I would have preferred to celebrate with a win

Shaun Pollock

Too many rash shots and some dropped catches by South Africa coupled with some great Indian fielding and a superb bowling performance by Harbhajan Singh, led India to their first victory on South African soil this summer.

And whilst the Indians are celebrating a win at Centurion Park, both sides have guaranteed, to the cricket-loving public, that a highly entertaining series lies ahead.

India played the better cricket on the night and deserved to come out on top. I thought the Centurion wicket was a good one-day pitch, playing well throughout the match and showing a bit more pace and bounce than at the Wanderers. I wasn't too upset about losing the toss as South Africa have generally done well 'chasing' in the last few games. We kept the Indian opening partnership quite subdued and managed to get two early wickets which put some pressure on the Indian line-up.

Ganguly was dismissed in slightly controversial circumstances, with Kallis taking a catch low on the ground. There is the opinion that the decision should have been referred to the third umpire but I feel that, too often, there've been incidents wherein the television footage is proved to be inconclusive. In a number of cases the perception of depth is not properly conveyed on camera and this is a disadvantage to both the batting and fielding sides. I, personally, believe that if video footage shows that there is no conclusive evidence, the decision should be referred back to the standing umpire for final judgement.

As a team, we were frustrated at dropping Dravid twice in three balls as he was clearly under pressure to get amongst the runs following Tendulkar's dismissal. Those dropped catches allowed some of that pressure to ease and he managed to put on a good partnership with Singh, allowing India to reach the competitive total of 233.

Personally, I was pleased to take five wickets. Ironically, this achievement is becoming somewhat of a bad omen for South Africa because, off the four times that I've taken five wickets in an innings, we've lost three of these games!

I became the second South African to take 200 wickets in One-Day International cricket, which is a nice landmark, but, obviously, I would have preferred to have celebrated this achievement in conjunction with a win.

Our innings never really 'got going' due to the fact that we kept losing wickets at vital times. Partnerships are the key when chasing a score and we were unable to put any of these together successfully.

It was the first time that we'd come up against Harbhajan Singh and I thought he bowled extremely well, showing that there is always a place for wicket takers in One-Day Internationals. It was, however, pleasing to see the South African lower order (which hasn't had much batting opportunity this season) find confidence and bat well under pressure. But, in the end, India's fielding was very good whereas our catching could have been better, resulting in our first loss of the season.

Although this is an obvious disappointment to us, from a spectators' point of view, it sets up the series quite nicely. Based on the form shown, thus far we, can expect a gritty showdown between South Africa and India in the final.

Kenya have been known to spring the odd surprise, but their form book suggests they may struggle to reach the final!

Here's looking forward to some good cricket this summer!

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India's tour of South Africa : Complete coverage