Mask slips along with SA standards

Poker faces are to sportspeople what masks are to those going to a ball. They serve as disguises. They hide the heat, of the literal and not-so-literal kind, and there was plenty of both at the MCG on Sunday.

Temperatures soared to 36 degrees and heady humidity made it feel like the mercury had been raised much higher. So did the heaving crowd, who seemed to only be trickling in as the hours shrunk to minutes before the first ball but then flooded the floors of the multi-tiered MCG. Sound gushed forth: "Indiaaaaaa, Indiaaaaa, Sachiiiiin, Sachiiiiin." As it did, South Africa seemed to drown, stony faces and all.

South Africa have avoided the Indian media all week, keeping their cards close to their chest, but the first tell came in the field. AB de Villiers, who effected the run-out of Rohit Sharma for a duck, was the person Shikhar Dhawan took on when he set off a single after driving to mid-off. Dhawan chanced the arm of the man nobody chances the arm of, Russian roulette. And he won.

South Africa remained steely, even as they were forced to use a part-time spinner, JP Duminy, early on because Vernon Philander was injured, and tried to keep the pressure on with the other two quicks. But Dale Steyn's scary eyes did not help him see the ball clearly enough when it was driven to him off Imran Tahir. He fumbled and allowed a second run.

So began one of South Africa's messiest fielding performances in recent memory. It was headlined by the two dropped catches - Hashim Amla put down a fairly tough chance at backward point and Rilee Rossouw, on as a substitute, spilt one at deep square leg - but written through with an untidiness that would have irritated men who set high standards.

They did not prowl the inner ring with their usual menace or pounce on balls with the urgency that made even a single, never mind two, seem like a silly idea. They did not close gaps with a few swift movements but allowed them to be pierced, even when the fielders were within touching distance of each other. They seemed to be sapped of energy, understandable given the conditions but inexcusable because of the occasion.

At one point, they stared 350 in the face and then India blinked. Wickets at the end flattered South Africa's death bowling and meant they could go into the break expressionless on the outside but with belief they could finish the match smiling. Had they known then that the 27 extra minutes they spent in the field, which left them five overs over the allotted time, would cost them a fine, they may have looked more pained. That news only came later, after South Africa's masks of composure had been ripped off.

While Amla was struggling for fluency as the bowlers found the edge of his bat too many times for comfort, South Africa would have thought themselves still okay. When Faf du Plessis and de Villiers built a stand that seemed capable of carrying on, they would have thought themselves on track. When David Miller replaced de Villiers, they would have still been confident, given the form of the No. 5 batsman and the knowledge Duminy, his partner from the Zimbabwe win, was still to bat.

But when du Plessis threw his wicket away, the first cracks began to show. The poker face was flinching. When Duminy was done by a spinner and Wayne Parnell joined Miller, with 161 runs still to get in less than 20 overs, South Africa were completely unmasked.

Miller held an animated mid-pitch discussion with Parnell in which he seemed to be explaining earnestly the magnitude of the task which lay ahead. Parnell nodded vigorously in agreement. Miller seemed to think he had delivered the message and was about to return to the non-striker's end but then realised he had more to say. The chatter continued.

South Africa were obviously rattled and Miller's run-out two overs later confirmed it. They lost their last six wickets for 30 runs as their middle order melted like an ice cream in the Melbourne heat.

Everything seemed to become too much. They were chasing too many runs, the crowd was making too much noise, there was too much riding on this game and then... there was nothing. South Africa know that this defeat may not mean anything in the wider context of this tournament - just as India's loss to them in 2011 meant nothing - but they also know that it exposed them in a way they did not want to be unveiled. It showed where their vulnerabilities lie, which is where they always have: under pressure, in the middle order, with the chase.

Not even the best poker face can hide that, and we all know South Africa have tried.