Killing 'em softly
How does one even get angry at Hashim Amla? He toyed with the Bangladesh bowling for just over two sessions to score 137, ever-so-natural runs. He graduated South Africa's position of dominance overnight into one of impregnability by adding 69 more runs on the second morning off just 97 balls. If that sounds aggressive, it was anything but. Amla does not do aggression. That is why, when he was out in the first over after tea when through some glitch in the matrix he edged Shafiul Islam to a smartly positioned backward point, the Bangladesh players nearly went up to shake his hand because they too, like those lucky enough to be at the ground, were happy to have been part of the clinic.
Even the lofted shots he hit off the spinners were lifted rather than bludgeoned. All this talk of serenity and natural stroke-play may indicate that it is all lazy elegance that imbues Amla with his greatness, but that could not be further from the truth.
Yesterday, it was a treat to see the method behind the genius and the outlandish grasp Amla has on the field of play -- a lesson for cricketers and cricket fans alike. Lots of batsmen look around the field of play before facing the next delivery. They sometimes put out their hands and count the fielders. They then take strike and hit the ball straight to the fielder they just counted.
Amla leans on his bat and glances around, no outward show -- just observation. He then does what only the highest class of batsmen have been able to do. He internalises the field and bats on. In the 93rd over of the innings, and the fourth of the morning yesterday, Mustafizur Rahman bowled a shortish ball outside off stump and it reared up off a length. There was no third man, but a deep point. Even with the higher than average bounce that would have forced lesser mortals to hurry to get bat to ball, Amla waited and played it over gully to the third man fence.
The same happened in Mustafizur's next over, only this time to a ball pitched full outside off stump. Amla bent low and opened the face of the bat to steer it past gully for a boundary to the same region, this time all along the ground.
If those were examples of the discernible methods behind Amla's genius, there were plentiful instances of the intangible qualities of his genius, namely in the varieties of the one shot that makes cricket lovers wax lyrical -- the cover drive. While early on with two slips in place, he left balls alone outside off, when Mushfiqur Rahim inevitably reverted to defence Amla cashed in with an exhibition of arguably cricket's most elegant shot. In the 109th over he smashed one through the covers off Mustafizur West Indian style -- feet rooted and blade flashing. In the next over off Taskin Ahmed, he took his feet to the pitch of the ball and caressed it past the two fielders in front of square on the off side.
A third fielder was brought inside the circle while a deep point waited on the fence. Amla did not need the blueprint in his head then, he hit two more past all of them.
Small wonder then that no one can get angry at Amla; it was an education for all and sundry at Potchefstroom and they were all grateful for it.