'Unofficial' Indian collapse at Centurion

The cricket boards of India and South Africa may have been dead keen to prove a point or three to the International Cricket Council -- but judging by the evidence of day one of the third Test (now should that be, day one of the first unofficial Test?) at SuperSport Park, Centurion, the players or both sides did not quite share that keenness.

Proteas skipper Shaun Pollock in fact indicated as much, at the toss, when he said that it was hard to get "up" for a Test declared as unofficial, that as far as he was concerned South Africa had won the Summer Spice series 1-0, and that he was treating this game as a tune-up for the upcoming away-and-home series against Australia.

India did not make any such statements. It did not have to, the team list was statement enough. Sourav Ganguly opted to sit out with a back spasm. Intriguingly, the Indian captain appears to have a body that reacts instantly -- should that be spasmodically? -- to dead international matches.

Virendra Sehwag sat on the bench -- the reasoning being that India, read Jagmohan Dalmiya, is attempting to get this Test posthumously declared official, and that if this happens, Sehwag would have served his ban and would therefore be eligible to play the first Test against England.

If you have done laughing, take a deep breath because here is where you start again: Elsewhere, the Indian board tells the ICC that since Sehwag is not playing this Test, the team has effectively complied with the rulings of Mike Denness and therefore this Test should be declared official.

Someone's been smoking -- and I ain't saying who, or what.

Meanwhile, Connor Williams finally got a chance to get a Test cap -- albeit unofficially. Venkatesh Prasad got to play a game. And we got to see India do something I would have bet very good money would not happen -- to wit, go into a Test with five bowlers and only five batsmen.

On a pitch with its mandatory share of green and the odd glimpse of cracks, Pollock won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Initial interest centered around Connor Williams -- and within the first two, three overs, it was apparent that we were watching another of those batsmen born and bred on the patta wickets of India. Signs of this upbringing are most readily visible in the way such batsmen -- in this instance, Williams -- tend to push the front foot forward just as the bowler delivers, rather than the more appropriate initial back and across move.

The front foot first policy embarassed Williams often, and hurt him once when he found himself on the front foot to a short delivery that slapped him on the side of the helmet. Lance Klusener finally ended his misery, inducing him to play all around a ball of full length to miss, and be judged LBW after a 46-delivery stay that yielded 5 runs.

Lunch was taken at 44/1 after 29 overs -- and the reading was that India had done well to get through the first session for the loss of only its least experienced player.

As if to compensate, India lost one of its most experienced players immediately after lunch. Ironically, in a fashion identical to the dismissal of the novice. Rahul Dravid attempted a flick at a quick, very full delivery. And for the identical individual score of 5 -- off 37 deliveries (49/2 India).

At the other end, Shiv Sundar Das started his innings in a fashion that made ou imagine he had forgotten everything he had learnt about the art of opening. But in the post-lunch session, Das gradually worked himself back into form, starting out with some neatly executed shots square of the wicket, and gradually beginning to get the timing and range on his drives as well.

And then he gave it up. A rather airy drive at a Hayward delivery without the front foot getting close to the pitch saw the ball flare off the outer edge for Gibbs at point to complete the job. Das had, yet again, come up with a good innings -- and then lost the plot, when the script called for him to get the big score.

Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, began in a fashion reminiscent of his innings in the first Test -- effortless-seaming strokes flowing at will, as he raced to 27 off as many deliveries. And then came a momentary lull, which was broken by Kallis changing his line from wide of off to wide of leg. Tendulkar went inside the line shaping to flick fine -- and managed only a touch, held brilliantly by a diving Boucher, to reduce India to 100/4.

VVS Laxman was his own unpredictable self -- silken smooth from the first ball he faced. Yet again, however, he merely whetted appetites, and departed with them unsatisfied. On this occasion, he went up on his hind legs to slap at a delivery lifting off a length outside off, and managed to find gully's belly. Gary Kirsten, fielding there, celebrated his birthday with a simple catch.

Then came the most impressive phase of the innings -- when Deep Dasgupta riding his new found confidence to the hilt, and Anil Kumble producing a second successivve display of grit, held the bowling at bay to the tune of 51 runs. Dasgupta impressed with his measured play and a rock-solid attitude, until Nantie Hayward went round the wicket and kicked one up at him. The young keeper found himself in a knot, fended at it, and watched it take the bat handle en route to square leg, to end a fighting knock of 36/73.

Harbhajan Singh then came out to provide his own amusing counterpoint to Anil Kumble's grim, determined defence. Speaking of which, Kumble's seeming determination to stick around at the batting crease seems to be one of the pluses of the latter half of this tour.

Harbhajan's lively innings, however, came to an end with a needless run out while looking for a non-existent third run to fine leg, to end a quick partnership of 37. Interestingly, the much-maligned lower order seemed to show more resilience than the much-hyped top order.

Srinath as usual managed to jam his fingers against the bat handle, with a little help from a Hayward lifter -- and after wringing his hands a bit, walked off.

Venkatesh Prasad's tenure provided more amusement -- the way he sits down to the short stuff, I wouldn't have been surprised to see him declared LBW off the helmet. But what was amusing was to see Hayward and Pollock rein in their frustration, and their lip, as the tailender survived in ways not envisoned when the book on cricket was written. The word has obviously gone out to the Proteas -- no appealing unless absolutely necessary and even then, for one second tops. And absolutely no lip.

The last ball of the day was a yorker -- and Anil Kumble, the most obdurate batsman after SS Das, finally got foxed into playing over it, ending his fighting 129 ball knock.

India closed on 221/8 -- and the best thing you can say for that score is that it could have been much worse.

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