India win thriller despite heroic Amla

First of all, what a Test it was and what a Test series it has turned out to be. South Africa dominated the first Test and this second one had a really interesting and thrilling finale. Though this was a hurriedly arranged Test series it turned out to be one of the more memorable series that we have seen in recent times. I feel tempted to start believing that CSA and BCCI might wonder whether the ODI series to follow will add to the drama we have seen or whether it is worthwhile to have another Test to decide who the ultimate winner in the series. The danger of having a two-Test series is that at the end of two weeks of hard cricket you really don't have a clear winner. With one-all as a score, you don't really have a winner. But well done India, purely because of the way they came back into this Test after they got beaten in the first and they have continued to remain the No.1-ranked Test side. So that is a huge achievement for them.

They couldn't get Hashim Amla out at all so India, down to three bowlers and led by an exceptional Harbhajan Singh, found a way around him, leaving him stranded with nine mandatory balls to go and sealing a heart-stopping, series-levelling win that also meant they retained the top spot in the ICC rankings. As was fitting, it was Harbhajan who brought about the final wicket with a slider to the left-hand batsman Morne Morkel, who had put together a 76-minute last-wicket stand with Amla. The final few steps didn't come easy for India: the last three wickets batted out 53.3 overs to set up a beautiful Test-match finish.

For eight hours and 19 minutes in this innings, which took to 23 hours and 22 minutes the total time he's spent at the wicket for the series, Amla saw everything: offbreaks, topspinners, unintended doosras, big legbreaks, googlies, bouncers, full ones, a blow to the elbow, the bowlers' joy, their frustration, and Harbhajan's eruption on taking the last wicket. At every stage - when he reached fifty or his hundred, when he was hurt, when he was concentrating, when he was defending, during those final few overs of counting each delivery down, and when he was walking back after one of the biggest disappointments he has experienced on a cricket field - the calm expression on his face was unchanged.

Courtesy : cricinfo