone expected that he will bowl from the Golf Course End and capitalise on the patches at the Corlett Drive end. How- ever after switching him (from Golf Course to Corlett Drive) the South African batsman found it difficult to play him. Both Kirsten and Rhodes trying to force the pace, played across the line and were bowled by Kumble. With the best fielding display by the Indians for some time, including a brilliant run out of Wessels and excellent fielding on the boun- dary - cutting off fours and in the inner circle cutting off the singles. South Africa were finally out 20 minutes before the end of the day's scheduled close. The Indian openers intent on surviving until the end of the days play, were content to leave the bowling alone as once again the South African bowlers were not forcing the batsman to play at the ball. Today saw the warning of both Richardson and Donald for running on the line of the wicket when batting. An interesting observation is that the Indians did not take the 2nd new ball that was avail- able after 85 overs, but persisted in using the same ball. This could be because the new ball had more pace in it and more runs in it. When the South African's finally put the Indians in to bat, India was chasing 318 off approximately 96 overs at a run rate of 3.31 runs per over. It should be an interesting day here tomorrow. ASIDE: According to Sunil Gavaskar, bookmakers in India are giving India a 10-1 chance of losing!! Day 4 Session 1 to South Africa. Day 4 Session 2 and 3 to India. Day 5 : With everything to play for, the South African bowlers spoilt the party by not bowling very well in the first session and thereby not getting the vital breakthrough in the morning ses- sion. The Indian batsman did not capitalise and started falling behind the re- quired run rate. However after lunch, there was some very good fiery bowling by the South African pace attack of Donald and McMillan when they fi- nally broke through to re- move four of India's top order batsman. With four of their bats- man back in the pavillion, the Indian's closed shop and instead took to seeing the day out, which they did. To this end, they were helped by a South African side that was happy to just go through the mo- tion and not allow any variation in to their at- tack, even though they always looked as though they were going to break through. The big failure must be the South African's ability to maintain the pressure for after dismissing four batsman in quick succession, they never really drove the nail into the coffin (like Kumble the day before). In the end, it was anti-climatic considering that everyone expected a good day's play. A good result for India, but for South Africa, going into day two a bowler and a batsman short, and holding most of cards for all four days except for the first session this must be a big let down. But then, the Indian's also did not help matters along by some unimagiative batting displays. Day 5 Session 1 and 3 to India (for holding out) Day 5 Session 2 to South Africa. ====================== HISTORICAL EVENTS ======================= 1. New record for the 8th wicket partnership between SA and another country at the Wanderers of 65. Previous best was 55 against New Zea- land during the 1961/2 season. 2. Sachin Tendulkar became the youngest player to make 1000 runs in Test cricket at 19 years and 222 days. 3. Sachin Tendulkar's 111 in the first inning is the highest in- dividual score in a Test by an Indian against South. Previous best was Amre's 103 in the first test at Kingsmead. 4. First time in 22 years that two South African umpires offici- ated in a Test match when both umpires Cyril Mitchley and Barry Lambson stood on Saturday (day 3). 5. Kumble became the fourth player to take 6 wickets in an in- nings at the Wanderers. 6. Umpire Steve Bucknor became the first umpire not to change ends in an innings in a test when after his rest day (day 3), he came out and stood on the same end (as he did on day 2) for day 4 7. Kepler Wessels became the first South African player to be run out with the aid of the television and the third umpire. 8. Kepler Wessels became the first player to be run out at the Wanderer's with the aid of the camera and third umpire. 9. This was the 100th test match to played in South Africa. 10. South Africa's first innings score is highest ever between South Africa and India, surpassing India's 277 scored in the first test at Kingsmead. Thanks to Feroz Khan Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)