We messed things up in the end, says Ganguly

BARODA, MARCH 17: Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly was elated by India's heart-stopping victory over South Africa to clinch the five-...

BARODA, MARCH 17: Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly was elated by India’s heart-stopping victory over South Africa to clinch the five-game One-day series, but was displeased by the sudden loss of wickets that almost messed up a comfortable chase at the fag end.

“I am happy with the series win, but not at all happy with the way we messed up things in the end,” Ganguly told reporters after India won the penultimate game by four wickets with a ball to spare to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with a game left.

Praising Sachin Tendulkar, who cracked 122 but fell with victory well in sight, Ganguly said, “He batted well but I thought he would complete the innings.”

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“We gave away 20-25 runs extra,” he said, but added Indian bowlers, leg-spinner Anil Kumble and Tendulkar in particular, bowled well to contain the opposing batsmen in the middle overs.

Man-of-the-Match Tendulkar, who shook off a relatively quiet period to hammer his 25th One-day hundred, justified his sheet-anchor’s role: “If someone bats as well as Saurav did, it is important to hang around and give him support.”

A disappointed South African skipper Hansie Cronje said Ganguly and Tendulkar “took the match away from us.”

The South African skipper, who realised his dream of clinching a Test series in India but saw his team come clearly second best in the shorter version of the game, said: “It is not a question of not putting up an adequate total, but not defending a total properly.”

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After the final game at Nagpur on March 19, both teams travel to Sharjah for the tri-series, with Pakistan as the third team, to be held from March 22 to 31.