India v South Africa, first ODI: Finishing woes, Dhoni’s defiance and sporting Kanpur crowd

For the majority of the chase at Kanpur’s Green Park in the first ODI, it seemed as though India were firmly in control. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane were cruising along, but once their 149-run partnership came to an end, the brakes were applied and the chase started getting nervy. Rohit continued to up the ante after his century, continuing to find the boundaries at regular intervals. But Imran Tahir’s 47th over effectively put paid to India’s hopes of getting off the mark against South Africa. As it turned out, the home team remains winless four matches — including one washout — into the 72-day long tour.

Here are the talking points from yet another disappointing day in the office for MS Dhoni’s team:

India’s finishing woes

Here’s a comparison between South Africa and India’s innings. In India’s innings, it was only at the end of four overs, that their score trailed South Africa’s at the corresponding stage of their innings. After falling behind by a run or two of the South African total at the end of overs 2, 3 and 8, India, rather crucially, failed to go past the Proteas’ total at the end of the 50 over.

Even as late as the 48th over, India were 19 runs ahead of South Africa’s score. South Africa had the rampant AB de Villiers and, on the day, the equally destructive Farhan Behardien to plunder 62 runs from the last four overs. India, in comparison, had Dhoni and Stuart Binny, who made 28 runs from the last four overs. This was a near-perfect choke by India against the team that has mastered the art of choking over the years.

Of course the over-by-over comparison reflects as poorly on India’s bowlers as it does on the batsmen. But like Dhoni mentioned, not having Ashwin bowl his full quota of overs badly impacted his plans. There should also be some sympathy for the bowlers when they have to bowl at de Villiers, given the form he was in on Sunday.

The real concern is, however, for the second time on the tour that India’s batting has failed to capitalise on a start provided by the top order. And on both occasions, Rohit Sharma’s impeccable centuries have gone in vain.

Dhoni’s defiance

“We lost momentum between overs 34-40 during the chase.”

“The death bowling was not good. It is a bit disappointing because there was reverse swing on offer for the fast bowlers, which means they should have executed the yorkers or even the back of the length, hitting the deck delivery.”

“I missed eight overs from Ashwin.”

These were Dhoni’s remarks after the loss. Notice how they are specific, to-the-point and quantified. Now consider his response when questioned about his own batting.

“It was difficult out there. A lot depends on the execution part, it’s not only about the boundaries you have to keep the score ticking, at the end I made 31 runs off 30 balls.”

He also said something vague about some of his runs coming off his thigh pads and chest guards that count towards the total, but by that point his train-of-thought seemed to have fully derailed.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not an attempt to put the blame squarely at Dhoni’s feet for the loss in the first ODI. Unless you are Allan Donald at the non-striker’s end in the semi-final of a World Cup, a cricket match is never lost by a single player’s failure to click.

But Dhoni’s defiance to admit his own struggles, while pointing out the flaws in the rest of the performance, is frustrating and not befitting a man known to back his players to the hilt.

The Kanpur crowd

The bottle-throwing crowd at Barabati Stadium grabbed the headlines almost as much as the Indian team’s below-par performance in the second T20I in Cuttack. And perhaps, rightly so. The crowd showed a very poor sense of understanding the nature of sport – you win some, lose some.

Contrast that to the crowd in Kanpur. The reception that AB de Villiers got as he carted the Indian bowlers around was a delight to watch. Chants of ‘AB! AB!’ resonated around the ground before the last ball of the innings, when he hit a six to reach his 100. His IPL exploits notwithstanding, de Villiers’ popularity around the cricketing world is immense. And when AB plays a knock of that quality, all you can do – all you must do – is stand up and applaud.

Like someone on Twitter pointed out, kudos to the ‘Knowledgable Kanpur crowd.’