India v South Africa, 1st Test, Nagpur, 2nd day

Amla double-century leads SA's charge

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga

February 7, 2010

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India 25 for 0 trail South Africa 558 for 6 decl. (Amla 253*, Kallis 173, de Villiers 53) by 533 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Hawkeye

The double-century continued to elude Jacques Kallis but not Hashim Amla, who accumulated his way to the highest Test score by a South African in India. He also provided solidity from the other end as AB de Villiers played havoc with the spinners' lengths during a 108-run partnership that followed the 340-run stand between Kallis and Amla, the fifth-highest association in India. On a pitch behaving like it was a fourth-day track, it seemed a formidable total.

Amla's was an incredibly disciplined effort. He didn't hit anything in the air. Once Kallis was done with his onslaught on the first day, there were no periods of quiet or a loud burst from Amla, still managing a 50-plus strike-rate. Today he scored 55, 45 and 38 in the three sessions, a third of which featured 25 minutes fewer, and never frustrated the other batsmen by hogging the strike. He faced 473 deliveries and the batsmen after him got 556 in all. It needed all the discipline from Amla because the pitch offered Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra ample assistance.