India's hopes of wrapping up the limited-overs series against South Africa inside the distance got a major boost with the availability of Javagal Srinath to spearhead the pace attack in the penultimate clash here tomorrow.
Srinath, who was rested for the first three ties, would provide the home team with the cutting edge which seemed to be woefully absent at Kochi and Faridabad.
The added sting which the Karnataka pace ace provides to the Indian attack would stand the home team in good stead against the visitors' batting line-up, especially the top-order
who edged out India by a narrow two-wicket margin at Faridabad yesterday to stay in contention.
The home team has so far had the better share of the skirmishes despite the failure of champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar. The hosts are praying that the master batsman live up to his reputation tomorrow at this venue on which India have won both their previous two encounters - against New Zealand (by seven wickets in 1994) and against Zimbabwe (by 13 runs in 1998).
The Indian batting has, however, clicked thanks mainly to the new incumbent Sourav Ganguly, whose forthright manner of taking the fight to the enemy camp and leading from the front, has paid dividends.
The successful run-chase at Kochi, where the Indians managed to put behind the tag of poor chasers by overhauling the daunting total of 301, has given the much-needed confidence to the hosts after the whitewash in the Test series.
The stupendous win at Kochi, where Ajay Jadeja came up with a gem of an innings, was followed by the victory at Jamshedpur where the bowlers restricted South Africa to a modest 199.
The Indian bowlers struck to a good line with Ajit Agarkar and Sunil Joshi reaping a rich harvest. Any hopes the Proteas had nurtured of defending the small total were torn to shreds by Ganguly's blazing hundred.
The Indian skipper looked set to bat the South Africans out yesterday also but he was caught behind. It resulted in the slowing down of the run-rate and ultimately paved the way for the South African win.
The inclusion of Srinath in place of T Kumaran for the remaining matches has substantially boosted the home team's hopes. To add to the woes of the visitors is the injury to Mornantau Hayward and Henry Williams.
Lance Klusener, who has looked a pale shadow of the bowler who ripped through the Indian batting at Calcutta in the second Test in 1996, has been playing more as a batsman since he has not yet recovered from the ankle strain suffered earlier.
The key to the match, however, lies on how fast the Indians take the physical strain with only a day's gap between the third and fourth ties.
South African captain Hansie Cronje would be hoping for another big opening stand from Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten, who have applied themselves well against the spinners.
Cronje would be hoping that Jacques Kallis, who batted resolutely in the Test series to keep the Indian spin attack at bay, comes good at this venue which has tradionally been a high-scoring one.
Lower down the order, only wicket-keeper Mark Boucher has batted with ny confidence against the spinners which is a cause for concern for Cronje.
On the other hand the South African spinners, led by Nicky Boje, have
not caused much problems to the free-stroking Indian line-up. They have to come up with a far better show to check the flow of runs in the middle overs.
Teams:
India (from): Sourav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohd Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh, Sunil Joshi, Syed Saba Karim, Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath, Mohd Kaif, Nikhil Chopra and S Sriram.
South Africa: Hansie Cronje (captain), Shaun Pollock, Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Pieter Strydom, Dale Benkensten, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Derek Crookes, Steve Elworthy, Henry Williams, Mornantau Hayward and Neil Mckenzie.
Umpires: I Sivaram (Hyderabad) and K Kariharan (Delhi).
TV umpire: A Saheba (Gujarat).
Match referee: Raman Subba Row (England).
