KOLKATA: It was a period in play when fully grown adults made funny sounds because of the tension unfolding on the tele. It was a period in play when the hoi polloi -- and many thousands had started congregating outside the Eden Gardens from as early 8.45 AM -- fully immersed themselves, gave in to what was happening in the middle. It was a period in play when scribes kept pushing the restroom break because...
Chasing 124 on a treacherous Day Three surface, the hosts, effectively 38/4 as Shubman Gill wouldn't be available to bat, needed a moment of calm or they were in danger of being swallowed by a whirlpool. When they had arrived at the Stadium on a mild winter morning a few hours earlier, they were in control of the Test. The visitors were 93/7 on a very helpful surface for all bowlers.
A few hours later, it was time to invoke all the Gods without any discrimination on faith. The hosts were teetering at 38/3.
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 and 0. 18 balls, 18 dots. Nine of those were bowled to Rishabh Pant by Simon Harmer. Pant trusts his defence but he also likes to take on spin. He had already survived a shout for a close-in catch and had just about got a toe-end to a shooter heading to his pads.
Harmer, with more than 1000 first class wickets to his name and knowing when to do what these days because of that experience, gently tossed one up, a few kph's slower at 87 (he was generally hovering around 92-94 kph). Pant tried to work it on the leg side. It caught the edge and Harmer completed a simple catch.
Just like that, a promising position had evaporated into the distance. All that ghosts of horrors past -- in recent times as well as from another time -- had flashed by. 121 against the Kiwis chasing 147. 170 against England chasing 193. To that, a new entry was added before tea; bowled out for 93 chasing 124.
On a pitch like this, you are never really sure of your bearings, you never really know if you are really in. The hosts' batters didn't at all feel settled and perished. Simon Harmer, who picked up four in the first innings, had a big hand as he claimed match figures of eight for 51. Credit must also go to Temba Bavuma for not only giving Harmer an extended spell but also asking him to open with the new ball.
The visitors started the damage with the new ball as Marco Jansen extracted uneven bounce and accounted for both KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal in back-to-back overs. Washington Sundar and Axar Patel offered some resistance but they were fighting a losing battle.
Over to Guwahati to see if they can salvage a home series. If the Proteas avoid defeat, it would be Gautam Gambhir's second series loss in almost a year.