It had threatened to be a South African canter into the final. Instead, they shuddered to a standstill, hitting an imaginary barrier of their own making. For 85 overs, this match had been as unmemorable as countless other limited-overs games. But at the death, it redeemed itself, as a result of Indian opportunism and South African ineptitude. The main protagonists in the drama were a contrast of emotions as they filed in for the press conference afterwards, with Shaun Pollock resembling a bridegroom who came back from a loo break to find his bride a speck in the distance. But for all his undoubted disappointment, Pollock was equanimity itself when asked to analyse the game: "We threw it away," he admitted. "The damage was done by ourselves. You can't afford to be in that position and not carry it through."

Pollock cited Herschelle Gibbs going off as the pivotal moment. "For three or four overs before he went off, we had been losing track of the run rate. It got to a stage where Hersch couldn't even grip the bat properly ... he was cramping so badly. We can't be harsh on him because he played an outstanding innings, and the rest of the guys should have finished off the job."

Sourav Ganguly smiled his way through the questions, without getting too carried away. When asked if he thought the game had been up with Gibbs and Kallis at the crease, he said: "We were down but not out. I knew if we picked up a wicket or two, things might change ... the key to our cricket over the past few months has been our fighting ability."

Ganguly was non-committal when asked if it was his call to bring Sehwag on at the death: "It doesn't matter, does it?" he asked with a grin. Ganguly also refused to accept that it was just a case of South Africa losing the match: "We grabbed our chances. Yuvraj's catch was one of the best I have ever seen while Zaheer has been amazing for us over the past few months."

Sehwag's cameo for the media was as entertaining as his batting usually is. He said he wasn't nervous in the least when he walked out to bat: "They needed six runs an over and I just needed to bowl a dot-ball" – as simplistic and uncomplicated a view as any you'll hear this year. Asked why he was always so calm and unruffled under pressure, he replied: "Maybe I was born that way," prompting peals of laughter. He wouldn't divulge the secret diet that fuels his batting either, saying only that "it was what I had before the hundred against England". When pressed further, he smiled and said: "There's still a final to play."

India are on such a high at the moment, their confidence levels are in danger of breaking the roof tiles. Whichever team they come across in the final, they will take some beating, and Pollock admitted as much. Though when asked if he'd bet on India to win the final, he brushed aside the shroud of despair to smile and say: "You should know we're not allowed to bet."

Troubled times these for South African cricket, but it helps to have a touch of class at the helm. Perhaps one of these days the selectors will actually give Pollock the team of his choice. No such worries for India, though, who march on with the surety of the Roman armies of old, their batting strength masking their bowling inadequacies.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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