Date-stamped : 04 Dec93 - 19:49 India v S.Africa, ODI2, Report St Georges Park (Port Elizabeth), 9 Dec 92 Conditions: It was another hot and sunny day. The pitch was playing with uneven bounce (especially the Park Drive End). The occasional ball did not bounce and would bounce 2 or 3 times before reaching the wicketkeeper. The wicket was also playing slightly on the slow therefore making it difficult for the stroke players to get the ball away. The pitch behaved inconsistently for both innings and therefore did not give any side an unfair advantage. Substitutions: Ind: Amre, runner for Jadeja; Sharma (12th man) for Srinath. RSA: Fielding De Villiers (12th man) for Hudson. Attendance : 19 800, Capacity : 20 000 Comments: Once again the Indian batting failed to fire on all cylinders and they were once again bowled out in 50 overs. There was some con- troversy over the run out of Azharuddin after a direct hit by McMillan led to the umpire asking for trial by television. With the camera square of the wicket not showing when the bails were dislogded because of a player blocking the camera, the third um- pire called for another angle. Then using the camre positioned down the wicket, he gave Azharuddin run out. Kapil Dev in an in- terview then went on to say that if the camera square of the wicket was unable to deliver a verdict then the doubt should be given to the batsman. ASIDE: The view from down wicket shows the bails being dislodged before Azharuddin makes it home. However, the picture was not to- tally in focus and one had to look really hard to see whether or not Azharuddin made it home or not. If one drew lines on the screen showing where the crease was and where Azharuddin's bat was then it was clear that he was out. Once again the South African's gave up pace and went for line and length and bowled to their field placements. The only exception to this was Brett Schultz (making his ODI debut) 14 runs in the 8th and 10th overs of his spell. Other than that, the bowlers performed admirably. The fielding was also above average and the Indian batsman found it difficult to send the RSA bowlers to the boundaries, with most runs coming in 1's and 2's. South Africa took longer than 3 1/2 hours to bowl 50 overs but were not penalised because there were disruptions which led to them not being able to so in 3 1/2 hours. These disruptions were as follows: 1. Medical treatment for Jadeja after being hit by the ball. 2. Runner coming in for Jadeja. 3. Medical treatment for Cronje after cutting his finger when trying to stop a ball hit while in his follow through. 4. Getting a backup stump for a stump which was broken when Amre was run out. The Indian was a reasonably easy target for the South Africans to reach. However if the Indians did get a sniff of being able to win then the South Africans would have found things going dif- ferently for them. There was some success early on in the innings when Hudson was bowled from a ball keeping low. Then followed Kirsten and Controversy. Kirsten was run out at the non strikers end backing up when Dev was bowling. The controversy surrounds the way of dismissal and whether the warnings given to Kirsten by Dev in two previous matches should be carried over. With Rhodes also coming and going as fast as he fields a ball, it was up to Callaghan and Cronje (hero's of the 1st ODI) to stabil- ise the innings and to get the victory target. This ended up be- ing a stroll in the park. UPDATE: With regards to Kirsten run out a complaint was laid by the Indians to the match adjudicator Clive Llyod concerning the behaviour of Kirsten and the "deliberate" hit on the shin by Wessels on Dev as he was turning for a run. Clive Lloyd's deci- sion was to fine Kirsten R1000 or 50% of his match fee. With re- gards the Wessels incident Llyod took Wessels "word" that the striking of Dev by him on the shin was not deliberate. SCORING CHART: India : 12 * 12 11 * 11 10 * 10 R 9 * * 9 8 * * 8 U 7 * * * * 7 6 * * * * ** ** 6 N 5 * * * * ** ** *** 5 4 * * ** * ** ** **** ** *** 4 S 3 * *** ** * * ** **** **** ********* 3 2 ** *** ** * * * * *** * **** ************** 2 1 ** *** ***** * * * ************* *************** 1 1 2 3 4 . 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567894 O V E R S South Africa: R 9 * 9 8 * * * 8 U 7 * * * * * 7 6 * * * * * * *** 6 N 5 * * * * * * ** ** *** 5 4 * * * * * * * * ** ** *** 4 S 3 ** * * * ** *** ** * * * * * ** ** *** 3 2 ***** *** *** * *** ** * * * ******* ******* 2 1 ****** *** *** ******** *********************** 1 1 2 3 4 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234566 O V E R S . 4 HISTORICAL EVENTS: 1. St George's Park became the 100th venue in the world at which a ODI was played. 2. Schultz got his first ODI wicket. 3. Callaghan got his first ODI wicket. 4. McMillan returned his best figures of 9.4-0-32-4 for an ODI. 5. Record 5th wicket partnership of 78* in 111 balls for RSA in an ODI. Thanks to Feroz Khan on r.s.c. Contributed by probal (probal@*rutgers.edu)