Virat’s knock goes in vain as India surrender to let SA level series

When play resumed after more than an hour’s break,India were set a revised target of 260 from 46 overs but only eight balls could be bowled and skies opened up again,leading to another forced break.

Play never resumed again and the umpires called off the match with South Africa emerging winners by 48 runs. At that stage India were 142 for six in 32.5 overs.

Both the sides will now travel to Centurion for the fifth and final match tomorrow.

Virat Kohli waged a losing battle all alone for India as batting colleagues surrendered abjectly before the South African attack.

The young Delhi batsman gradually got into the groove and then took the South African attack by the scruff off its neck but ran short of partners as wickets kept tumbling from the other end.

Kohli single handedly took the fight for India and played an entertaining knock which came off just 92 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

Left-arm pacer Lonwabo Tostsobe (2/25) rattled the Indian innings early on with his two wickets.

Earlier,it was J P Duminy’s defiant unbeaten knock of 71 and his crucial stands with lower order helped South Africa post a challenging 265 for seven after opting to bat at the St George’s Park here.

But it was India who took good control over the match by reducing South Africa to 118 for five at one stage,only to see Duminy spoil the visitor’s party with his never-say-die spirit.

India’s chase began on a shaky note with Rohit Sharma (1) failing yet again as an opener but that did not stop Parthiv Patel,who was playing his first match of the series,and Kohli from playing some attacking shots.

Twice Patel (11) sent ferocious Dale Steyn to the boundary ropes and Kohli took 10 runs from Tsotobe’s one over with two shots to the fence.

However,the slow nature of the track soon forced both the batsmen to slow down.

Tsotsobe jolted the Indian run chase as he first had Rohit (1) caught at backward point and then trapped Patel,who replaced Murali Vijay in the playing eleven to make things difficult for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men.

India had still not crossed the 50-run mark and 15th over was on when Yuvraj Singh hammered spinner Johan Botha for a six to give momentum to the innings but an unnecessary paddle sweep cut short his innings.

While going for a premeditated paddle sweep of Botha in the final ball off the 15th over Yuvraj got a top edge going and Protea skipper Graeme Smith converted the half chance diving full length behind wicket-keeper AB de Villiers.

Runs were hard to come by but Kohli and Suresh Raina (20) kept things moving with singles and twos and in the process the Delhi batsman completed his fifty off 67 balls.

Kohli swung his arms to good effects after getting his fifty as he hit a four off Duminy and then a classy and effortless six over long-off off Robin Petersen.

The hapless Petersen was hit for another six by Kohli in his next over but the host spinner made up by the getting wickets of Raina and India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2) in his consecutive overs.

Then came last match hero Yusuf Pathan (2) who survived a big lbw appeal in the first ball he faced from Petersen but he perished soon nicking one to de Villiers off Morne Morkel to leave India tottering at 128 for six.

Earlier,Duminy came up with the fighting knock when the chips were down for the hosts as except for Hashim Amla (64),none of the top-order Proteas batsmen could convert their starts.

Apart from the good job done by India’s part time bowlers,the three inexplicable run outs prevented South Africa from getting a better scorecard.

India’s spinners did a decent job in the middle overs by checking the run flow and Yuvraj (3/34) was quite effective with his arm.

Duminy,who batted till the last over,shared two crucial partnerships with Johan Botha (44) and Robin Petersen (31) to rescue South Africa from a precarious situation.

Duminy’s determination reflected in his 72-ball knock as he hit just two boundaries and a six,which came in the 50th over,and ran hard to anchor the innings.

South Africa had lost five wickets at the score of 118 but Duminy and Botha dug in and steadied the ship with their 70-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Earlier,after a rather sedate start,South African openers Smith and Amla gradually accelerated the pace by hitting a few boundaries.

While Amla showed his aggressive intent by clobbering Munaf Patel to the boundary,Smith picked up Zaheer Khan for special treatment by spanking him for two boundaries.

Amla suddenly broke free and slammed a flurry of delightful boundaries to take South Africa’s score beyond the 50 mark in quick time.

Paceman Ashish Nehra provided the breakthrough when he got the prized scalp of Smith (18),brilliantly caught Harbhajan at mid-off after the South African captain for a flat batted shot.

Amla continued to play aggressively at the other end and notched up his half century with a boundary off Yuvraj.

The complexion of the game changed dramatically after that as the hosts slumped to 118 for five with Amla,Morne van Wyk (15),de Villiers (3) and Faf du Plassis (1) perishing in quick succession.