Laxman, Dhoni bat SA out of the test

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: February 16, 2010

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Kolkata: Both VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni slammed hundreds, putting together the second double century partnership of the innings and going on to virtually bat South Africa out of the test. Stranger things have happened on a cricket field but one can say with some confidence that the only team that can lose the match from here is South Africa.

This was only the second instance when four Indian batsmen scored centuries in the same innings. Laxman and Dhoni joined Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who had scored centuries on the second day. With this hundred, Laxman took his tally of runs at the Eden Gardens to 1041 at an astonishing average of 94.63. He has now scored four hundreds in the nine tests he has played at his favourite venue.

India eventually declared their first innings at 643 for 6, with Laxman unbeaten on 143, his 15th test hundred, and Dhoni unbeaten on 132, his fourth hundred. The duo added a record 259 runs for the seventh wicket.

Staring at a massive deficit of 347 runs, South Africa faced just five balls in their second innings before bad light stopped play. At the draw of stumps, the tourists were 6 without loss with Graeme Smith on 5 and Alviro Petersen on 1. They still need 341 runs to make India bat again and it would require a miraculous batting performance by them on the fourth and fifth days to come back into this game.

South Africa could manage only one wicket, that of night-watchman Amit Mishra, in the entire day, and their bowlers weren’t helped much by the dropped chances which proved very costly. Laxman added 95 more runs after he was dropped while Dhoni added 105 after his reprieve. Add to that the 118 that Virender Sehwag added yesterday after the chance that he got and South Africa wouldn’t have been in this position at the end of the third day.

Resuming on the overnight score of 342 for 5, the day began with night watchman Mishra hitting a quick-fire 38-ball 28 to put on a 48-run sixth wicket partnership with Laxman. But once he was dismissed caught at slip by Kallis, who earlier dropped him on 23, South Africa took the new ball and Dale Steyn started swinging it.

But Laxman, who has produced some of his classiest knocks at Eden, and the Indian skipper Dhoni, were in no mood to let go of this opportunity to win the test and level the series. Both of them paced their innings brilliantly and the score of 643 for six turned out to be India’s highest-ever total against South Africa, eclipsing the previous best of 628 at Chennai in 2008.

One felt sorry for the South African bowlers as Laxman and Dhoni literally started toying with the bowling after reaching their hundreds. In fact, there came a stage when Dhoni even started turning down singles to Laxman! From 100 off 203, Laxman went to 143 off 260 while Dhoni went from 100 off 159 to 132 off 187.

If India manages to win the Test, they will retain their number one position in the ICC Test rankings. However, if the South Africans draw or win the match and clinch the series 1-0 or 2-0, they will dislodge India from the number one position.

Match Summary:

South Africa 296 and 6 for 0 trail India 643 for 6 dec. (Laxman 143*, Dhoni 132*, Sehwag 165, Tendulkar 106) by 341 runs

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