The Indians hang on to their No.1 ranking .. India win thriller despite heroic amla

Post date: 18-Feb-2010 11:15:09

Harbhajan to Morkel, out Lbw!! India have won! Harbhajan has done it for India! It was a flat delivery, pitched on middle and leg and skid through, Morkel played down the wrong line and was struck in front! An excellent effort from Morkel nevertheless but spare a thought for Amla who's batted out of his skin to get SA close to saving this game!@

The Indians hang on to their No.1 ranking in Tests with this win. The series has been nothing but eventful with fortunes swinging from one side to the other with the series being settled at 1-1. The Indians ended the resistance of Parnell after tea only to be frustrated by Harris. A catch dropped by Badri off Harris didn't help either but fortunately for India he fell soon after when Karthik snapped him up at 3rd slip. Amla, as he has done throughout the series did what he does best, playing almost flawlessly and with immense concentration to almost save the game for SA. In the end the credit has to go to the Indians for patiently probing away on a wicket that didn't resemble a day 5 track. Harbhajan, who has come in for a lot of criticism from all quarters prior to this match has silenced everyone with his match winning spell. In the absence of Zaheer Khan the responsibility of supporting Bhajji was taken over by Amit Mishra who bowled superbly, bringing all his variations into play, picking up 3 wickets, none more important than Kallis's wicket last evening. Just when it looked like Morkel and Amla would steer them home Harbhajan produced a beauty to trap Morne Morkel plumb in front to win the match for India. Never before have we seen a test match of this sorts in India since the 2001 series against Australia. The sort of Test match where I am sure the entire country were holding on to their breath as India clinched a cliff hanger!

@courtesy cricbuzz…..