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SA's change in tactics proved crucial

South Africa won the LG Cup in Nairobi by 26 runs in a tough but entertaining encounter. After India had played so well all week, they might feel upset that they have missed out, but there is a saying in sport that epitomises life: "May the best team win." In international sport I would like to add a rider: "May the best team on the day win."

In easily the best game of the tournament, and on what looked like the best wicket of the tournament, the two best sides at the tournament gave everyone who watched, some terrific entertainment. In the past, South Africa have been in the position the Indians found themselves in, they had played brilliantly well beating all before them only to land up as losing finalists.

I remember the Titan Cup in 1997, we were called chokers then and it hurt. Since that day South Africa have been to a lot of finals and have not choked. Here India, having played so well in Toronto, were beaten by a side well captained by Hansie Cronje, and I suspect well prepared by their coach Graham Ford and his coaching team. After being dumped unceremoniously on the earlier Sunday, it was interesting to see how they changed their game plan, and how it worked in the end.

India won the toss and when South Africa had lost Klusener, Rhodes and Kallis - three fantastic one-day players, for only 18 runs, Ajay Jadeja would have been justifiably vindicated by his decision. It was obvious that the day’s rest had not been one for the ground staff, gone were the puffs of dust and extravagant turn, it was now a case of movement off the seam. Mohanty and Prasad were excellent as they have been throughout the tournament. However, and perhaps a selectoral glitch was that they had no one else to apply the early new ball pressure.

In hindsight a good ploy would have been to bring Bhardwaj on to bowl first change. He is a very interesting and very promising cricketer. He mixes his pace well and bowls a little quicker, which makes coming down the wicket harder for the batters. A return to one-day form was due for Cronje, despite numerous calls from the TV box about him being out of form, I wonder? He had hit a few good blows against Zimbabwe and I bet he has been hitting the ball well in South Africa before he came. His partnership with Gibbs, I believe, turned the game, along with the 17 runs off the last over which made the target demanding as opposed to difficult.

The change in tactics, made possible by a good wicket, by the South Africans against the Indian spinners was also crucial. None of the SA batters let the spinners settle, who except for Bhardwaj, were singularly unsuccessful in keeping the runs down.

I noticed also a couple of quotes from the Indian skipper in our papers that he didn’t fear the South Africans. So, maybe, there was a hint of complacency, maybe underestimating their ability to take on the spinners? I don’t know and can only speculate. Especially the way India came out of the starting blocks. The reliance on the three pronged spin attack and the two seamers, however, proved faulty, due in part to the nature of the wicket and the change in tactics.

All the above considered, it was still an excellent game, although Ganguly, Dravid and Ramesh failed for once to get India off to a start. In fact, I was surprised they did not use Robin Singh up the order to increase the tempo. As it turned out, the Indian batsmen did not seem to be urgent enough in making sure that they kept the scoring rate under control. As soon as a side starts to have to chase six an over for a long period, it becomes difficult. I also believe that chasing in subcontinent conditions with a kookaburra ball is also harder.

With so many bowlers adept at reverse swing these days, gone are the 80/90 off the last ten overs. More often than not 5 or 6 wickets fall for between 40 and 50 runs. India, in fact, lost 4 wickets, getting 40 runs in the dying overs, while South Africa lost 4 wickets getting 48 runs. Different story with the Duke ball at the World Cup.

There were two cameo innings by Jadeja and Bhardwaj, which if they had remained at the crease would have seen India to victory. It takes a lot of guts to play no risk cricket at that stage when 6.83 runs an over are required, and especially against the South African bowling attack, which is still very good. I also thought Cronje’s faith in Derek Crookes was handsomely rewarded. If the South African selectors want to replace him as captain they must seriously need their heads read!

Innovation, changing batting orders, making fruitful bowling changes is his strength, and to find someone with the same flair will be very difficult. Hopefully, reason will win the day.

A disappointing end to Anshuman Gaekwad's tenure, but he can be very proud of this particular Indian team. They have performed well and found out what it is like to be there but not quite. I hate the word "choke" because it befits no team at the international level. They were beaten by a side that was better ON THE DAY. (Gameplan).

Bob Woolmer