Two of a kind plot to give India spin win

The off-spinner had played the major role in India’s win, his seven wickets in South Africa’s second innings — incredibly, his 15th five-wicket haul in Tests — decimating the tourists and leaving India with the relatively simple task of scoring 117 for victory.

The collapse began early on, when danger man Jacques Kallis patted back a nicely flighted delivery. The catch was gratefully accepted and the smile on Harbhajan’s face showed he knew just what this meant for the team. ‘‘We had to get him early. He is a great player and can turn things around. So it was the most satisfying wicket, and the turning point in the match,’’ he later said.

The thing with Harbhajan is that one wicket usually leads to a run. That was the case in this match too, at what must be his favourite ground; he’s now picked up 29 wickets in the four Tests he’s played at Eden Gardens.

With one of them, he admitted, he ‘‘just got lucky’’. That was the wicket of Shaun Pollock, given out caught by Gautam Gambhir at short-leg when the replays clearly showed that he had neither edged it nor had the fielder taken it cleanly.

‘‘I saw it on TV and it didn’t hit the bat. I guess it evens out at the end of the day. Some days you get some your way. And on others you just get lucky,’’ said Harbhajan.

He was referring, of course, to the fact that Jacques Kallis was not given out yesterday despite TV replays showing otherwise. His run ended at seven wickets; that was the cue for Anil Kumble to write a bit of history himself. After first snapping up Thami Tsolikele, he then broke through a stubborn Makhaya Ntini to join Kapil Dev as India’s highest wicket-taker.

‘‘Anil is 34 but he still competes as if he is only 20. It’s a great feat’’, Harbhajan said.

Did he wish to learn the art of staying cool from his senior spinner, he was asked. It’s something he would like to learn, he said, but from another Bangalorean. ‘‘I wish I could be like Rahul Dravid — cool all the time. But everyone has his own way, and I like to be aggressive,’’ he said.

Then added, as an afterthought: ‘Actually, it has to do with my age. I’m only 24 and I think I’m so pumped up because I’m young. If I was like Dravid, I might end up taking less wickets…or maybe more.’’

His job done, Harbhajan sat back and watched Sehwag’s first real failure of the series. Probably because of the fact that he was down with fever overnight, Sehwag was half the player that he normally is.

No matter; the two had done enough to ensure India romped home quite easily.