Ganguly redeems himself in style as India scampers home

By Vijay Lokapally

BULAWAYO, JUNE 27. The good news in the Indian camp, as much as the victory, was Sourav Ganguly scoring a few runs. The entire team crowded the balcony to applaud the skipper as he finally smiled with the bat in his hands.

The skipper, aided by deputy Rahul Dravid, piloted India into the final of the triangular series with the team winning its second successive match by four wickets in a last- over finish.

The Indian victory, however, had its moments of anxiety as left- arm spinner Grant Flower picked four wickets in the span of 19 balls to create panic in the opponent camp. What looked a one- sided finish became a thriller, the first one of the series, thanks to the inconsistent Indian middle-order. But Dravid kept his composure and carried the team to a win, cracking the winning hit to leave his mark. The `Man of the match' honour befitted his sensible, matchwinning innings.

If Zimbabwe gave itself a chance to win it was justified. An unusually subdued Sachin Tendulkar had departed cheaply and an over-enthusiastic Dinesh Mongia had perished to an ill-directed drive. Despite the batting strength, India was not comfortably placed to direct its chase, what with Ganguly, at that point, still battling to regain his form.

The innings should go a long way in making Ganguly believe that his dismal show with the bat for a long time now was just a passing phase. The new hair-style seemed to have done wonders to Ganguly's fortune and confidence. He was not anxious to get on top of the bowling and was willing to wait for his time to dominate. It came his way much earlier than he would have imagined and the strokes flowed so smoothly. It was not one of Ganguly's best performance at the crease but it was immensely valuable in terms of restoring his image as a strokeplayer and his position as a captain. The recent run of poor scores had put him under severe pressure. This innings should transform his attitude in the remaining matches of the tour.

The Zimbabwean bowling failed to back the good work of the batsmen and was quickly sorted out by Ganguly and Dravid, the latter playing a gem of an innings. Mongia had looked good in his innings which did have a few edged shots but it was enough to put off the early alarms.

Decisive partnership

The 93-run stand between Ganguly and Dravid decided the course of the match. Ganguly was very elegant in his strokeplay and cracked a few robust strokes, included a six off Whittall. He looked set for his 17th One-day hundred when his big have was held stunningly by a tumbling Alistair Campbell at midwicket boundary.

Dravid matched his captain in producing a committed innings and was a treat to watch for his frontfoot play, especially the drives which carried the stamp of class. It was also a responsible essay as he anchored the chase with his sensible batsmanship.

A middle-order collapse created panic in the Indian camp when Hemang Badani yorked himself and Virender Sehwag played a silly swipe. It was a difficult stage for India when Sameer Dighe played a poor sweep but Dravid, bringing his experience into play, finished the job with support from Agarkar.

Zimbabwe took the field without Heath Streak, who pulled out because of an abdomen muscle strain, and the home team had its third captain - Guy Whittall - in three matches of this series. It was good toss that Ganguly won as it allowed India first use of a moist pitch which necessitated a 15-minute delay in the start.

Fine knock by Whittall

The Zimbabwean innings revolved around Whittall, who may have begun slowly but recovered well enough to pace the innings to a nicety and show the others the way to scatter the field with some well-placed strokes. Off the last 11 overs, Zimbabwe plundered 96 runs and made a match of it only because of this brilliant fightback initiated by Whittall and Grant Flower.

The Indians failed to credit themselves in the bowling department. The disciplined line of the last match at Harare was missing as the bowlers overstepped and sprayed the ball on either side. There was a minor concern for the Indians in the first hour itself when Ashish Nehra was warned by umpire Ahmed East for running on to the danger area. There were worries for India in fielding too. It was tardy at times.

Zimbabwe did well to recover from seven for two. Alistair Campbell was foxed by a ball which stopped and Stuart Carlisle was hit plumb. Zimbabwe owed a lot to Whittall even though the spadework was done by Craig Wishart and Dion Ebrahim, the latter batting most laboriously. The Zimbabwean innings was nurtured by Wishart, Ebrahim, Whittall and Grant Flower in phases and helped to its destination by some wayward performance by the Indians.

Ebrahim is a batsman with limitations and his strength lies in his knowing his strong and weak points. He was let off once each by Agarkar and Mongia and earned the benefit once from umpire Jeff Fenwick but he carried on. At the other end, Wishart gained by working the ball square to help himself to some valuable runs. His innings was crucial to his side.

The Wishart-Ebrahim stand was broken by Ganguly, who induced a false shot with clever change of pace. Ebrahim meanwhile hung on with Grant Flower and was finally got rid off by Zaheer who landed the ball on his foot.

The Grant Flower-Whittall stand that followed was the best phase of the day for Zimbabwe. From a precarious 122 for four the home team recovered to a decent total and all credit to this pair, which gained because it adopted positive methods.

It was an ideal track for Grant Flower who loves to graft and it suited Whittall too, as he launched a blistering assault on Agarkar, who conceded 14 runs off the last over. His second spell of four overs went for 37 runs. Whittall played a series of powerful drives and a couple of reverse-sweeps, off Harbhajan, in his lively innings. It was fitting that he remained unbeaten and signed off in style, slamming the last ball of the innings for a sizzling boundary.

Scoreboard

ZIMBABWE

D. Ebrahim lbw b Zaheer                42
(110b, 4x4)
A. Campbell c Ganguly b Zaheer          2
(5b)
S. Carlisle lbw b Zaheer                0
(5b)
C. Wishart c Agarkar b Ganguly         46
(68b, 3x4)
G. Flower c Sehwag b Zaheer            45
(54b, 4x4)
G. Whittall (not out)                  58
(54b, 7x4)
A. Blignaut c Harbhajan b Agarkar      11
(9b, 2x4)
T. Taibu (not out)                      2
(6b)
Extras (lb-7, nb-12, w-9)              28
                                      ---
Total (for six wkts in 50 overs)      234
                                      ---

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Campbell), 2-7 (Carlisle), 3-94  (Wishart), 
4-122 (Ebrahim), 5-184 (G. Flower), 6-215 (Blignaut).

India  bowling: Ashish Nehra 10-0-31-0 (nb-3, w-2),  Zaheer  Khan 
10-0-42-4  (nb-7,  w-4),  Ajit  Agarkar  10-0-55-1  (nb-1,  w-2), 
Harbhajan Singh 9-0-42-0, Ganguly 7-0-38-1, Virender Sehwag  4-0-
19-0 (nb-1, w-1).

INDIA

S. Ganguly c Campbell b G. Flower      85
(125b, 8x4, 1x6) 

S. Tendulkar c G. Flower b Strang       9
(27b)
D. Mongia c Whittall b Mutendera       37
(47b, 5x4)
R. Dravid (not out)                    72
(64b, 7x4)
H. Badani b G. Flower                   0
(1b)
V. Sehwag c Ebrahim b G. Flower         2
(8b)
S. Dighe c and b G. Flower              9
(13b, 1x4)
A. Agarkar (not out)                   13
(12b, 1x4)
Extras (lb-1, nb-2, w-7)               10
                                      ---
Total (for six wkts in 49.2 overs)    237
                                      ---

Fall   of  wickets:  1-22  (Tendulkar),  2-91   (Mongia),   3-184 
(Ganguly), 4-187 (Badani), 5-193 (Sehwag), 6-210 (Dighe).

Zimbabwe bowling: Andy Blignaut 10-0-41-0 (w-3), Bryan Strang 10-
2-26-1 (nb-1), David Mutendera 8.2-0-52-1 (w-2), Travis Friend 9- 
0-45-0 (nb-1, w-2), Guy Whittall 4-0-28-0, Grant Flower 8-0-44-4.

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