Men in Blue looking for a historic series win

M.S. Dhoni's band of merry men finds itself where no Indian team has been before: at the portal of an ODI series win in South Africa.

India had won only three games against South Africa in South Africa before this series started; in this light, India's 2-1 lead as the caravan moves to the quaint, historic city of Port Elizabeth looks especially impressive.

Even more striking has been the manner of the victories. Both in the second ODI at the Wanderers and the third at Newlands, the Indians handled pressure exceptionally well. In both, disaster's fetid breath was upon them; the response each time was astute, attacking cricket, once with the ball, once with the bat.

It's this brand of cricket India will need to reprise in the fourth ODI, scheduled at St. George's Park here on Friday, if it is to seal the series. Slightly worrying, Dhoni's team seems to adopt this style of play only when forced into it — while that isn't a bad thing (it's better to attack when pinned to a corner than be timid), it's something India needs to do more often.

Encouraging signs

There were, however, encouraging signs in the third ODI: when India was bowling, and J.P. Duminy and Francois du Plessis were building a partnership, Dhoni brought Zaheer Khan back to break the partnership. It's another matter that the move didn't work. When Duminy and A.B. de Villiers were doing similarly in the first game, he chose to bowl his part-timers (so he could make up for Ashish Nehra). Dhoni's rationale for not attacking was the time-pressure he was under to fit the overs in. But things were no different in the third game. Nehra had again gone for runs; India was behind the over-rate. Yet he looked for wickets. Intent is everything.

Yusuf Pathan, who played for the first time in the series, showed what he's capable of. What was most significant is that he proved he could make a difference against bowlers equipped to exploit his short-ball weakness. While Morne Morkel, who was outstanding in the third game, didn't bowl enough at him, Yusuf's handling of Steyn and his shot-selection were heartening from an Indian perspective.

Catching

The other thing that will have gladdened India was the catching. Although the fielding effort was schizophrenic, swinging between the excellent and the mediocre, the excellent came from surprising quarters: Zaheer's running, scrambling catch to dismiss A.B. de Villiers held out hope that India's fielding, which looks its weakest link, might manage the odd decisive moment after all.

But there is plenty about India's game that needs reform. The batting remains a worry — M. Vijay and Rohit Sharma tend to look good but they do precious little (Rohit did play a minor part in an alliance with the impressive Virat Kohli in the third game). Nehra has had one fine spell in three games; he seems to have conceded ground to Munaf Patel in terms of a first-eleven spot for the World Cup.

St. George's Park, where India hasn't managed to pass 200 in three defeats to South Africa, has its challenges as well. The lights aren't the best, which makes batting second dicey. The path to the boundary in certain sections of the ground is abruptly short. Then there's the rainy weather, which has been a feature of the tour. Its impact on the playing surface and the match itself remains to be seen.

The teams (from): South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt.), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, A.B. de Villiers (wk), J.P. Duminy, Francois du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, and Morne van Wyk.

India: M.S. Dhoni (capt. & wk), M. Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, R. Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, S. Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, and Ishant Sharma, Parthiv Patel.

Umpires: Simon Taufel and Johanes Cloete. Third umpire: Brian Jerling. Match referee: Chris Broad.