The third Test match between India and South Africa is interestingly poised after India ended day two on 288r for nine - 23 runs more than the 265 the South Africans made on day one.
The crumbling pitch with uneven bounce made batting hard, but that was only until Laxman came in to bat. He batted with such elegance and composure that you wondered if he in fact relished such conditions! And just when it looked like he along with a very determined Dravid had tamed the conditions, both fell to totally unplayable deliveries from Morkel leaving India tattering at 123 for four.
And then Ganguly stepped in and took charge. He ran hard for the singles, rotated the strike, put away the bad balls, never missed an opportunity to score and remained unperturbed when the odd ball bounced or turned viciously missing his bat. In short, it was the perfect innings for the conditions. Though he missed a well deserved century, this innings of 87 should rank among the very best he has ever played. He was ably helped by cameos from Yuvraj and Dhoni; though Dhoni should be kicking himself for the moment of madness that ended his innings.
Two days, 553 runs and 19 wickets later, the match is still evenly balanced with neither side holding any distinctive advantage. After a rather dull two Test matches at Chennai and Ahmedabad, it has taken a dry and deteriorating pitch to produce two consecutive days of fascinating cricket!
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