Kallis stars in one-sided ODI

The first match in the series was rained off, and Jacques Kallis and the South African bowlers left India wishing the same had happened to the second as South Africa scored a 157-run win at Durban.

After a promising start by India, reducing South Africa to 63-3 with the major wickets of captain Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs, Kallis took control of the innings and, with good support from AB de Villiers and a cameo from Mark Boucher, set South Africa on course for a good first innings score.

Being particularly harsh on Harbhajan Singh, who conceded 59 from his ten overs, Kallis brought up his 14th ODI century from 143 balls, anchoring the innings from one end while his partners played more aggressively at the other. It was an effective strategy that saw South Africa reach 248-8 from their 50 overs, a score which seemed defendable and in hindsight was more than enough. Munaf Patel bowled well and earnt impressive figures of 2-39 from ten, Sachin Tendulkar bowled a tidy spell in which he conceded just 33 from nine, and Ajit Agarkar removed dangerous hitters Justin Kemp and Shaun Pollock in his nine-over spell of 2-47.

The Indian chase of 249 could not have started in much worse fashion, with the wicket of Wasim Jaffer falling to the third ball of the innings with no runs on the board. And from there it just kept getting worse – although Tendulkar continued what was a fine all-round performance with a solid 35, no other batsman reached 20 as the Indian batting lineup suffered a collapse they would like to forget as quickly as possible. Shaun Pollock provided the early breakthroughs with the wickets of Jaffer and Mohammad Kaif, Andre Nel was incisive in taking 4-13 from his eight overs including the wickets of the dangerous MS Dhoni and Tendulkar, and Kallis put the finishing touches on one of his best all-round performances by taking 3-3 from four overs and cleaning up the lower order.

In the end India were dismissed for just 91, 158 runs short of their target. They will be keen to put this behind them and prepare to give a performance much closer to what they are capable of in the third and final match on Sunday, but an in-form Jacques Kallis is a dangerous prospect.

South Africa 248-8
Jacques Kallis 119, AB de Villiers 41
Munaf Patel 2-39, Ajit Agarkar 2-47

South Africa won by 157 runs.

India 91
Sachin Tendulkar 35, Rahul Dravid 18
Andre Nel 4-13, Jacques Kallis 3-3

Cricket Web Player of the Match – Jacques Kallis (119 & 3-3)