Nkala's cameo keeps series alive

By Vijay Lokapally

JODHPUR, DEC. 8. The warrior astride a horse in the backdrop of a clear horizon, a symbolic picture of inspiration, was an ideal source for a team looking for heroes. The Zimbabweans drew a leaf and confronted the Indian designs with some courageous show at the Barkatullah Khan Stadium here, winning the pulsating contest by one wicket and a ball to spare.

They almost messed it up, losing wickets in a heap as India made a desperate attempt to wrap up the series but Zimbabwe had matchwinners in its tail. Mluleki Nkala, in his first appearance, proved the surprise weapon as he pulled off a coup with his bat. In a tight finish, with Zimbabwe losing two wickets in the last over, Henry Olonga and Bryan Strang scampered off for the winning run and to make sure ran two. Just to make sure because Zimbabwe has not yet perfected the art of translating strong positions into victories.

The setting was electric with Zimbabwe gaining a firm grip at the half-way stage of the Indian innings and later creating panic in the opposition ranks through the Flower brothers, Andy and Grant, who was declared man of the match, before they fell in succession. If the Indians could not emerge triumphant to wrap up the one-day series 3-0, they owed an apology to Tendulkar, who excelled with the bat and then with the ball too, all in vain.

Zimbabwe may not have boasted of gifted individuals but in the Flower brothers the team had just the potential to pull off a coup. The desire to fight was what counted after the Zimbabwean bowlers once again let the side down with their pedestrian stuff when it mattered most. The chase, however, stumbled when Grant perished in trying to step up the pace and Andy lost his cool and wicket to give the Indians a big respite.

Gavin Rennie's run out had upset Andy, who flung his bat and gloves in disgust and never recovered his composure, nicking Tendulkar in an attempt to slash. The 158-run stand between the Flower brothers was the bright spot in Zimbabwe's hour of glory this evening. For India, it was Tendulkar all the way.

Vintage Tendulkar

The track was a juicy invitation for Tendulkar to indulge in some aesthetic batting, which saw the house rising to its feet repeatedly as he produced the wide range of strokes that make him such a special man to watch.

Tendulkar's 27th century in one-day internationals had an ominous preamble when he carted the bowlers with a flair which had been missing for some time. ``We have been conceding too many easy runs,'' the Zimbabwean skipper Heath Streak had complained on the eve of this match and the display today confirmed the pressing need for the team to have at least one bowler who would back himself and the team with some consistency. They all came in for rough treatment in their second spells and the worse moment was reserved for Henry Olonga, who was clobbered for 27 runs in the last over of the innings by Zaheer Khan, the latest claimant to the post of all-rounder.

Tendulkar continued to torment the Zimbabwean bowlers. His clinical assault ensured that the Indian innings did not digress from the track he had chosen even though it needed a rampant Zaheer to take it close to its logical conclusion. India did fall short of the 300-mark it had in mind, but then the brittle nature of Zimbabwe's overall strength caused little alarms for the bowlers, where Venkatesh Prasad benefited from the Zimbabwean policy to throw caution to the winds in search of a brisk start.

If the Zimbabweans, after India elected to bat, achieved early success, it made no difference to Tendulkar's calculated strokeplay. He had read the pitch effectively to whip the ball around and it was a joy to watch him play with the freedom he had of late come to suppress. True, the bowling was wayward for a while but then it was Tendulkar's blazing attack that really left the Zimbabweans demoralised.

Tendulkar took off with a hook, then played a few pulls and settled down to execute fluent drives in front of the wicket. It was a near-flawless exhibition of almost every stroke from the manual and one astonishing late cut was actually vintage stuff. The only blemish in his stay was at 135 when the catch was grassed at point by Grant Flower off Mluleki Nkala.

Tendulkar's knock grew in stature and Zimbabwe saw the game slip away even though the rest of the Indian batting failed to make an impression. The cameos by Zaheer and Sunil Joshi, and a promising essay early by Rahul Dravid, came in handy at appropriate situations but mainly due to some aimless bowling by the Zimbabweans.

The failure of left-handed `sensation' Yuveraj Singh must be a cause of worry, especially for skipper Sourav Ganguly, who backs this Punjab batsman the most, and a reckless heave by Reetinder Singh Sodhi did not speak well for the youngsters' temperament.

Yuveraj nicely tapped the ball back to the bowler, while Reetinder attempted to hoist the ball out of the park. Terrible shots both. In between, Hemang Badani, more keen on Tendulkar's 100th run, was caught inches out as he tried to scramble home. Tendulkar appeared more disappointed with this dismissal.

Tendulkar's highly entertaining innings ended tamely from a mistimed flick but some of his aggression rubbed off on the tail which served well as India plundered 56 runs off the last five overs.

False start

It was imperative that Zimbabwe created a stirring start and Alistair Campbell seemed to have been put on the job as he stroked the ball around.

Three drives from his bat threatened the Indians but a beauty from Zaheer, kicking and taking the edge, packed off the left- hander. Guy Whittall and Stuart Carlisle succumbed to Prasad in trying to adopt aggressive means and India was on top.

The match was poised to end up in India's favour at that point but the Flower brothers, Andy and Grant, opted to re-live a page from the brave past of Rajasthan.

Andy relishes the Indian attack. ``I like playing in India,'' he had said the other day and one could well understand his emotions.

Having fashioned many victories for his team, Andy set himself the task of pulling off a coup in the company of Grant, who concentrated hard on occupying the crease and exploiting the loose balls.

It was a sensible approach that the Flower brothers adopted and it was good to see them use their feet against the spinners.

The Indians conceded some easy singles even as Andy and Grant found the gaps regularly to maintain a steady flow of runs through boundaries too. They, however, could not finish the job but Nkala did, creating a dream victory for Zimbabwe.

Grant, struggling for most part of the season, came good at the right time to be adjudged the `man of the match. Batting with a simple philosophy of treating the ball on merit and keeping wickets in hand, Grant said, ``I am pleased with the knock. Andy I looked at four singles an over and capitalising on the odd loose ball. I am glad it worked well. It wasn't easy beating India in Indian conditions. The quickies bowled some good slower ones but in the end I am pretty satisfied. It was one of my best innings no doubt.'' It was a match-winning performance by Grant who also took three wickets.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA

S. Ganguly b B. Strang                 5
(9b, 1x4)
S. Tendulkar c Nkala b Streak        146
(153b, 15x4, 2x6)
R. Dravid c Rennie b G. Flower        30
(53b, 3x4)
Y. Singh c&b G. Flower                 6 

(16b)
H. Badani (run out))                   1
(1b)
R. S. Sodhi c G. Flower b B. Strang    4
(16b)
S. Joshi st A. Flower b G. Flower     25
(24b, 2x4, 1x6)
V. Dahiya b Streak                     3
(6b)
A. Agarkar (not out)                  14
(11b, 2x4)
Z. Khan (not out)                     32
(11b, 4x6)
Extras (b-1, lb-7, w-10)              18
                                     ---
Total (for 8 wkts in 50 overs)       283
                                     ---

Fall  of  wickets:  1-22 (Ganguly),  2-136  (Dravid),  3-148  (Y. 
Singh),  4-149  (Badani),  5-163 (Sodhi),  6-220  (Joshi),  7-227 
(Dahiya), 8-235 (Tendulkar).

Zimbabwe  bowling: T. Friend 7-1-34-0, B. Strang 10-0-  40-2,  H. 
Olonga  4-0-52-0,  H.  Streak 8-0-51-2, M.  Nkala  10-0-44-0,  G. 
Flower 10-0-43-3, G. Rennie 1-0-11-0.

ZIMBABWE

A. Campbell c Dahiya b Zaheer         24
(19b, 5x4)
G. Whittall c Badani b Prasad          6
(12b, 1x4)
S. Carlisle c Dahiya b Prasad         12
(16b, 3x4)
A. Flower c Dahiya b Tendulkar        77
(105b, 4x4, 1x6)
G. Flower c Yuveraj b Prasad          70
(94b, 4x4, 1x6)
G. Rennie (run out)                    0
(1b) 
H. Streak c Yuveraj b Joshi           23
(17b, 1x4, 1x6)
M. Nkala (run out)                    36
(27m, 4x4, 1x6)
B. Strang (not out)                    5
(9b)
T. Friend b Agarkar                    0
(1b)
H. Olonga (not out)                    1
(1b)
Extras (b-5, lb-7, nb-3, w-15)        30
                                     ---
Total (for 9 wkts in 49.5 overs)     284
                                     ---


Fall   of  wickets:  1-28  (Campbell),  2-32   (Whittall),   3-52 
(Carlisle), 4-210 (G. Flower), 5-211 (Rennie), 6-214 (A. Flower), 
7-258 (Streak), 8-283 (Nkala), 9-283 (Friend).

India bowling: Zaheer Khan 10-1-46-1, Prasad 10-1-61- 3,  Agarkar 
9.5-1-44-1, Joshi 10-0-58-1, Sodhi 2-0-11-0, Tendulkar  6-0-35-1, 
Ganguly 2-0-17-0.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Nana's romance with chess continues
Next     : England fights back