Smith praises SA's outstanding composure
by Ken Borland 12 March 2011, 22:40
Hugely excited South African captain Graeme Smith on Saturday praised his team for "challenging perceptions extremely well" via their thrilling three-wicket victory over India in Nagpur.
What Smith really meant and will probably shout out in the sanctity of the changeroom over a few beers is "well done on shoving that 'chokers' tag" you know where ...
"I said before the game that we had the opportunity to challenge some perceptions and I thought we did that extremely well. The guys showed massive composure and hung in there," Smith said.
South Africa showed outstanding mettle and composure to twice dig themselves out of holes.
The first was when Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag had blazed the new ball all over the large VCA Stadium in a quickfire opening stand of 142 off just 115 balls. The rapid rate of scoring may have slowed a bit as Tendulkar and an unsettled Gautam Gambhir added another 125 off 132 deliveries, but at 267 for one in the 40th over, India were on track for 350.
But off-spinner Johan Botha bowled very well amidst the chaos, conceding just 39 runs in nine overs, before the world's premier fast bowler, Dale Steyn, took over.
Nagpur will forever be associated with this brilliant paceman as he followed up his devastating seven for 51 in a Test here last year with an equally phenomenal burst of five for eight in 22 balls on Saturday as India lost nine wickets for 29 runs in nine overs.
"For the first 15 overs, we were on the end of a massive beating and obviously for Dale to take wickets like that at the back end of the innings was brilliant. The team manager [Mohammed Moosajee] told me on the bus coming to the ground that today was the anniversary of the 438 game and I had nightmares in the field of us chasing over 400 again!
"But we managed to pick up both Tendulkar and Gambhir quickly in the batting powerplay and then we just kept on getting wickets. There was definitely a momentum-shift after doing so well with the ball," Smith said.
Robin Peterson, who would be the hero at the end of the match with his 18 not out off seven balls, also bowled very well at the end of the Indian innings, helping to bring them crashing down with his two for nine in three overs.
"We've backed Robbie at this World Cup and he's bowled really well for us. He did a good job again for us with the ball today and then his batting was just amazing. I haven't seen him hit the ball that cleanly for quite a while and it was great that it came out today," Smith said.
There were heroes aplenty amongst the batsmen as South Africa chased down a still-daunting target on a pitch that began to deteriorate.
Faf du Plessis, plucked from domestic cricket at the start of the year, looked as calm as if he was playing country districts cricket as he finished with 25 not out off 23 balls, expertly farming the strike out to JP Duminy and Botha.
"Faf was just unbelievably calm and composed," Smith said.
SUPERHUMAN EFFORTS
Botha has been unfortunate to miss out on the last two matches as South Africa have sought different lines of attack to teams dominated by right-handers, but he lifted his game to superhuman efforts on Saturday.
Not only did he field superbly, he bowled with remarkable accuracy amidst the chaos and then produced a crucial cameo of 23 off 15 balls with the bat. His straight six off Munaf Patel will be a lasting memory.
"It's been very tough leaving Johan out because he's been a top performer for us for a long time. To see him come back and perform as well as he did tonight is terrific.
"He bowled really well for us in a period when we were being taken to the cleaners and his knock at the back end was a real plus," Smith said.
But all through the batting line-up there were contributions.
Smith and Hashim Amla (61) laid a solid platform with their first-wicket stand of 41, with Jacques Kallis carrying on with a typically solid 69 off 88 balls.
AB de Villiers then provided impetus with a sparkling 52 off 39 balls, before Duminy (23), Du Plessis, Botha and Peterson all scored at better than a run-a-ball in brilliant cameos.
"Batting was not that easy and the pitch did not play as well as we thought it would in the evening. We just had to build partnerships, hang in there and then pounce at the end. To chase 300 was a terrific effort.
"We knew the first 10 overs would be hard work and I know we didn't look as free-flowing as they did at the start. But we kept the target at a decent, chaseable rate. It's so easy to get a bit frantic and lose wickets.
"And then the middle-order would have gained massive confidence from this on top of the lessons learnt in Chennai, where I don't think they'll find tougher conditions," Smith said.
It was the near-perfect run-chase and Smith admitted there had been a massive outpouring of emotion at the end.
"There was a lot of screaming and shouting and tackling of each other, even our psychologist [Henning Gericke] got a black eye, but he's from rugby so he's used to it! There was a lot of emotion, it was massive for us as a group," Smith admitted.
The team will now be able to recall their calmness under the massive pressure of playing India at home whenever they are in tense situations again, which is why the victory was so important.
How quickly their detractors will remember remains to be seen.
"When we lose again, I'm sure the whole 'chokers' thing will be raised again," Smith said wryly.
But then all South Africa need to do is point to Nagpur, March 12, 2011 - and five years previously at the Wanderers for that matter - for a very good reminder of their ability to play fine cricket under immense pressure.