India set S Africa 299 to win first ODI

Jaipur, Feb 21 (PTI) India fumbled and faltered before
riding on a string of cameos to post 298 for nine against
South Africa in the first of the three-match One-day series
against South Africa at this northwestern city on Sunday.
Asked to bat first, Virender Sehwag (46) and Dinesh

Karthik (44) added 79 runs for the second wicket while Suresh
Raina (58) and Virat Kohli (31) raised 66 in the only other
significant partnership in the stop-start innings.
South African captain Jacques Kallis led from the front,
claiming three for 29 from his seven tight overs.
Meanwhile for India, it was hardly the start they
fancied. Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost a crucial toss, which
rendered defending the team total even tougher since the
bowlers would have to operate with a slippery, bedewed ball.
And the roaring welcome that greeted the Indian opening
pair when they walked out in the middle was still hung in the
winter air when Virender Sehwag's hesitation, Sachin
Tendulkar's overzealousness and Herschelle Gibbs' athleticism
brought a hushed silence in the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
Sehwag (46) had punched the Wayne Parnell delivery to
covers and set off before hesitation set in.
At the other end, Tendulkar (5) hared down the crease for
a single that was never there. And they chose the wrong person
to steal a single as Gibbs dived to his left and rifled a
throw to the bowler who had all the time in the world to knock
off the bails.

Dejection was in air but not panic as the second wicket
partnership yielded 79 resuscitating runs before misfortune
struck Sehwag.
Dinesh Karthik's (44) straight drive brushed bowler Charl
Langeveldt's fingers before crushing onto the stumps at the
non-striker's end with Sehwag nowhere near the crease.
Another four overs and Karthik also departed, missing his
fourth half-century by six runs as his mistimed pull off
Langveldt found the mid-on fielder.
With Sehwag looking subdued after Tendulkar's unfortunate
dismissal, Karthik decided to counter-attack and he chose
Parnell for special treament, hitting the left-arm pacer for
three fours in the eighth over.
Sehwag too decided to get into the groove, hitting Albie
Morkel for back-to-back fours before finishing the 14th over
with a flat six and then made a bizarre exit in the next over
after a 37-ball breezy knock with six fours and two sixes.
Karthik hit Johan Botha soaring over mid-wicket for a
sweet six but was caught unaware by a Langeveldt snorter that
cut short his 56-ball stay.
To make it worse, Albie Morkel took a low catch off
Kallis to remove Dhoni (26) and from the comfort of 89 for
one, India found themselves in a mess at 138 for four.
Raina and Kohli calmed the Indian nerves with a 66-run
stand. Raina hit Kallis for two fours in the same over before
on-driving Parnell to clear the long-on ropes but Kohli fell
to Morkel after the team had crossed the 200-mark.
Yousuf Pathan (18 off 13 balls) sizzled for a while and
Raina, having made his 15th ODI fifty, and Ravindra Jadeja
(22) too fell in quick succession. PTI AY