It is easy being Graeme Smith, isn't it? As soon as it started to rain the night before the match, Smith would have made the decision to bowl first if he had won the toss. He did win the toss and had no hesitations in putting India in. His new ball pair of Steyn & Morkel have made things a lot easier for him
They have been superb in conditions that suit them and have troubled all the batsmen of the much vaunted Indian batting line-up on the first day of the Test match. It seemed as if they were working to a synchronised plan as Steyn was intent on bringing the batsmen onto the frontfoot and Morkel was pushing them onto backfoot
These bowlers bowl so very well together that they have taken a combined total of 224 wickets till yesterday. The way they operated yesterday was a pleasure to watch. Morkel's working over of Gambhir in particular was exemplary
He started off by being erratic and then pounded Gambhir with short ball after short ball. In fact at one point it seemed as if he had the man as replays to some extent showed that Gambhir gloved a short ball back to the keeper. That did not deter Morkel from pitching the ball short and troubling him. He hit Gambhir once on the back and made him to sway and duck. He was off for an over and got his man with a fuller delivery. As is always the case, it's not the short delivery that will consume a batsman but the follow up deliveries
Morkel provided further glee when he got Dravid with a delivery pitched just short of a fuller length and got to move it in. Both cooled off just before tea and after tea Steyn was possesed by a spirit as he attacked the stumps of the batsman. Of consecutive deliveries he hurried Tendulkar and beat him with pace. The inside edge that flew for a boundary, and it was rubbed in further as Tendulkar drove him past covers for a boundary
As with Morkel earlier in the day, it did not deter him from bowling full and he reaped the rewards when he got the wickets of Laxman and Tendulkar. Both the batsman were trying to play across the line. For Laxman, he breached the defense and for Tendulkar, he caught him in front of the stumps. It was riveting stuff to watch him bowl
If not for Tsotsobe, who bowled a few loose deliveries the Indian card would have made for a pathetic reading . If India don't tighten the batting ways, this pair will come back to haunt them further in the series
They have been superb in conditions that suit them and have troubled all the batsmen of the much vaunted Indian batting line-up on the first day of the Test match. It seemed as if they were working to a synchronised plan as Steyn was intent on bringing the batsmen onto the frontfoot and Morkel was pushing them onto backfoot
These bowlers bowl so very well together that they have taken a combined total of 224 wickets till yesterday. The way they operated yesterday was a pleasure to watch. Morkel's working over of Gambhir in particular was exemplary
He started off by being erratic and then pounded Gambhir with short ball after short ball. In fact at one point it seemed as if he had the man as replays to some extent showed that Gambhir gloved a short ball back to the keeper. That did not deter Morkel from pitching the ball short and troubling him. He hit Gambhir once on the back and made him to sway and duck. He was off for an over and got his man with a fuller delivery. As is always the case, it's not the short delivery that will consume a batsman but the follow up deliveriesMorkel provided further glee when he got Dravid with a delivery pitched just short of a fuller length and got to move it in. Both cooled off just before tea and after tea Steyn was possesed by a spirit as he attacked the stumps of the batsman. Of consecutive deliveries he hurried Tendulkar and beat him with pace. The inside edge that flew for a boundary, and it was rubbed in further as Tendulkar drove him past covers for a boundary
If not for Tsotsobe, who bowled a few loose deliveries the Indian card would have made for a pathetic reading . If India don't tighten the batting ways, this pair will come back to haunt them further in the series
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