India's resistance on Day 5 lasted a shade under 30 minutes as South Africa dismissed S Sreesanth and Jaidev Unadkat to win the Centurion Test by an innings and 25 runs. Sachin Tendulkar, who had completed his 50th Test hundred on Day 4, remained unbeaten on 111 when Unadkat lobbed a Dale Steyn bouncer to slip.Having given 17 wickets to South Africa's pacers, India's defeat in this Test was comprehensive. The only shred of hope left on the final day's play was an intervention from rain gods, which could have allowed India a miraculous draw. It wasn't to be.
The series now moves to Durban and then to Cape Town. At these two venues, India have a 0-4 win-loss record in six Tests. Centurion was their best hope for snatching a surprise lead, but now that they're down 0-1, tougher challenges await them.
Given the damp conditions on Day 1, India's capitulation to Steyn and Morne Morkel was no surprise. Also, the lack of a practice game before the series meant several Indian batsmen were not able to make technical adjustments to their game. Hence they found tackling the swinging, bouncing deliveries tough.
It is likely that as the series progresses, VVS Laxman would walk out to bat in perpetual crisis. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag can be counted upon, but the middle order is soft. Hence it is important that Laxman makes adjustment to his footwork, the lack of which cost him his wickets twice in this game.
Suresh Raina fell twice to Kallis who's been a part-time seamer for South Africa in recent times. Raina's dismissals were identical --- half-heartedly poking a straight ball to slip. The second dismissal in particular showed Raina not only didn't have the technical apparatus to handle this bowling, he also didn't have a clear mind about how he wanted to play the delivery.
After a fine beginning to his Test career in sub-continental conditions, the young left-hander has flopped against quality pace bowling. You can safely assume South Africa are not going to serve him any drivable balls in this series.
India would keenly look forward to Zaheer Khan's return after a hamstring injury. Their attack was directionless in the game, despite the presence of the experienced Harbhajan Singh who has for long stopped being a match-winning Test bowler. Zaheer has been the clear leader of the attack for a while and hopefully his return would restore the balance in the series.
Source:- http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/no-miracles-india-south-africa-complete-centurion-win-20101220
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