Cricket
Amla's series remarkable
2010-02-19 00:27
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Hashim Amla of South Africa with the trophies for Man of the Match and Man of the Series. (Gallo Images)
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Altus MombergKolkata – He is disappointed, but will always cherish the fighting spirit of his team on the final day of the second Test against India.
That was the reaction from South African captain Graeme Smith following his side’s innings defeat against India at Eden Gardens.
Only nine deliveries stood between the Proteas and a draw when Harbhajan Singh took the last wicket with the third ball of the penultimate over. South Africa were dismissed for 290 in their second innings and lost by an innings and 57 runs.
There are seldom heroes in a team that lose by an innings, but there are exceptions. Hashim Amla is one of those.
He batted for longer than eight hours in a bid to rescue his team. It was phenomenal.
On Thursday he faced the first delivery of the day, then the first deliveries after lunch and tea.
For 499 minutes of the 549 that South Africa’s innings lasted, Amla was a rock and became only one of a handful of South Africans to have scored centuries in both innings of a Test.
Poor Morné Morkel. The pace bowler gave his all with Amla in a rearguard action and lasted for 76 minutes and 124 balls before Singh trapped him leg before wicket at a stage where the Proteas appeared on course to force an incredible draw.
India remains the top-ranked Test nation thanks to the draw and it is also the second consecutive series between these countries to end in a draw (1-1).
Smith dismissed claims after the defeat that South Africa buckled when it mattered.
“I think we have done amazing things as a Test team the past two years and to share a series here in India is an amazing performance. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb with our batting collapse after tea on the first day of the Test,” he said.
“It’s very difficult to come from behind and win on the sub-continent, but we fought hard and nearly rescued the Test. I am very proud of the players and the manner in which they fought.”
Amla said that he enjoyed batting with Morkel.
“I had a lot of faith in Morkel and Wayne Parnell. They are decent batsmen and we had to try rescue the Test. There were no demons in the pitch,” he said.
The series was a triumph for the bearded Durbanite. He scored centuries in all three of his innings and the 490 runs are almost 43% of the total (1144) scored by the Proteas in the series.
Amla was named man of the match and the series, and was also the man of the match in the first Test in Nagpur.