What an embarrassment of riches South Africa boast inte fast bowling ranks! Morkel injured? Bring in Kleinveldt. Kallis crocked? Call up a man averaging barely 20 in first-class cricket: Kyle Abbott. Every team has to blood new talent when one of the oldies drops out or loses form. But when South Africa does it, the debutant almost invariably blows away the opposition a la Philander!
Abbott has aspirations to be an all-rounder but just four fifties wil hardly make the great Jacques quake in his boots. However, he has been in cracking form for the Dolphins, including a twelve-wicket haul against the Cobras last month, and deserved his place in the Centurion sun.
Maybe it's the confidence that a successful side oozes that enables the newbies to fire on all cylinders rather than - dare I say the word? - choke on the big stage. It takes a lot to outperform Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander but the man from KwaZulu came in at second change and, starting with Mohammad Hafeez and endig with Younis Khan, proceeded to take seven wickets in under twelve overs to force Pakistan to face the follow-on.
Second time out, Steyn took the honours but Abbott bowled economically for another two wickets and the Man of the Match award. A great day for the team, of course, with a fifth successive Test victory, and Graeme Smith's fiftieth as captain: a terrific achievement. South Africa really are flying at the moment.
Over at Chennai, a few of the old dogs were showing their teeth. Australia must have fancied heir chances, especially when Michael Clarke celebrated yet another century on day one, despite Ravi Ashwin's seven wickets. By day three, all eyes were on Sachin Tendulkar. Sixty-odd days short of his fortieth birthday, SRT needed twenty-nine runs for his 52nd Test century and his stand with Virat Kohli was shaping up nicely. At close, everyone was drooling over an Indian legend's double-century, but it wasn't the Little Master. No, the focus instead was on MS Dhoni's maiden 200 in any form of cricket. Promoted to six, the skipper enjoyed one of his greatest innings not only for sheer volume of runs but also the way he bullied the bowlers despite an uneven pitch. The Aussies were probably regretting not selecting a second spinner although, to be fair, do they have two Test class slow bowlers anyway? And I'm not giving Shane Warne a second thought!
His previous best in Tests was the 148 he thrashed against Pakistan in one of his first matches seven years ago, although he has a 183 to his name in the fifty-over format. Until today, MS had often failed against Australia but his latest effort has added almost ten to his career average against them in fourteen Tests. Questions had been asked about his batting, captaincy, everything. However, if he gives his side a lead approaching 200 and the spinners exploit a friendly surface to secure victory, his hero status may be restored and recent misery forgotten. At least until India lose their next game! The Aussie top order still looks brittle without Ponting and, while Henriques batted well on his Test debut, I wonder how they will survive the retirement of Mike Hussey. Clarke can't do it on his own, but it has been a game for both skippers so far.
