Cool and clinical

Jacques Kallis: no flourishes, but extremely effective © Getty Images

Coming into this series, both teams were on a roll - South Africa hadn't lost their last 19 games, India had just thrashed Sri Lanka 6-1. However, after only one game, South Africa have shown that they will be far tougher opponents for India than the Sri Lankans were over the past three weeks. With the ball, their fast bowlers displayed far more skill and control than Chaminda Vaas and Co., their fielding and catching - starting with that outstanding effort from Ashwell Prince to dismiss Virender Sehwag - was streets ahead of the Sri Lankans, and the batsmen showed cool heads and a clinical finishing ability which was conspicuous by its absence among their Sri Lankan counterparts.

South Africa did have a remarkable unbeaten streak, but only five of those wins had been achieved away from home. The question which needed answering was: would Graeme Smith and Co. be able to maintain that run away from home, in difficult conditions, and against a tough opposition? They answered that question emphatically, especially with the way they came at the Indian batsmen in the first ten overs. The pitch was undoubtedly at its juiciest best early in the day, but the manner in which Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel exploited it was exemplary. For a line-up which milked runs on flat decks against docile bowling, this was a rude wake-up call, and by the time the team realised what had hit them, they were already groggy with five killer blows.

Equally impressive was their ice-cool approach to the target of 250. There were none of the deft touches of a Mahela Jayawardene, but Jacques Kallis and Prince gave a wonderful lesson in planning a run-chase. Kallis has often been accused of batting for self over team, and while his sluggish start might have evoked concern, he knew exactly what the target was, who the remaining batsmen were, and what approach would work best. There were no flourishes, but equally, there were no chances he gave the bowlers. It was as clinical as it could be, and with four more games to follow, Kallis's form is excellent news for the South Africans.

Though India lost - and in the end the margin was a rather convincing one - there were enough positives to emerge from the game to suggest that the processes which Greg Chappell has been talking about are working well. This was a game in which South Africa clearly got the better end of the conditions, bowling in the morning when the pitch was fresh and the ball was seaming around. It eased up considerably halfway into India's innings, but by then they had already lost half their side. That they still managed to climb up to a total of 250, when most wouldn't even have expected 200, is a credit not only to the ability of the lower-order batsmen, but also their attitude.

Flexibility has been the buzzword for this Indian set-up, and it was in evidence again today, when Irfan Pathan came in ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The ball was still seaming around, Pathan had shown decent technique and was high on confidence after his batting exploits against Sri Lanka, and, most importantly, Dhoni's ability to tonk the ball a fair distance towards the end was far too valuable to be sacrificed in favourable bowling conditions.

Pathan showed just how much he has developed as a batsman with another splendid knock - the think-tank's faith in him has not only given him confidence, it's also made him think like a specialist batsman. Even in the early stages of the sixth-wicket partnership, Yuvraj Singh, easily the more accomplished batsman between the two, was struggling to come to terms with the pitch and the bowling, while Pathan handled them far more comfortably, playing with a straight bat and cutting out the risks.

And when Pathan was dismissed, the rest of the lower order all chipped in - a trait often missing in Indian teams of the past - with Harbhajan Singh showing more than just the ability to slog: his hits were mostly straight and crisply timed. The experiment with five batsmen didn't work this time, but this was a rare occasion when the pitch wasn't a featherbed. Despite the result, this performance would still give India the confidence to go into games - at least in the subcontinent - with only five specialist batsmen.

The stand-out performer for India, though, was Yuvraj. He started shakily, but once he settled in, the intent to bat through the innings was clearly visible. Yuvraj has often complained in the past about not getting enough overs to bat in one-dayers, but here he got an opportunity, and he made it count. The characteristic booming drives all came out towards the end - though a delectable cut off Kallis was perhaps his shot of the innings - but more than anything else, the responsibility with which he approached his knock was the highlight.

The area where India did let themselves down was in their discipline when bowling - 13 wides and six no-balls were given away, with four of those no-balls coming from the spinners. Just two games ago, the Indians had kept that figure down to three. In the end South Africa won with plenty to spare, but those 19 extra deliveries just made the job easier.