Kepler Wessels' rare distinction

From R. Mohan India being unable to drive home the advantage de- rived from good bowling There was a sensational DURBAN, Nov 13. start to the Test with Kapil's warmup ball — a per- Kepler Wessels carried the hopes and aspirations fect length outswinger pitching on off stump — be- of his mother country like Atlas bearing the burden ing edged to the left of Tendulkar. The third umpire of the world on his shoulders. It was the first Test on could not legally assist Bucknor with the low catch South African soil on the country's return to the in- but his colleague on the field, Karl Leibenberg, was ternational arena and the weight of expectations able to confirm that the youngster took the ball must have been crushing, particularly on the captain cleanly. A disbelieving Cook, something of a Kapil and the team's most accomplished Test batsman bunny considering he got out to him in Calcutta, in The seniormost Test player of the side by virtue the Opponheimer's XI game and here joined the of his having played for Australia, Wessels batted shortest list of batsmen who went first ball on debut. so well as to make it look as if there were two dif- The opener Hudson hardly looked a batsman with ferent games going on at Kingsmead, the first when a big century on appearance behind him Both he was facing and the other when his partners were Hudson and Kirsten were playing with bat well on strike. The opening ceremony may not have away from body. Such play may be alright against been emotionally draining but Wessels was nerv- the bouncing ball and quick bowling but when the ous He wished to get on with the Test and may ball is made to move around as Kapil did, there are have been pleasantly surprised when he was asked problems galore. Hudson was to drag a ball onto to bat first. his off stump off a thick inside edge as he shaped to The saying is you don't look a gift horse in the drive an outswinger. The misjudgment was enor- mouth Wessels got on to the saddle and rode the mous and obvious gift horse out to become the first Test player to The home skipper was at his very best during his have scored centuries for two countries even as he 60-run stand with Kirsten. The contrast was huge crossed the 2000-Test runs mark. He made a hun- There was a time before he flagged when Srinath dred on appearance for Australia against England at looked the most dangerous of the seamers. He beat the "Gabba in 1982-83. He smashed his way to this KAPIL'S BUNNY: Tendulkar effecting a brilliant catch to dismiss Cook off Kapil's first delivery. the bat often hit the pads more often and appealed century (off 205 balls in 260 minutes, seventeen 4s), for Ibw's and catches behind the wicket even more his fifth, with rare disdain for the so-called nervous Kiran More was bending or diving around to cope of 49 if Kumble had not fumbled the gathering of a often. It was apt that Srinath should beat Kirsten 90s, driving Srinath past mid-on for four, pulling him with .the low bounce too soon into the day And return from Jadeja at point as the skipper was sent with bounce and get him to touch to More. with contempt through long leg and pulling through then there, of course, was Kapil Dev to raise himself back by Kirsten who was rightly uninterested in the The innings was at a crisis point. But Prabhakar wide mid-wicket in a series of successive big hits in a notch or two at the smell of battle. single was, unusually, the disappointment of the day and an over. No one responds better to an occasion. Test Kumble did not deliver after promising much The How thin the home team batting really is was ap- cricket's second highest wicket-taker strode to Sensational start Those who supported Wessels greater disappointment was the crowd which did parent as each one struggled to stay while Wessels make meaningful the decision of his captain and he without aspiring to match his handling of the bowl- not rise beyond 5,000 for the day This is a reflec- made runs at the other end. He himself was done in would nave succeeded a great deal more but for ing were also let off There were sharp chances tion of the recession in the economy more than of when stepping right back to cut only to be beaten the technical excellence of Wessels If not for a from Kirsten, to Azhar at second slip, and Rhodes, interest in cricket. There should be more people by Kumbie's bouncy top spinner which he topedged batsman going on to take lion's share of the hon- to Manjrekar to short leg This was another story of over the weekend but, somehow, the atmosphere to Azhar at slip. By then Azhar's decision, just about ours in cricket's longer tradition Kapil may have lent was not electrifying as it should have been on such getting post-facto justification, had become the right Azhar's strange decision an aggressive dimension a special day one though he may have got it right for the wrong SCOREBOARD The atmosphere would have been electrifying and defensive rather than attacking reasons. No batsman seemed capable of learning from the enough for the debutant Jonty Rhodes. He walked display of Wessels' batting acumen He took on the There had been many bitter lessons for Azharud- SOUTH AFRICA — 1st innings: into a developing crisis and batted on to gain some din when he did something similar at Lord's in 1990 bowling, bat close to pad and body, and read the confidence and runs as he dug in to help Wessels movement off the seam with care. His backlift may J. Cook c Tendulkar b Kapil Dev 0 If it was a cloud cover at the toss on the previous A. Hudson b Kapil Dev 14 add respectability to the total Rhode's near two- occasion, here he may have been psyched by the not be high but on sensing the opportunity he can K. Wessels c Azhaniddin b Kumble 118 hour effort was marked by some fine driving once greenish looking pitch. The immediate background swing through quickly to add punch to his drives P. Kirsten c More b Srinath 13 he got over the problems of reading Kumble. He of a batting failure at Centurian Park only may have The lefthanders' penchant for safe play square of J. Rhodes c Azharuddin b Kumble 41 came down quickly on anything the seamers thrust upon him the unpleasant choice of bowling B. McMillan c Prabhakar b Shastri 3 overpitched and was looking good for some more the wicket was well served by bowlers who pitched D. Richardson (batting) 11 first. short in their effort to get something out of the pitch. runs when he was taken off pad and bat at silly O. Henry c Tendulkar b Shastri 3 point, a decision he seemed to query but which may Aimed as it was at avoiding strike when the pitch He cut and steered with control and played the Extras Ob 5, nb 7) 12 may have been fresh and bouncy, the move was glide off his legs and when given the freedom, play- have been supported by the evidence of the televi- ultra-defensive, but not entirely useless as Kumble ed the pull with relish. He knew what the conditions Total (for seven wktsJ 215 sion replay here. and Ravi Shastri enhanced India's and Kapil Dev's demanded and he adapted his game to them whilst India had been on the ascendance after Wessels strike rate late i,n the day to leave the match open leaning on his solidity of technique and the even- Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-41, 3-101, 4-183. 5-194, 6-206, departed McMillan had knocked a full toss for 7-215. for exploitation on a seemingly result-oriented pitch ness of his temperament to dominate the innings, Prabhakar to take a good overhead catch at square which may not last the distance in a five-day Test making more than 50 per cent of the total to lunch INDIA BOWLING leg Henry was taken splendidly by Tendulkar off The evergreen fighter The pitch at Kingsmead, O M R W and tea. Kapil Dev 17 6 32 2 More's gloves as Henry shaped to defend the last the venue that had planned a grand celebration of The side that inserted the opposition was unable Prabhakar 21 5 46 0 over of the day. The finish was as sensational as the the return of Test cricket, did not live up to its looks, to keep its catching and fielding on par with the Srinath 18 3 69 1 start with India taking wickets in the first and last pace and even bounce being conspicuous in their keenness that should be there following one of the Kumble 25 7 46 2 overs of the day and the batsmen's turn to drive absence after the disappearance of early life. Be- game's most dicey decisions. Wessels may have Shastri 9.2 1 17 2 home the advantage may come sooner than they Skipper Kepler Wessels who scored 118 in South Africa's first innings in the fi'st Test againsf fore close, there was sufficient help for spin too been run out without adding to his luncheon score may have anticipated. India. — Fax photos: V. V. Krishnan