Zimbabwe proves to be a better team

By Vijay Lokapally

HARARE, JUNE 18. Shed no tears, supporters of Indian cricket. The better team won at the Harare Sports Club and once again the Indian cricketers return home without a Test series win outside the subcontinent in 15 years. Very little seems to change when it comes to India's performance overseas.

The blonde Andy Blignaut painted a delightful Test victory on the Zimbabwean cricket canvas, a four-wicket victory which was crafted through a strong self-belief, as demonstrated by a vital, matchwinning innings from Stuart Carlisle. A pity it was that one of Zimbabwe's finest hour in the game was watched by mainly schoolkids and a handful of fans.

It was fitting indeed that Carlisle, a batsman with a future, and Andy Flower, the mainstay of Zimbabwean cricket, were together when the mission was accomplished on the fourth evening of the contest, with the veteran cracking the winning hit.

It was also an emotional moment for the Zimbabwean dressing room when skipper Heath Streak, in a touching gesture, dedicated the victory to mate Trevor Madondo, who died last week.

Streak had made no tall claims before the match and led his team on a silent, determined march which culminated in a fantastic victory that tied the two-match Test series 1-1. A fair result considering the fact that Zimbabwe had backed itself to stop the Indians in their track. For India, it was the second Test defeat in a row at this venue, having suffered a similar humiliation three years ago under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin.

Blignaut comes good

Few gave Zimbabwe a chance and fewer to Blignaut, who had a five- wicket haul recently against Bangladesh. He was not the best student at the national academy and reportedly had an attitude problem but then former Zimbabwean coach Dave Houghton recalled ``he also improved tremendously. He knew he would have to sort out his problems himself and he did that. I'm glad he has come off well.'' And at a good time too for Zimbabwean cricket.

Blignaut, 22, bowled with a matured approach. He sacrificed his pace and concentrated on attacking the off-stump knowing well the Indians were quite vulnerable in that spot. With wickets of Sameer Dighe and Rahul Dravid against his name on Sunday, the athletic Blignaut was fired up on the fourth day and possibly dealt the most crucial strike with the wicket of Sourav Ganguly.

The inglorious Indian batting collapse had little to do with the state of the pitch but more with the mindset the team has developed over the years. If the ball wobbles even a trifle, their footwork becomes static. The batsmen begin to read too much into every thing on the field.

This morning they lost their last six wickets for a mere 37 runs, a poor reflection on a batting line which boasts of the `best' in the business. More than anything, the Indians paid dearly for changing the batting order and adopting an indecisive approach. The batsmen could not decide whether to attack or graft and played into the hands of the Zimbabweans quite timidly.

It was a shocking procession of some reckless batsmanship, to put it mildly. Ganguly's reputation took further beating as he offered such a clumsy defensive prod and could grudge none for the leg-before decision. He was plumb. The failure here brought Ganguly's aggregate to 119 in his last nine Test innings.

Shiv Sundar Das, rattled by the dismissal of his captain, offered his pad and was promptly adjudged leg-before. Once again there was no doubt over the decision. The less said the better about the batting potential of Ajit Agarkar at this level. He continues to be an embarrassment, with the bat at least. For too long he has been projected as an all-rounder and it is time the National selectors revised their decision on Agarkar.

With three quick wickets, the Zimbabweans sensed their chances and the Indians battled with their backs to the wall. The ball was seaming just that bit to leave the Indian innings in a turmoil. The batting line up was clearly ill-prepared mentally to take on the bowling where Blignaut was playing havoc with his nagging line.

For Hemang Badani, it was as good as opening the innings despite coming in at seven. The ball was new, he had just lost Das and Agarkar and was left with the tail, which did not wag.

The best chance was for Harbhajan Singh to click by playing his shots. He should have remembered his skipper's words at Bulawayo when he was asked not to curb his strokeplay. After a couple of wild slashes, Harbhajan, following instructions, offered a tame bat as he changed his desire to have a go at the ball and the resultant mishit saw Ebrahim bring off an astonishing catch, moving in from point. Zimbabwe needed such stunning acts in the field to lift the spirits and it was an effort which signified the essence of good fielding.

Would Srinath do justice to his batting potential? An innings of grit in the company of Badani. It remained just a hope for the Indians as he followed the away-swinger to the keeper and it was now a matter of time, for Nehra had no claims to be a batsman. He played the wrong line and left Badani stranded.

India's batting stood exposed against an attack which demonstrated the benefits of sticking to a disciplined line.

The Indian attack fought hard with Srinath leading the way, producing an inspired spell. Zimbabwe lost the openers cheaply and then Ashish Nehra came up with a gem, beating the batsman on pace, to trap Alistair Campbell. Agarkar joined in the good work by snaring Grant Flower, promoted for an injured Andy Flower, and suddenly the Indian hopes were revived.

Srinath now struck, thanks to a fine catch by Dighe on his right. Zimbabwe was almost living up to its past of losing from winning positions. Carlisle was still out there, guiding his mates and ploughing his way. His business acumen came in handy and saw him garner precious runs in the evening after `man of then match' Blignaut, coming from a farming background, had reaped his richest harvest in the shape of five Indian scalps in the morning.

Zimbabwe's sixth win in 52 Tests was well-earned and did put things in the perspective. It was the better team indeed, in every department, a small consolation for the Indians being Das adjudged the `man of the series'.

Scoreboard

INDIA - 1st innings: 237

ZIMBABWE - 1st innings: 315

INDIA - 2nd innings:

S. S. Das lbw b Streak                          70
(357m, 245b, 8x4)
Sameer Dighe c A. Flower b Blignaut              4
(14m, 9b, 1x4)
V.V.S. Laxman c Murphy b Friend                 20
(42m, 27b, 4x4)
Sachin Tendulkar c G. Flower b Streak           69
(184m, 131b, 9x4)
Rahul Dravid c A. Flower b Blignaut             26
(101m, 79b, 3x4)
Sourav Ganguly lbw b Blignaut                    0
(6m, 4b)
Hemang Badani (not out)                         16
(83m, 50b, 1x4, 1x6)
Ajit Agarkar c A. Flower b Streak                0
(6m, 2b)
Harbhajan Singh c Ebrahim b Blignaut             5
(6m, 5b, 1x4)
J. Srinath c A. Flower b Streak                  3
(35m, 18b)
Ashish Nehra b Blignaut                          0
(24m, 19b)
Extras (lb-9, w-12)                             21
                                               ---
Total                                          234
                                               --- 


Fall  of wickets: 1-8 (Dighe), 2-32 (Laxman), 3-150  (Tendulkar), 
4-197 (Dravid), 5-199 (Ganguly), 6-202 (Das), 7-202 (Agarkar), 8-
207 (Harbhajan), 9-226 (Srinath).

Zimbabwe bowling: Streak 27-12-46-4 (w-1), Blignaut  31.5-14-74-5 
(w-2), Friend 22-4-47-1 (w-3), Whittal 7-4-15-0 (w-6), Murphy 10-
1-42-0, G. Flower 1-0-1-0.

ZIMBABWE - 2nd innings:

Guy Whittal c Dravid b Srinath           10
(39m, 35b, 1x4)
Dion Ebrahim c Badani b Harbhajan        20
(55m, 33b, 3x4)
Stuart Carlisle (not out)                62
(191m, 137b, 6x4)
Alistair Campbell lbw b Nehra            13
(53m, 39b, 2x4)
G. Flower c Laxman b Agarkar              3
(35m, 27b)
Heath Streak c Dighe b Srinath            8
(38m, 24b)
Andy Blignaut b Nehra                    16
(31m, 25b, 3x4)
Andy Flower (not out)                     8
(15m, 9b, 2x4)
Extras (b-1, lb-11, nb-5)                17
                                        ---
Total (for six wkts)                    157
                                        ---

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Whittal), 2-45(Ebrahim), 3-71  (Campbell), 
4-89 (G. Flower), 5-119 (Streak), 6-144 (Blignaut).

India  bowling: Nehra 10-0-45-2, (nb-1), Srinath 13-1- 46-2  (nb-
4), Harbhajan 19-6-25-1, Agarkar 8-3-22-1, Tendulkar 1-0-7-0.

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