Around this time, Jadeja flicked Kallis not too far from short mid-wicket's hands for four and then immediately after, cover drove him forcefully for another. Strokes that altered the mood, shots that seemed to hint at hope. Cronje brought back a tiring Hayward. Jadeja aimed a flick, the ball sped to point off the leading edge. Crookes managed to palm it up once, but couldn't hold on to it, in a desperate second attempt. In the same over, another one, much faster this time, screamed off Crookes' hand into the backward point fence. The next ball was pitched up. Jadeja hoisted it over the straight boundary. In an over which he should have fallen, Jadeja had taken the match away from the South Africans. Much remained to be done, but this was where the match changed direction. Their fastest man had been conquered, the rest seemed easy by comparison.

Cronje turned to Crookes in a bid to buy Jadeja's wicket. But, by now, Jadeja and Robin Singh had eyed victory. Crookes was deposited over the deep mid-wicket fence by Jadeja, and everyone by then knew where the match was headed. Robin was the perfect foil for a by-now rampant Jadeja. There was something cool and collected about the last dozen overs which seemed totally out of recent character for this Indian team. Maybe, all the criticism had finally gotten to them. Maybe, there is something about Ganguly that brings out the best in them. But, it is all too early to tell.

The morning was all South Africa. Agarkar and Kumaran were the perfect pace on this dead, belter of a pitch. Agarkar bowled as if in a trance. Far too much on both sides of the wicket. He really needs to become more consistent. He has obvious promise, but needs to work harder and not try too many things. Kumble's mind seemed to be elsewhere as well. Joshi bowled well, much better than his figures would seem to indicate. He was the only Indian bowler on view who really looked like taking a wicket off a genuinely good ball. Apart from him and Tendulkar and to an extent Dravid, everyone took a pasting. Gibbs and Kirsten toyed with the bowling throughout. If Dravid and Tendulkar hadn't made up for Kumble, Agarkar and Kumaran, we would've surely seen a total of 370 plus.

Ganguly generally, seems a more responsive sort of captain than Tendulkar. These are early days, but there are positive signs in the captaincy. Once, Gibbs popped Kumble up in front of square. A short-leg was immediately put in place. Despite the great start the South Africans had, Joshi was given a slip and a close-in catcher. And, Kumble in spite of his general lack of consistency on the day, was given a short-leg for a period, when bowling to Gibbs. There was the use of Dravid. There's a bit of Martin Crowe in Ganguly's captaincy. Small things sometimes tell you a lot about a captain's character.

Cronje in the post-match interview mentioned one or two missed run-outs, one of which he'd missed. He's very hard on himself, a tough, uncompromising character as we all know. He talked about Hayward being under the weather after his first spell. He said the South Africans don't dress well for humid conditions such as these, referring to the relatively thick clothing they had. He's hell bent on improving the South Africans' record in India, you can bet they will be back. But, equally, Ganguly is a man who knows his limitations and is a tough man under that seemingly soft look. In many ways, this series shall be a tale of two captains.

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