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It was an India tour of South Africa in 2001/02 when after the second test match referee Mike Dennes proposed a test ban for some Indian players for excessive appeal and ball tempering including Sachin Tendulkar. The ban on Indian players has shocked the whole world and most importantly India. Allegation on Sachin Tendulkar of ball tempering has triggered Indian people. BCCI asked ICC to withdraw the ban on Indian players and execute Mike Dennes from the final test. ICC didn’t agree with BCCI’s proposal and then according to some cricket experts, BCCI threatened South Africa that they would lose 8 million dollars of their broadcast rights if they didn’t play the game. Fear of losing the money made South Africa go against the ICC and play the final test. On 23rd November 2001, the final test was played between India vs South Africa at Centurian. it is the ICC unofficial test match. This match wasn’t included in the country or player’s records. Let’s take a look at the results of the game.
1st inning
In the absence of captain Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid was leading the Indian side. South Africa has won the toss and invited Asians to bat. Indian batters can’t hold on against proteas bowlers led by Shaun Pollock. Shiv Das’ 46 and Deep Daasgupta’s 36 helped India to reach 232 in the first inning.
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South African seamer Nantie took four and all-rounder Jacques Kallis took two wickets to stop India below 250.
2nd Inning
When proteas came to bat Indian bowlers looked helpless in front of Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten, openers added 135 runs for the first wicket. Javagal Srinath gave the first breakthrough and then ended up taking two wickets. Jacques Kallis after taking two scored a brilliant century scoring 110 runs in 234 balls with hitting 18 fours. After Kallis captain Shaun Pollock also scored a century in front of India’s weak bowling and with the help of these two centuries South Africa scored 566 runs and declared their inning. Opener Gary Kirsten also contributed 90 runs in this monstrous score. Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra took two wickets each, and Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, and Sachin Tendulkar took one wicket each. South Africa has taken the lead of 334 runs.
3rd inning
When India came to bat the first target they had to reach was to overcome the lead South Africans have. Indian openers gave a good start and added 92 runs for the first wicket where Connor Williams (42) and Shiv Sunder Das (48) batted so brilliantly, after only Sachin managed to reach 40, and India all out at 261. India lost the game by 73 runs and as the match was unofficial the winning has been counted to South Africans. South Africa has already won a game in this series so they have been announced as winners of this series by 1-0. South African bowlers Nantie Hayward, Shaun Pollock, and Makhaya Ntini have taken two wickets each, and captain Shaun Pollock was awarded as man of the match.
The match was won by South Africa people watched the game and the broadcast money was given to South Africa but that India vs South Africa match hasn’t been recorded officially by ICC.
Also read: Top 10 Cricketers who received Padma Bhushan and Padma Shree Award
