da bet7k： Mark Boucher was confident that his team had the bowling arsenal todismiss India inside two sessions on Saturday
da betcris： Dileep Premachandran in Durban29-Dec-2006
‘We’ve still got a lot of respect for quite a few of their batters’: Boucher © Getty Images
While the weather forecasts remained a worry, Mark Boucher, South Africa’swicketkeeper, was confident that his team had the bowling arsenal todismiss India inside two sessions on Saturday and wrap up this KingsmeadTest to square the series. Having reduced India to 38 for 2 by the timeplay was called off, South Africa are fully aware that a big wicket or twois all that separates them from some measure of redemption for the debacle atthe Wanderers.”We’re very confident of bowling them out in two sessions,” said Boucher.The guy who we thought could take the attack to us – we got Viru [Sehwag]out. Then we got the batsman who we thought could bat time – Rahul[Dravid]. We probably need to focus on getting two more tomorrow morningand hopefully, the rest can just fall around them.”There was no doubt in Boucher’s mind who the danger man had been as Indiastarted their pursuit of 354. “Judging by past performances, there was oneguy who could have taken the attack to us and that was Viru,” he said.”We’ve still got a lot of respect for quite a few of their batters butbelieve that we can run the show.”Sehwag’s travails in the series have pushed him to the very brink, butBoucher certainly wasn’t about to write him off as a spent force. “He’sgot lots of runs in the subcontinent,” he said. “He’s probably strugglingwith the bounce in South Africa. The new ball tends to move around a bithere, and there have been a lot of opening batsmen who have been found outin this country.”He got a good ball today. He’s a good player, with a great eye, and willonly get stronger in these conditions the more he plays here. But he’sstill new to them.” The others he was wary of were the experienced hands.When asked which wickets would be most prized on Saturday morning, Bouchersaid: “Obviously Sachin [Tendulkar]. And the other is the guy in form atthe moment – VVS [Laxman].Boucher was also confident that the ground conditions would come to theaid of the home side. “The bounce is slow, which means it’s a lot drierthan usual,” he said. “With a bit of wind and the sun coming out, thecracks are going to open up and there’s definitely going to be up-and-downmovement.”According to him, South Africa hadn’t had a specific target in mind whenthey resumed on the fourth morning 152 runs ahead. “We thought that 320would be enough, but Polly [Shaun Pollock] came and knocked a few and weended up getting 350. We wanted an hour before tea to have a go at themand we got that. We probably got a bit more than we expected, and that wasa bonus.”While admitting that a positive mindset and late-order partnerships hadcontributed greatly to the team’s strong position, Boucher also said thatthere was enough in the pitch to keep bowlers interested. “Yesterdaymorning, we picked up five wickets. This morning, they picked up six.There’s definitely something in the wicket for the bowlers in the morning,and the Indians bowled well. Full credit to them.”Given that bad light, or the umpiring interpretation of it, has seen playend early on all four days, Boucher wasn’t too optimistic about gettingthe full complement of overs on Saturday. “Judging by the conditions, wewon’t get 90 overs tomorrow,” he said. “But if we can get 60 or 70, thatwill be great.”The bad-light threshold for the game was fixed on the opening evening,when South Africa’s batsmen accepted the offer to go off, but Boucherinsisted that there were no regrets. “Ashwell Prince was cramping, and hehad to make a call,” he said. “It was a good call because we ended upputting on quite a few runs for the last two wickets. If the umpiresdecide that’s the standard they’re going to set, then they’re going to doit no matter what we say.”Boucher was also certain that India wouldn’t make a concerted bid ofvictory, given that they’re 1-0 up in the series. “They can’t score fivean over, so they will probably go on the defensive,” he said. “That couldplay in our hands.”India’s recent catalogue of final-day disasters gives them plenty ofreason to hope.
