Herschelle Gibbs was the man South Africa depended on to score quickly and bail them out. The fall of an early wicket and a delayed start did not seem to bother Gibbs at all. Jacques Rudolph, coming in at the fall of the first wicket, failed to stem the rot. When Virender Sehwag held on to a sharp edge that flew off Rudolph’s bat, South Africa were in trouble at 13 for two.

The fall of quick wickets meant that Gibbs had to curb his natural aggression. He appeared to be checking his drives, leaving more deliveries alone than usual and eventually paid the price. Ganguly brought Harbhajan Singh into the attack before the field restrictions were lifted and was rewarded with a wicket.

The first ball Harbhajan delivered turned square, going from well outside the off stump to the leg side. The ball turned so much that it was called a wide. In the end this was a small price to pay – the South Africans were shaken up by the amount of turn Harbhajan extracted. Gibbs (26), trying to turn a straighter one to leg, closed the face of the bat too early and popped a return catch back to Harbhajan.

In the very next over, South Africa were sent spiraling towards their doom by a Ganguly slower ball. Dippenaar (22) resisted bravely for a time, but could not check his drive, presenting a simple catch to Yuvraj Singh at point. At 57 for four, South Africa needed all the help they could get. The first installment came from umpire AFM Akhtaruddin. Neil McKenzie chopped hard at Harbhajan and the ball flew off the edge onto pad. Dinesh Mongia at forward short leg snapped up the offering and the sheepish look on McKenzie’s face turned to relief as Akhtaruddin mouthed the words ‘not out.’

Unfazed, the Indian bowlers plugged on, restricting South Africa to 77 for four in 20 overs.

New skipper Graeme Smith began badly, losing the toss, and with it the initiative. South Africa left out Paul Adams and Andrew Hall, giving a rare start to left-arm swing bowler Charl Willoughby. Smith inexplicably chose to keep Shaun Pollock – former captain and their best bowler - out of the attack until the 20th over. The inexperience of Willoughby and Makhaya Ntini helped India get off to a brisk start.

To add to their troubles, Robin Peterson dropped Virender Sehwag, not the sort of batsman you want to hand out lives to, in the very first over of the game. He could then only watch in dismay as Sehwag peppered the advertising hoardings with powerful hits. Anything on the pads was deftly whipped through midwicket. When the bowlers overcompensated and gave Sehwag room outside the off stump, the blade flashed hard, sending the ball scorching across the turf through the covers.

Gautam Gambhir got a second opportunity to prove his mettle at the highest level, and impressed. A square-drive, a slash over point and a well-timed pull-stroke raced to the fence as he made his way to 18. With Sehwag taking full toll of every loose ball, Gambhir could afford to take his time getting his eye in. Just when he looked set, however, he attempted an awkward pull and gloved Ntini to Mark Boucher. It was Ntini's 100th ODI wicket, a landmark he may have reached sooner but for a lengthy ban from the game a couple of years ago.

That landmark was just about the only thing that went right for the South Africans. India scored fluently through the course of their 50 overs, slowed only temporarily by a rash stroke from Sehwag. Ganguly was livid when Sehwag undid all the good work of a 44-run partnership with another example of poor shot selection when he had made 37. Alan Dawson sensed Sehwag’s restlessness and dropped him an inviting slower ball. Sehwag took the bait, hitting the ball high enough for Jacques Rudolph to settle under at midwicket (89 for 2).

Then came the partnership that gave India firm control of the match. Kaif, running like a man possessed, pushed Ganguly hard. Ganguly’s effortless hitting against the slower bowlers took him to 75. Two cleanly-struck sixes and seven boundaries bolstered his knock, and his disappointment at missing out on a century would only just have been offset by the satisfaction of playing a vital hand in building a big score.

Kaif played second fiddle brilliantly, biding his time, until Ganguly played an ambitious drive off a slower ball from Dawson to be caught at mid-off. Ganguly’s dismissal was followed by the run-out of Yuvraj Singh (11), and there was a suggestion that the Indian scoring-rate might dip.

With a flurry of strokes on both sides of the wicket, though, Kaif and Dinesh Mongia launched a ferocious assault on the South African bowlers. Sparing neither slow bowler nor fast, the pair bludgeoned 110 runs in 11.4 overs. Finding his touch, Mongia unveiled an array of drives that pierced every available gap in the off side. Kaif joined the party, picking up length balls and clattering them over midwicket with regularity.

Kaif came tantalisingly close to a century, unbeaten on a 103-ball 95 as the innings came to a close. Mongia provided just the impetus that India needed, slamming 55 from just 38 balls.

The assault left South Africa gasping for breath and ragged in the field as they dropped catches and conceded overthrows. Not surprisingly, South Africa did not finish their 50 overs in the allotted time, something that may have caught the match-referee’s attention. The Proteas will have to bat much better than they bowled if they want to mount a serious assault in this target. And it won’t be easy. The pitch is drier, dustier and has a few cracks on it already – exactly what India kept in mind when they left out paceman Avishkar Salvi and handed leg-spinner Amit Mishra his first ODI cap.

Sourav Ganguly was livid when Sehwag undid all the good work with another example of poor shot selection. Sehwag had reached 37 and should have made more of his start. Alan Dawson sensed Sehwag’s restlessness and dropped him an inviting slower ball. Sehwag took the bait, hitting the ball high enough for Jacques Rudolph to settle under at midwicket.

Relishing his promotion to number 4 in the batting order, Kaif settled down well. Kaif’s stay at the crease made Ganguly run harder and the fielders were kept on their toes. The South Africans hardly distinguished themselves in the field. Catches were dropped, ground balls fumbled and over throws conceded. None of this helped the over rate, which dropped to an alarming low. At the end of the day, Graeme Smith might pay for this.

Ganguly made the best of bowling on offer, scoring at will off left-arm spinner Robin Peterson while biding his time against Pollock. Without fuss, Ganguly brought up his 51st ODI half-century. Kaif’s style of play proved to be ideally suited to batting in the middle overs, with the emphasis on ones and twos rather the big hits.

With eight wickets in hand and almost 150 on the board India are in control at the 30 over mark.

To add to their troubles, Robin Peterson dropped Virender Sehwag, not the sort of batsman you want to hand out lives to, in the very first over of the game and then watched in dismay as he peppered the advertising hoardings with powerful hits. Anything on the pads was deftly whipped through midwicket. When the bowlers overcompensated and gave Sehwag a bit of room outside the off stump, the blade flashed hard, sending the ball scorching across the turf through the covers. Small wonder then that Sehwag raced to 22 off as many balls, before settling down to a more sedate pace.

Gautam Gambhir got a second opportunity to prove his mettle at the highest level, and impressed. A square drive, a slash over point and a well-timed pull stroke raced to the fence as he made his way to 18. With Sehwag taking full toll of every loose ball that came his way, Gambhir could afford to take his time getting his eye in. Unfortunately for India, he gloved Makhaya Ntini to Mark Boucher just when it appeared he was well set.

Ganguly began well, driving Alan Dawson to the cover-point fence off the first ball he faced. The rub of the green too went his way, as Ntini paid the ultimate price for the indiscipline of overstepping. When he had made just 9, Ganguly presented Boeta Dippenaar with a simple catch and breathed a sigh of relief as umpire Brent Bowden signaled the no-ball.

Like Sehwag, Ganguly too made use of the early reprieve. He put his head down and accumulated runs against the inexperienced South African bowling attack. With India cruising, South Africa had to bring Shaun Pollock on, sooner rather than later.

Toss & Teams
India bat first against South Africa

Graeme Smith lost his first toss as captain of South Africa and was asked to take the field by Sourav Ganguly. As promised, Ganguly made a change to the Indian side. The wicket is drier and dustier than on Friday and this prompted Ganguly to hand leg-spinner Amit Mishra his ODI debut. Mishra comes in for Avishkar Salvi, strengthening the spin department.

South Africa left out Paul Adams and Andrew Hall, bringing left-arm seamer Charl Willoughby into the side. A youthful Indian side rubbed its hands in glee as they took on a South African side in the process of rebuilding. Young Smith, at the helm of South African cricket for the first time can use this game to warm up for the eventual final. At 22, Smith becomes the second youngest captain in one-dayers, after Waqar Younis.

Meaning as little disrespect to Bangladesh as possible, the home side don’t seem to have it in them to surprise either South Africa or India. With that in mind, this match becomes a dress rehearsal for the final, to be played a week from today.

Teams: India: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Dinesh Mongia, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Amit Mishra

South Africa: 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Graeme Smith (capt), 3 Boeta Dippenaar, 4 Neil McKenzie, 5 Jacques Rudolph, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 Alan Dawson, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Charl Willoughby.