Ashish Nehra came into this fixture against South Africa with astonishing figures of 9-97 from four previous one-day internationals here at Kingsmead, which includes his memorable haul of 6-23 against England at the 2003 World Cup.

Yet, he proved to be a big hitch for India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had already gambled with a four-bowler grouping, leaking 61 runs in six overs.

The left-armer, unlike colleagues Munaf Patel (2-36) and Zaheer Khan (2-44), failed to discover the ideal length on a dawdling surface that gave batsmen the freedom to drive without hassle, equally allowing them to step down the track to a shorter length. As Munaf and Zaheer displayed, it was essential to drop the ball a little short off driving length, on a middle-and-off stump line.
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Poor bowling
Nehra, who leaked three boundaries in his first over, came back to remove Graeme Smith in the fifth ball of his second over, but it was a terrible shot by the South African skipper, whose lack of runs on this tour continued.
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Once again, Nehra was smacked for three consecutive boundaries by Hashim Amla in the sixth over.

It was hard to envisage Amla, a batsman once tipped as a Test specialist, mercilessly stepping down the track and treating Nehra with no respect. It was carnage, and Nehra refused to learn from his mistakes.

"His (Nehra's) natural length seems to be full, but you can't bowl that on these surfaces. You've got to be a little imaginative in modern-day cricket. I'm glad I didn't play in this era," a cheeky Fanie de Villiers, former South Africa bowler, quipped. "If you drop the ball short here, you better have good pace, or you are asking for trouble. Zaheer and Munaf showed the way, they hit the right lengths," he added.

In the 32nd over, Nehrau00a0 was once again smashed for three consecutive boundaries, this time by AB de Villiers. He bowled full and outside off and warranted a thwarting.

India are likely to feature three quick bowlers in their World Cup playing XI. With Praveen Kumar almost a certain force on his way back, will Nehra have to make way?