The South African cricket team visited India for cricket matches in the 2005–06 season. All the matches were one-day games, with five One Day Internationals and a tour match against a team from Hyderabad. Both sides were coming off series wins, India beating Sri Lanka 6–1 at home while South Africa had enjoyed a 4–0 win over New Zealand. Before the series, the BBC Sport website had a preview which argued that India and South Africa were both "more serious challengers to Australia's crown" as defending World Champions, and that the crowds "could be in for some seriously good cricket" [1]
It was a close series, at any rate – South Africa took the lead twice in the series, but couldn't hold on, and with the third ODI at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium rained off, the series was tied 2–2. The Man of the Series award was also shared, between Graeme Smith of South Africa and Yuvraj Singh of India, who topped the batting averages of their teams with 209 runs. On the bowling side, Shaun Pollock contributed with seven wickets and nine maiden overs, but went for 5.5 an over in the final ODI, when India were set 222 runs to win in 50 overs.
South Africans won by eight wickets[5]
The Hyderabad side had no batsman who made more than 21 at Vijay Sports Complex Ground as South Africa enjoyed a victory in their first match on Indian soil this season. Captain Arjun Yadav and Devishetty Vinay Kumar had Hyderabad's largest partnership, adding 34 in nine overs for the fourth wicket, but after Vinay Kumar was run out and Andre Nel had Yadav caught behind, the last five wickets followed for 53 and Hyderabad closed on 127. AB de Villiers then hit an unbeaten half-century as the South Africans made it to the target in 25.5 overs, just over half of the allotted 50.
| India | 249/9 (50 overs) | South Africa won by five wickets |
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Yuvraj Singh 103 (122) |
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, India |
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| South Africa | 252/5 (48.5 overs) | |
South Africa won the toss at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and put India in to bat on a pitch that was said by Cricinfo reporter Siddartha Vaidyanathan to have both seam movement and bounce for the bowlers [6]. The South African bowlers got a breakthrough with the seventh ball of the match, as a ball from Makhaya Ntini was sliced to backward point where Ashwell Prince took an airborne catch. Two more wickets followed in the third and fifth over, as Shaun Pollock dismissed Mohammad Kaif lbw and Sachin Tendulkar caught behind, and by the end of the sixth over India had made seven runs for three wickets[7]. 27 runs followed from the next four overs, before Andre Nel bowled Rahul Dravid through the gap between bat and pad. India were 34 for 4, and decided to use their Super Sub, replacing spin bowler Murali Kartik with specialist batsman Gautam Gambhir. However, Gambhir edged a wide delivery by Nel to the wicket-keeper, and India were 35 for 5.
Yet, they managed to bat out 50 overs, a 19-over partnership for the sixth wicket between Yuvraj and Irfan Pathan sending India to 110 after 30 overs, and the last 20 yielded more than double that. Four wickets fell in the last 20 overs, as Pathan inside edged a ball from the ODI debutant Johan Botha onto his stumps for 46 with the first ball of the 31st over, and M. S. Dhoni was run out eight overs later. The last ten overs yielded 83 runs, with Harbhajan Singh hitting two sixes and four fours on his way to a 17-ball 37, and Yuvraj Singh completing his century. Yuvraj was later named Man of the Match for his 103, but it was in a losing cause. With four regular bowlers, India kept South Africa in the field for 49 of the required 50 overs, but Graeme Smith's early hitting of 48 off 36 balls had taken South Africa to 77 for 3 after 13 overs, reducing the required rate to 4.67 per over from the initial 4.93. Ashwell Prince then put on 89 with Jacques Kallis, making 46 before he was caught off Harbhajan's bowling, and though Mark Boucher was dismissed by Sachin Tendulkar in the next over, South Africa lost no further wickets. Kallis went on to top-score in the innings, with 68 not out, while Justin Kemp, the number seven batsman, made 46 not out as South Africa passed their target with seven balls to spare. [8]
India won by six wickets[9]
Match abandoned[10]
South Africa won by ten wickets[11]
India won by five wickets[12]
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