EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU DELHI SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2019 SPORT 19 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Elgar and de Kock keep Proteas afloat Putting selfie above sport S. Dinakar Ashwin’s craft fetches him five; Jadeja picks up 200th Test wicket Visakhapatnam Fans run on to the ground disrupting play for various reasons. As early as in the 70s, Bri­ jesh Patel received a kiss on the cheek by a lady fan who breached security during the India­West Indies Test at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. And in countries such as Australia and England, we have streakers who sprint across the ground just for ‘fun’ or to highlight a cause. On the third afternoon at Off with you! Ajinkya Rahane attempts to shoo off the the ACA­VDCA ground here, intruder. * K.R. DEEPAK a local man managed to hoodwink security for a dif­ splits when the man, with an The intruder was soon es­ ferent reason — taking a sel­ official chasing him, got corted off the ground but fie with an India cricketer! close enough to Ajinkya Ra­ not before he had got the job The entire stadium was in hane for a selfie! done! Going back to Pugnacious: Dean Elgar slugged it out in the middle, growing in confidence as the innings ‘The Hundred’ decision progressed. * K.R. DEEPAK the roots SA IN INDIA South Africa, 385 for eight SCOREBOARD only after IPL: Harbhajan at stumps and 117 behind In­ worked: Ashwin Special Correspondent S. Dinakar S. Dinakar dia’s first innings score with INDIA — 1ST INNINGS Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam two days left, has given itself 502 for seven decl. Dean Elgar’s courage and ap­ a realistic chance of forcing a SOUTH AFRICA — 1ST INNINGS R. Ashwin’s last five­wicket Harbhajan Singh finds him­ plication takes us to the draw on a pitch where there Dean Elgar c Pujara b Jadeja haul in Tests was in Sri Lan­ self in the eye of a gathering heart of Test cricket. The is turn and and some varia­ 160 (287b, 18x4, 4x6), Aiden ka, August 2017. On Friday, storm. The off­spinning South African opener is ble bounce, but is by no Markram b Ashwin 5 (21b, 1x4), the senior off­spinner once great has signed up for The tough, fights as if his life de­ means a minefield. Theunis de Bruyn c Saha b Ash­ again scalped five in an in­ Hundred, a 100­ball­an­in­ pends on the innings. Weather will remain a fac­ win 4 (25b, 1x4), Dane Piedt b nings. During this period, nings tournament in En­ In early 2018, on a volatile tor, too, with scattered thun­ Jadeja 0 (4b), Temba Bavuma his fortunes have been gland next July. lbw b Ishant Sharma 18 (26b, surface at the Wanderers, derstorms forecast on Satur­ mixed. He has been trou­ He is an overseas cricke­ 3x4), Faf du Plessis c Pujara b that Bullring, where the ball day and Sunday. Ashwin 55 (103b, 8x4, 1x6), bled by injuries, found him­ ter at the draft with a base seamed, bounced off a On pivotal day three, El­ Quinton de Kock b Ashwin 111 self out of the Test XI and price of £100,000. However, length, or shot through, El­ gar grew in stature. He got (163b, 16x4, 2x6), Senuran also from the shorter for­ the BCCI bars any current gar withstood a nasty blow right behind the ball, was so­ Muthusamy (batting) 12 (60b, mats. player — even among retired on the helmet from Jasprit lid in defence and did not 1x4), Vernon Philander b Ash­ Ashwin said going back players, it gives NOCs to Bumrah to carry his bat with miss out on opportunities to Turning things around: Quinton de Kock’s strokeplay win 0 (10b), Keshav Maharaj to his roots helped him stay these leagues only under ex­ Harbhajan Singh. * K.R. DEEPAK a blood­and­guts 86. score. had a touch of the ethereal. * K.R. DEEPAK (batting) 3 (14b); Extras (b­8, focused. “To stay away ceptional circumstances — His back­lift starts from lb­4, nb­5): 17. Total (for eight from not playing cricket it­ and the 39­year­old Harbha­ by the Board to play in the Contrast around fourth slip but, cru­ picked up by Cheteshwar his century with a stunning wkts. in 118 overs): 385. self is very tough for me. In jan finds himself in a Global Twenty20 in Canada, FALL OF WICKETS And here, on the third day of cially, once he gets his willow Pujara to end a captivating six over covers, on one knee, order to substitute that, I dilemma. but that was only after he 1­14 (Markram, 7.1 overs), 2­ the first Freedom Test on Fri­ down, Elgar plays close to 164­run sixth­wicket partner­ off Ashwin. 31 (de Bruyn, 16.3), 3­34 (Piedt, played whatever games I Will he announce his re­ had retired from all BCCI day, the 32­year­old South his body. This tightness in ship with de Kock — Jadeja’s Ashwin bowled with con­ 17.3), 4­63 (Bavuma, 26.1), 5­ got.” tirement from all cricket run competitions. African, in his next Test in­ his game is his strength. 200th. trol even as he brought about 178 (du Plessis, 57.3), 6­342 South African opener by the BCCI, including the About the South African nings against India, dropped The manner in which de subtle variations. The fea­ (Elgar, 99.3), 7­370 (de Kock, Dean Elgar said, “We knew IPL, before taking the batting resistance on day anchor in the vastly different Saha’s miss Kock, all freshness and free­ ture of his bowling was the 109.3), 8­376 (Philander, it was going to be tough. We plunge into The Hundred? three, Harbhajan said, “The sub­continental conditions Elgar was fortunate though dom, stroked the ball on this amount of body he was get­ 113.2). knew we were going to be Harbhajan, commentat­ Indian spinners are used to for a monumental 160. The on 74 when he was drawn in­ track seemed ethereal. He ting into his action. INDIA BOWLING facing quality bowlers on a ing here for Star Sports, was really conducive tracks in innings oozed character. to one outside the off­stump picked the length early, con­ Ashwin ended the worry­ Ishant 14­2­44­1, Shami 15­ wearing pitch. But I always typically candid in his res­ the country. But this pitch is If Elgar slugged it out, from Jadeja but ’keeper sequently had more time, ing 115­run fifth­wicket part­ 3­40­0, Ashwin 41­11­128­5, had the hope that if we ponse to a question from not giving them as much Quinton de Kock, the Wriddhiman Saha fluffed the and got himself into terrific nership in 31.2 overs bet­ Jadeja 37­4­116­2, Vihari 9­1­ knuckle down, apply our­ The Hindu. help. That is why they are 38­0, Rohit 2­1­7­0. smooth­stroking southpaw, offering. positions for strokes on both ween Elgar and Faf du selves, and build a platform He said, “Yes, I have given struggling here.” galloped on his skills for a 111 As he grew in confidence, sides. Plessis. to express ourselves, we my name for the draft. But I While R. Ashwin and Ra­ of exquisite strokeplay at the Elgar slog­swept, lofted and He skipped forward to The combative du Plessis by turning the ball away could always get to the po­ will take a decision only af­ vindra Jadeja are trump ACA­VDCA ground. whipped the ball, using his drive the ball gloriously (55) employed the sweep to from the left­hander and cas­ sition we are in.” ter playing the IPL next year cards at home, Harbhajan There were more protago­ feet. In fact, this was a sur­ through covers, with an disrupt length and jumped tled him with one that came About inputs from bat­ for the Chennai Super said India needed to groom nists on an incident­filled face where, if the batsman amalgam of timing and down to strike the ball bet­ in with the arm. And Vernon ting consultant Amol Mu­ Kings. The Hundred is only a group of spinners around day. R. Ashwin, conjuring employed his footwork he placement. Or wristed or ween long­off and long­on. Philander was bowled by a zumdar, Elgar said, “He’s after the IPL.” them. “Kuldeep Yadav got a moments of craft and beau­ looked far more secure than lofted with authority. Done in by Ashwin’s extra huge off­spinner. an experienced player and The BCCI, on its part, has five­wicket haul in his last ty, scalped five with his off­ someone who played from The gifted de Kock played bounce, he was picked up With South Africa reveal­ is giving you intel on condi­ said it was not aware of any Test for India, at Sydney. spin while left­armer Ravin­ the crease. the ball late, his late cut off smartly by Pujara at leg­slip. ing resolve and desire, there tions. He might just say one Indian cricketer signing up There is another wrist spin­ dra Jadeja claimed his 200th Eventually, Elgar’s top­ Ashwin was as delicate as Ashwin deserved his five is plenty at stake over the last thing that might sit on your for The Hundred. This year, ner, Rahul Chahar, who can Test wicket in his 44th Test. edged sweep was splendidly they come. And he reached wickets. He set up de Kock two days.